Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reignited a war of words with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad by calling him a “terrorist” who has no place in negotiations over the country’s future, with Damascus hitting back and accusing the Turkish leader of being “responsible” for spilling the blood of Syrians.
Erdogan said on Wednesday it was “absolutely impossible” to move ahead on Syrian peace talks while Assad remains in power, according to Turkey’s State-run news agency Anadolu. He made the comments after a closed-door meeting with Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi in Tunis where he is on an official visit.
Erdogan called Assad, who has clung to power during the protracted conflict that has wracked his nation for the past seven years, “a terrorist involved in State terrorism”. He asked how anyone could “embrace the future with the President of a Syria who killed close to one million of its citizens”. Syria’s Foreign Ministry shot back at the remarks, accusing Erdogan of being “responsible” for spilling the blood of the Syrian people, the state-run news agency SANA reported.