Ankara Has No Plans to Restore Ties With Damascus - Erdogan's Spokesman

ANKARA (Sputnik) - The issue of restoring contacts and ties between Syria and Turkey is not on Ankara's agenda and such proposals are unrealistic, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Wednesday.

"We have no relations with the [Syrian] regime and there is no talk about contacts with it. Kilicdaroglu's proposal does not look realistic within the framework of the political transition in Syria. We do not have this issue on our agenda," Kalin told reporters.

The Turkish official added that the Syrian government was responsible for the truce breach in the de-escalation zone in Syria's Idlib province.

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On Sunday, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the largest Turkish opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), called on the Turkish authorities to restore contacts with the Syrian government to ensure the stabilization of the situation in the region amid Ankara's ongoing military operation in northern Syria. Turkey's offensive in Syrian enclave of Afrin is aimed against Kurdish militias from People's Protection Units (YPG), which are regarded as terrorists by Ankara, and elicited strong condemnation from Damascus as it was considered as an assault on Syria's sovereignty.

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Turkey and Syria severed diplomatic ties in 2012, soon after the beginning of the civil war and escalation of violence in Syria. The government troops are fighting against opposition and terrorist movements, whereas Turkish troops in cooperation with opposition groups loyal to Ankara have also participated in a number of military operations in Syria, mostly against Kurdish militants, such as the ongoing Olive Branch operation in Afrin and the Euphrates Shield operation from August 2016 to March 2017.