Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad may hold a bilateral meeting in Samarkand. The two leaders have not spoken since 2011.
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which will be held in September in Samarkand, the Iranian Tasnim agency reports, citing sources. Putin also invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the summit.
According to media reports, the leader of the Turkish Motherland Party, Doğu Perinçek, will soon leave for Syria as part of a delegation, where he will meet and hold talks with Bashar al-Assad. Several former ministers and "veterans of Turkish diplomacy" will travel with Doğu Perincek. The exact number of participants and the composition of the delegation are not given. The trip report will be submitted to the Turkish authorities.
During the meeting, it is planned to discuss the restoration of relations, the joint fight against terrorism in northern Syria and the return of refugees. According to Tasnim, if this meeting "is positive", it is possible that the presidents of Turkey and Syria will meet on the sidelines of the upcoming SCO meeting.
The Turkish newspaper Turkiye reported in early August that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bashar al-Assad could hold telephone conversations. The two leaders have not spoken since 2011. The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied the information about the upcoming talks. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said that direct contacts with Syria are now "out of the question."
On August 23, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denied media reports about an upcoming meeting between Turkish and Syrian Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bashar al-Assad at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan.
The diplomat made the corresponding statement in an interview with the Haber Global TV channel.
“Reports that such a meeting will take place at the SCO summit are not true. Assad was not invited there,” the minister explained.
