Assad: No Tangible Results in Turkey Talks

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that efforts to mend ties with Turkey had so far brought no tangible results.

Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported rebels seeking to oust Assad. Assad views the rebels as terrorists.

The Syrian president made clear that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a precondition for talks.

"Any negotiation process needs references to succeed and not reaching results in the meetings that happened with Turkey previously have many reasons, one of the main reasons is not having references for those meetings," Assad said.

"The solution is openness," Assad said. "Restoring a relationship requires first removing the causes that led to its destruction."

The Syrian President made clear that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a precondition for talks.

"The initiatives did not yield any results worth mentioning despite the seriousness and genuine keenness of mediators," Assad said in a speech to the Syrian Parliament, referring to conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in July he would extend an invitation to Assad "any time" for possible talks to restore relations.

Al-Assad said later that month that he was open to meeting Erdogan but it depended on the encounter’s “content”, noting Turkey’s presence in Syria was a key sticking point.

Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders in an effort to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together.

A Turkish newspaper earlier reported Erdogan and al-Assad could meet in August, but a Turkish diplomat denied the report.