The Turkish government should establish contact with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has suggested.
“The contact our President established with Egyptian President el-Sisi is a right move and more should come. It should continue with a meeting with Syrian Arab Republic President Bashar al-Assad and a joint will against terror organizations should be built,” MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli said in his weekly address to his parliamentary group on Nov. 22.
Bahçeli referred to a surprise shaking hands between President Erdoğan and Egyptian leader el-Sisi in Qatar where both men attended the opening match of the World Cup on Nov. 20. Both Ankara and Cairo said this first encounter meant to launch a new process for repairing strained bilateral ties over the past decade.
“Türkiye has historically very strong ties with Egypt, Syria and Iraq. If we don’t start direct talks with them then the spoilers will try to drive a further wedge between [Türkiye and these countries],” Bahçeli said.
