Turkey’s president expresses willingness to restore diplomatic ties with Syria

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says there is no obstacle preventing Turkey and Syria from restoring diplomatic ties. The two cut off relations at the start of the Syrian civil war more than a decade ago. Erdogan’s comments follows similar remarks by Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this week. During the Syrian conflict, Turkey supported armed opposition groups in the country’s northwest aiming to oust Assad from power. The Syrian government has repeatedly condemned Ankara’s control over a territory that it took hold of through several military incursions since 2016 targeting U.S.-backed Kurdish forces that Turkey regards as terrorists.