Erdogan and Syria’s Assad could meet face-to-face soon

Intelligence sources suggest that the first face-to-face meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad since the start of the civil war could happen at any moment.

President Erdogan has expressed willingness to host Assad in Türkiye alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin or to hold the meeting in a third country.

As the echoes of Assad’s surprise meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow continue, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the two leaders discussed a potential summit between Erdogan and Assad. Sources close to the Kremlin indicate that Erdogan might meet with both Putin and Assad.

Yilmaz Bilgen from Türkiye Newspaper claimed that the intelligence agencies of Türkiye and Syria have met three times within the past month.

While it is speculated that the meeting could take place in Ankara or Moscow, Iraq has also announced that the parties could convene in Baghdad.

At the start of the Syrian Civil War, Türkiye mediated a cease-fire between the Assad regime and the opposition. As the conflict deepened, Türkiye supported moderate opposition groups, advocating for Syria’s democratization, which led to the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries.