Answer to his invitation Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a summit-level meeting, the president of Syria gave Bashar al-Assad.

Citing the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Turkish media note that Bashar al-Assad answered a question about the Turkish president’s request for a meeting with himafter exercising his right to vote, in the elections for the Syrian People’s Council.

According to the Turkish television network NTV and the Turkish edition of Euronews, the Syrian president said that he could meet with President Erdogan, provided that should be on the agenda the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria. In a video posted by the Damascus government on social media, Assad is quoted as saying that whether the meeting takes place depends on its content.

“As we have said many times, we see positively any attempt to improve relations and this is natural. No one wants to cause trouble with their neighbors, but that doesn’t mean we have to go beyond the rules” the Syrian president is reported to have said, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA. “We act positively, but we act on clear principles, not just principles. Those principles are International Law and sovereignty, that much is clear. But there is a specific methodology that will ensure that what we implement will bring positive results,” added Bashar al-Assad, the same source said.

In an article published on the news website T24, it is stated that preparations are already being made for the meeting “which is expected to take place soon in Baghdad”.

In the interview he gave after the work of the recent NATO Summit, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he sent an invitation to the Syrian leader two weeks ago for a meeting either in Turkey or in a third country. “We want to end this dissatisfaction and start a new process,” he said.

Ankara is at loggerheads with the US over its support in northern Syria for the Kurdish militia, which Ankara identifies with the PKK group that operates against Turkey. To eliminate it, it is threatening a new military operation in northern Syria, while it already maintains control of the northern part of the country along the border line west of the Euphrates, both with its own military presence and in cooperation with the forces of the Free Syrian Army. Army of the opposition, which he equips. In the past, Bashar al-Assad has ruled out meeting with his Turkish counterpart while Turkish troops are on Syrian soil.