ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey and Saudi Arabia have reiterated their position that President Bashar Assad has no role to play in Syria’s future, Associated Press reported OCT. 15, 2015.
At a joint news conference in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Thursday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and his Turkish counterpart, Feridun Sinirlioglu, also criticized Russia’s military involvement in Syria.
Al-Jubeir told reporters: “We are in agreement that Bashar Assad has no role.”
Sinirlioglu said Assad is the cause of the conflict, adding that any country that believes that Assad can “re-establish authority and therefore restore stability is living in a dream world.”
The two countries back moderate opposition groups in Syria.
The Turkish minister said that the Russian intervention was merely delaying a possible transitional period in Syria.
This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of the Saudi minister’s name.