Syrian president says efforts to restore ties with Turkey have yielded no results

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Syrian president says efforts to restore ties with Turkey have yielded no results

CAIRO (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday that efforts to mend ties with Turkey had so far brought no tangible results.

“The initiatives did not yield any results worth mentioning despite the seriousness and genuine keenness of mediators,” Assad said in a speech to the Syrian parliament, referring to conciliation efforts by Russia, Iran and Iraq.

Turkey severed ties with Syria in 2011 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, in which it supported rebels seeking to oust Assad. Assad views the rebels as terrorists.

“The solution is openness,” Assad said. “Restoring a relationship requires first removing the causes that led to its destruction.”

The Syrian president made clear that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a precondition for talks.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in July he would extend an invitation to Assad “any time” for possible talks to restore relations.

A Turkish newspaper earlier reported Erdogan and Assad could meet in August, but a Turkish diplomat denied the report.

Russia has been trying to facilitate a meeting between the two leaders in an effort to restore ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together

(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha, Editing by Maya Gebeily and Giles Elgood)

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