Erdogan Says Turkey is Open to Talks with Syria

Shafaq News/ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday expressed his country's readiness to recalibrate its diplomatic ties with Syria, but said it will not capitulate to demands of vacating Northern Syria.

Erdogan's remarks came during a press conference from Istanbul's Atatürk Airport before embarking on a three-day diplomatic expedition to the Gulf.

"Our standpoint does not entail firmly closing the door to the [Bashar] Assad regime. On the contrary, we are amenable to quadrilateral dialogues, and I harbor no opposition to discussions with Bashar al-Assad," he said, stressing that the fundamental determinant would be Syria's approach.

The Turkish leader stated that any exodus of Turkish presence from Northern Syria, as desired by Assad, was simply untenable given the endemic "terrorism".

"Our mission there is combating terrorism. It is inconceivable to leave Syria with the terror threat looming on our immediate borders," he noted.

Erdogan said he was curious whether Assad would relay similar demands to "other countries".

Although he refrained from specifying further, his comments were seemingly aimed at the United States.

Washington maintains a significant footprint in the same region, openly endorsing the YPG/PKK group, recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, under the pretext of combating ISIS.