ANKARA (Sputnik) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday refuted reports claiming that he had a secret meeting with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad.
"I haven't talked with Assad and I don't intend to" Erdogan told reporters, commenting on the information about the talks circulating on social media, as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper.
The Turkish leader added that such statements were the result of ill intentions.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Sunday that Damascus does not consider Ankara as its partner or a guarantor state of Syrian settlement as the latter allegedly supports terrorism and thus undermines political and social crisis settlement in Syria.
Recently Ankara has signaled that a new military operation might be under consideration for northern Syria. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Yildirim said that Ankara is taking all the "necessary measures" along the border with Idlib. He stressed that Turkey would defend its national interests, namely its right to sovereignty and security if needed.
