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There will be no meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad at an upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in September, Türkiye’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, according to Anadolu Agency.

Speaking to the Haber Global news broadcaster in the capital Ankara, Mevlut Cavusoglu ruled out a meeting between Erdogan and Assad at the summit slated for Sept. 15-16 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, adding that Assad was “not invited” to the event.

Cavusoglu also underlined that steps must be taken for lasting peace in Syria, adding that the regime should not see the opposition as terrorists.

“From the very beginning, Türkiye said that the most important process is the political one,” he said.

Türkiye follows a “results-oriented” policy in Syria, Cavusoglu noted, stressing the importance of the country’s territorial integrity and the need to clear terrorist organizations from it.

“There are no preconditions for dialogue, but what is the purpose of the talks? The country needs to be cleared of terrorists, our border security is important, and Syria’s territorial integrity and political integrity are important. It is important that people can return to the country safely. It’s not necessarily a requirement, but what are its purpose and goal? Our Syria policy is always solution-oriented,” he added.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency

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