Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, according to sources familiar with the Turkish presidency.
The Turkish news site Khabdar reported that Erdogan met with Assad at the request of Russian President Vladimir Putin after meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the city of Astana, where Muslim officials from 57 countries have gathered to attend the OIC Summit on science and technology.
It is not yet known what issues were dealt with during the meeting and whether the Turkish presidency will issue an official statement on the matter or not.
Earlier Turkish left-wing newspaper Aydnak announced that a person close to Erdogan met with senior Syrian officials from the Assad’s side, and that the delegations meeting took place at the Syrian-Lebanese borders.
The newspaper further said that meetings were held with senior security officials during the visit, which lasted 3 days, and pointed out that recent developments indicate the forthcoming period will see the reopening of the Turkish embassy in Damascus and turning it into a joint resistance center against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Kurdish Democratic Union.
Commenting on the news, the owner of the Turkish Pulse Twitter account, in a series of successive tweets wrote:
“If you become a button, everyone puts pressure on you! Sources claim that Erdogan began talks with Bashar al-Assad to find a solution to the Syrian problem at the request, or under the pressure from Putin. Erdogan will meet all Russian demands, including the agreement with Syrian [president] Assad, to ensure they stand by his side after the US decision to arrest his former minister. Do not be surprised if Erdogan says: ‘The intetest is the one that determines the future between me and my brother Bashar al-Assad!’.
Zaman Arabic/Geostrategic Media
