Erdogan denies secret meeting with Assad

Ankara Sep 12 (IANS) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refuted reports claiming that he held a secret meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad a media report said on Tuesday.

"I did not meet Assad and I have no intention of meeting him " Erdogan said commenting on social media reports about holding secret talks at Russian President Vladimir Putin s request Hurriyet Daily News reported.

On a new military operation to expel Al Qaeda-linked terrorists from Idlib of northern Syria Erdogan said the situation in Idlib was developing positively.

"It is being run as we agreed with Russia " he noted.

Syrian President Assad said on Sunday that Damascus does not consider Ankara as its partner or a guarantor state of Syrian settlement as the latter allegedly supports terrorism and thus undermines political and social crisis settlement in Syria.

--IANS
soni/dg