No meeting between Turkish president, Syria’s Assad: Top Turkish diplomat

ANKARA (AA) – There will be no meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad at an upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in September, Türkiye’s foreign minister has confirmed.

Mevlut Cavusoglu has ruled out a meeting between Erdogan and Assad at the summit slated for September 15-16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, adding that Assad was “not invited” to the event.

Cavusoglu also underlined that steps must be taken for lasting peace in Syria, adding that the regime should not see the opposition as terrorists.

“From the very beginning, Türkiye said that the most important process is the political one,” he said.

“There are no preconditions for dialogue, but what is the purpose of the talks? The country needs to be cleared of terrorists, our border security is important, and Syria’s territorial integrity and political integrity are important,” he added.

Türkiye to reappoint an ambassador to Israel ‘in coming days’

Cavusoglu also announced that Türkiye and Israel are taking steps to normalize ties, including last week’s decision to restore full diplomatic relations and reappoint ambassadors and consuls general after a four-year hiatus.

Cavusoglu said normalizing ties with Israel does not mean Türkiye will make concessions on Palestine and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He added that Palestinian authorities including Hamas, want the normalization of ties between Türkiye and Israel, adding: “Through this dialogue, we will better defend the Palestinian cause.”

The minister also said normalization of relations is beneficial for the region.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also set to meet his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential complex in Ankara.

Five other middle eastern countries normalized ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords treaty. However, Palestinians have expressed outrage, rejecting these treaties as a ‘stab in the back.’