The Turkish Foreign Minister told when the meeting between Erdogan and Assad will take place.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that a meeting between Turkish and Syrian Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad is possible during the current year.

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Earlier, Erdogan, answering a question about the likelihood of a meeting with Assad, said that he discussed with Russian leader Vladimir Putin a road map for Syria, which included a meeting of leaders, but it should have been preceded by meetings at the level of the heads of the defense ministry, intelligence agencies and the foreign ministry. The corresponding meetings, except for the Foreign Ministers, were held in Moscow. The meeting of the heads of foreign affairs agencies is scheduled for early May in the Russian capital. In turn, Assad said that he was ready to meet with Erdogan only after the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria.

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“The next stage is the meeting of the presidents. I expect that it will not take a long time, during the current year,” Cavusoglu said in response to a question about the likelihood of a meeting between Erdogan and Assad after the meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Russia and Iran in Moscow 10 May.