Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not want to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before the Turkish presidential elections in summer 2023. Reuters writes about this, citing a source.
According to him, Damascus fears that the restoration of relations will only be a pre-election gesture to raise Erdoğan's rating.
The source stressed that the Syrian leader rejected the proposal to hold a trilateral summit with the participation of Russia and Türkiye. Damascus also refused to meet at the level of foreign ministers.
In addition to this, it is specified that the Syrian authorities are not going to restore relations with Türkiye without "concrete" steps from Ankara.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the possibility of meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. Later, the media reported that the presidential meeting could take place in Russia under the mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
