No Ankara contact with Assad ‘at the moment’ – Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said there was no contact “at the moment” between Turkey and the Syrian government, despite both sides’ opposition to Syrian Kurdish militia. In an interview published in Hurriyet and Milliyet papers Friday, Erdogan said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad “negatively” viewed Syrian Kurdish armed groups. Asked whether Turkey has initiated contact with Assad, even via mediators, Erdogan replied “there is no such situation at the moment,” AFP reports. The Turkish leader said on his return from talks in Sochi this week that Turkey was focused on removing terrorist organizations. “What will happen tomorrow is relevant to the circumstances then,” he added, leaving the door open to future talks.