Turkey's president says he remains hopeful that a reconciliation with Syrian President Bashar Assad can be achieved.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said that he is still “hopeful” about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a potential Ankara-Damascus rapprochement.

Russia, a close ally of Assad and a tentative partner of Erdogan, has supported the reconciliation push and, in 2022, hosted the first ministerial-level talks in Moscow since the war broke out. However, Erdogan noted that progress has stalled as Assad insists on a full withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria as a condition for peace.