Erdogan says willing to meet Syrian president for peace

"We will bring our foreign ministers together and then, depending on developments, we will come together as leaders," Erdogan said in a party meeting, according to Xinhua.

"Our objective is to ensure peace and tranquility in the region, and to let peace prevail in the region," the Turkish president added.

On Dec. 28, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization Hakan Fidan met with Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas and Syrian intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk in the Russian capital of Moscow, marking the first high-level contact between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

The leaders of the two countries have not met each other since the outbreak of the war, in which Turkey has backed the armed Syrian opposition terrorist groups both politically and militarily. 

RHM/PR