“Bashar Assad’s participation in the SCO summit in Samarkand was not discussed” - Uzbekistan’s national coordinator

Earlier, it was announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar Assad may hold a bilateral meeting in Samarkand, the two heads of state have not spoken since 2011. 

According to Iran’s Tasnim agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand in September.

According to press reports, Doğu Perinçek, leader of Turkey’s “Vatan” party, will soon leave for Syria as part of a delegation, where he will meet with Bashar Assad and hold talks. 

As Tasnim reports, if this meeting is “positive”, the presidents of Turkey and Syria may meet within the framework of the upcoming SCO meeting. 

The Turkish newspaper Turkiye reported in early August that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bashar Assad could communicate by phone. The leaders of the two countries have not spoken since 2011. 

The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied information about the upcoming talks. The head of the diplomatic office, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said that “there can be no discussion” about direct relations with Syria.