Turkey's Erdogan says he is open to meeting with Syria's Assad

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses supporters at the Presidential Palace after his victory in the second round of the presidential election, Ankara, Turkey, May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that he was open to a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, but that setting the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syrian territory as a precondition for talks was "unacceptable".

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.