Syrian president Assad urges Türkiye to halt support for rebels
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The meeting last month was the first publicly announced encounter between officials of Syria and Türkiye since the Syrian civil war started in 2011.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday urged Türkiye to remove its military presence on Syrian soil and end its support for rebels in Syria so that constructive talks between the two countries could move forward.
Assad made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Russian President’s Special Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev in Syrian capital Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.
Assad’s comments followed a tripartite meeting attended by defense ministers from Syria, Türkiye, and Russia in Moscow on Dec. 28.
During Thursday’s meeting, Lavrentiev said Russia had positively rated the tripartite meeting, stressing the need to continue such discussions and develop them into ones attended by foreign ministers.
During the December meeting, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas, and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar discussed solutions to the Syrian crisis, the issue of refugees, and collective efforts aimed at combatting extremist groups in Syria.
All sides underlined the importance of continuing dialogue in this format to further stabilize the situation in Syria and the region.
The meeting last month was the first publicly announced encounter between officials of Syria and Türkiye since the Syrian civil war started in 2011.
(Xinhua/NAN)
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