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Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan could possibly meet on the sidelines of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit (SCO), the Tasnim News Agency reported on August 21.
The 2022 annual summit of the SCO Heads of State Council will be held on September 15-16 in the Uzbekistani capital of Samarkand.
According to the Iranian news agency, the meeting will happen if upcoming talks between Assad and a Turkish delegation went well.
The leader of the Patriotic Party Doğu Perinçek will head the Turkish political and diplomatic delegation, which is expected to arrive in Damascus soon. Perinçek will be accompanied by a number of former ministers and veteran diplomats on his trip to Syria, and a report of the trip will be submitted to the Turkish authorities.
The delegation will reportedly discuss with Assad the ways to restore relations between Syria and Turkey, the joint fight against terrorism in northern Syria, and the return of Syrian refugees.
Earlier this month, Erdogan said that during his visit to Russia, President Vladimir Putin asked him to participate in the Shanghai meeting, adding that he would probably participate. Later, Erdogan called for dialogue with Syria.
Tasnim said that Putin also invited Assad to attend the SCO meeting. If Assad participates in the meeting, then the breakthrough talks with Erdogan will likely happen.
Turkey has been the main backer of Syrian rebels since the outbreak of the war in the country more than a decade ago. Now however, Erdogan appears to be in a hurry to normalize relations with Assad before the Turkish elections next year. The threat of Kurdish forces in Syria and the issue of Syrian refugees in Turkey are of great priority to Turkish voters.
