Syria's Assad says he won't meet Erdogan until Turkey ends its 'occupation'

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 15, 2023. Sputnik/Vladimir Gerdo/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al Assad said on Thursday he would only meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan when Turkey was ready to completely withdraw its military from northern Syria and restore the situation that existed before the Syrian war.

Turkey has been the biggest military and political ally of the Syrian opposition, which controls the last rebel bastion in northwest Syria. Ankara has set up dozens of bases and deployed thousands of troops in northern Syria, preventing the Russian backed Syrian army from re-taking the region.