President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a press conference at Atatürk Airport before his departure to Saudi Arabia.
President Erdoğan made the following remarks regarding the normalization process with Syria:
"We do not have a situation where we close the door with Syria. The door is open, and concerning these quadripartite summits, we are not opposed to meeting with Bashar al-Assad either. We could meet. The crucial point in our decision is their approach towards us. Currently, unfortunately, Assad wants Turkey to withdraw from Northern Syria. That cannot happen because we are fighting against terrorism there. We are combating terrorists on our borders. How can we withdraw while these terrorists are present on our borders? Turkey constantly faces threats from that region.
Can the same expression be used for different countries? No, it cannot. That's why we are seeking a fair approach. Once we have a fair approach, all these issues can be resolved."