ISTANBUL, May 24. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a meeting in Istanbul with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa that it is important to preserve the territorial integrity of the neighboring country, the Turkish leader’s office said in a statement following the talks.
The visit of the Syrian president to Turkey was unannounced.
"President Erdogan said during the talks that it is important to protect Syria's territorial integrity and govern the country and the military from a single center. He stressed that the Israeli occupation and aggression on Syrian territory is unacceptable and said Turkey is determined to continue confronting it on all platforms. Erdogan also said that bilateral relations and cooperation between Turkey and Syria will continue to develop in all fields, including energy, defense and transportation," the statement said.
Erdogan expressed satisfaction that al-Sharaa paid his first visit to Turkey after the US decision to lift sanctions on Damascus. The meeting was attended by the Turkish administration's ministers in charge of defense and security.
On May 14, US President Donald Trump held talks with the interim head of Syria in Riyadh, marking the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries in 25 years. The American leader announced that his country would begin lifting sanctions that had been imposed on Damascus for decades during the rule of Hafez Assad and his son Bashar Assad.