Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Tuesday for a four-day formal visit to further improve bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries.
Assad is expected to have talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Wednesday, local newspaper Zaman (Time) reported.
The Syrian president is accompanied by Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari, the report said.
Assad's visit came 10 days after Turkish top diplomat paid an official visit to Damascus during which he voiced Ankara's desire to see its neighboring Syria in the coming period as part of regional resolutions, not as part of regional problems.
Syria and Turkey, both neighbors of war-torn Iraq, came to the brink of war almost a decade ago over presence of now-jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan in Syria.
The two countries have been moving ahead in a new phase of relations in recent years since Damascus forced Ocalan to leave Syria in 1998.
Turkey, whose patience has been exhausted by U.S. and Iraqi inaction against the PKK presence on Iraqi soil, is seriously considering the launch of a military operation into northern Iraq, hoping to put an end to fatal attacks by the rebels.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article