The anticipated meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad remains a topic of discussion in political circles, more than a decade after their estrangement. Recently, new media reports indicated that the Turkish president will meet his Syrian counterpart next month at the latest, but the surprise is in the location.
The report mentioned that the meeting could take place near the coastal Syrian town of Kasab, at a border crossing between the two countries, according to the "Turkey" newspaper, which is close to the ruling Justice and Development Party. The newspaper noted that intelligence agencies from Ankara and Damascus held three crucial meetings last month, pointing out that the head of Russian intelligence had recently visited Turkey and met with his Turkish counterpart to prepare for the summit between the two presidents.
It clarified that the location and timing of the meeting were agreed upon, initially discussing the idea of holding the meeting in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, but this idea was later dismissed. Ankara then decided to consider the option of holding the summit at the Kasab crossing.
Additionally, after Assad's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Wednesday, there were rumors that the meeting between the Syrian regime president and Erdogan would take place in Moscow, but diplomatic sources immediately denied this.
It is noted that since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in 2011, Ankara has provided crucial support to the political and military opposition. Turkey has conducted three major military operations in Syria since 2016, primarily targeting Kurdish fighters, and its forces, in cooperation with Syrian factions loyal to them, managed to control a vast border area in northern Syria. Meanwhile, Damascus insists on the complete withdrawal of Turkish forces for any negotiations to take place.
However, recent weeks have seen significant developments in this matter, as the Turkish president has repeatedly invited the Syrian president to visit, while the latter confirmed that he does not oppose the return of relations but has requested further details regarding the objectives.
