MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Moscow to discuss current “escalation” in the region, local media reported on Thursday.
The meeting comes at a time when Moscow, which rescued Assad’s government through its military interference in 2015 during a civil war, could mediate to defuse tensions Ankara and Damacus. The first meeting of the two leaders since March last year comes following Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan evoked the possibility of the three leaders’ summit to try and normalize relations between Syria and Turkey.
President Erdogan stated that now they have come to such a point that as soon as Assad takes a step towards improving ties with Turkey, they will show him the same approach. Ankara originally aimed to topple Assad’s government when the Syrian war erupted with the violent suppression of peaceful protesters in 2011 and supported rebels calling for his dismissal.
But more recently, Turkey has shifted focus to preventing what President Erdogan in 2019 labelled a “terror corridor” from opening up in northern part of Syria.
President Erdogan has long said he could reconsider relations with President Assad as his administration is working to ensure voluntary and safe return of Syrian refugees. Ankara has launched a string of operation in Syria since 2016 targeting Kurdish, Islamic State group militants and forces loyal to President Assad.
