Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he does not interfere in Turkey’s domestic politics and was not interested in the outcome of 14 May polls, Arab journalist Abdulbari Atwan reported on Friday on his YouTube channel.
According to Atwan, Assad made comments on Turkey’s elections during a private meeting with the journalist.
The president in Damascus said that it was impossible for him to meet the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan until Turkey fully withdraws from Syrian territory.
“All Turkish troops should leave Syria and this should be a full withdrawal,” he said about the future of Russia-brokered Turkish-Syrian rapprochement talks.
“I do not interfere in Turkey’s domestic politics and I am not interested in who will win in elections. What is important for me is for this elected person to establish good relations with Syria, to develop these relations and the realisation of the withdrawal from Syria,” Atwan quoted Assad as saying.
Erdoğan and Assad, who once were close friends, turned into bitter enemies after the start of a civil war in Syria 12 years ago, as Ankara supported Syrian rebels against the Damascus government.
Both Erdoğan and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the president’s rival in Sunday’s presidential race, have promised voters the safe return of Syrian refugees in Turkey to their homeland. Kılıçdaroğlu said that he would ensure this massive return by meeting Assad.
Turkey and Turkish-backed rebels control large swathes of land in northern Syria they seized during several offensives occurring since 2016, against Kurdish groups which Turkey sees as terrorists.