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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday he could invite his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad to Turkey “at any time” in a gesture of reconciliation after the 2011 war that severed ties between Ankara and Damascus.
Erdogan's comments come after tensions escalated last week after a mob went on the rampage, vandalizing Syrian-owned businesses and properties in a city in central Anatolia.
“We can send an invitation (to Assad) at any time,” Erdogan told reporters on a plane from Berlin where he was following Euro 2024, the official Anadolu news agency and other media reported.
Turkey initially aimed to topple the Assad regime when the Syrian conflict erupted with the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2011 and has backed rebels calling for his ouster.
But more recently, Ankara has focused its efforts on preventing the opening of what Erdogan called in 2019 a “terrorist corridor” in northern Syria.
He has long said he may reconsider his relationship with Assad as his government struggles to ensure the safe and voluntary return of Syrian refugees.
Speaking to reporters, Erdogan said some leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have suggested mediating a meeting with Assad in Turkey.
“We have now reached a point where as soon as Bashar al-Assad takes a step towards improving relations with Turkey, we will show him the same approach,” Erdogan said.
Turkish authorities arrested more than 470 people this week after anti-Syrian riots in several cities sparked by accusations that a Syrian man harassed a Syrian minor in Kayseri.
Erdogan on Monday accused the opposition of stoking tensions and condemned anti-Syrian violence as “unacceptable.”
The fate of Syrian refugees is a hot topic in Turkish politics, with Erdogan's opponents in last year's presidential election vowing to send them back to Syria.
Turkey, which hosts some 3.2 million Syrian refugees according to UN data, has been rocked by repeated bouts of xenophobic violence in recent years, often sparked by rumours circulating on social media and instant messaging apps.
The Kayseri riots spread to several other cities, including Istanbul, this week, while clashes between armed protesters and Turkish guards in northern Syria left seven people dead.
Turkey has launched a series of offensives in Syria since 2016 targeting Kurdish militias, Islamic State jihadists and forces loyal to Assad.
Pro-Turkish forces in Syria now control two large swathes of territory along the border.
On Monday, hundreds of Syrians demonstrated across the Ankara-controlled area, with some armed protesters attacking Turkish trucks and military posts and removing Turkish flags.
Erdogan has vowed to reveal “whose dirty hands” triggered the clashes in northern Syria.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), four border crossings with Turkey have been closed following the violence. There was no immediate confirmation from the Turkish government.
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