No contact with Assad: Erdogan

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there was no contact "at the moment" between Ankara and the Syrian government despite both sides’ opposition to Syrian Kurdish militia, in comments reported on Friday.

The Turkish leader said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him that Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad "negatively" viewed Syrian Kurdish armed groups, in an interview published in Hurriyet and Milliyet papers.

Putin met Assad earlier this week at the Black Sea resort of Sochi before a summit with Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday aimed at finding a political settlement to the Syria conflict. Ankara has opposed Assad throughout the conflict and previously accused the Syrian leader of war crimes.