No reason not to forge ties between Ankara, Damascus: Turkish President Erdogan

By Necva Tastan and Dilara Hamit

ISTANBUL / ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that there is no reason for his country not to forge renewed ties with neighboring Syria.

"There is no reason not to establish (relations with Syria)," Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers in Istanbul.

He emphasized that Ankara has no plans or goals to interfere in Syria's internal affairs.

"Just as we once developed relations between Türkiye and Syria, we will act together in same way again," he added.

Turkish-Syrian relations saw a decline in 1998 when Türkiye accused Syria of supporting the PKK, a terrorist group responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in its decades-long terror campaign against Türkiye.

Tensions further escalated in 2011 due to the start of the Syrian Civil War and a subsequent influx of migrants numbering over 4 million.