Bashar al-Assad

Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime has escalated its air strikes on Idlib in the war-hit country's northwest, amid reports on chemical weapon use.           

The U.S. State Department on May 21 issued a warning to the Bashar al-Assad regime on suspicion it could be conducting a new chemical weapons attack in northwest Syria.

Syria's Bashar al-Assad regime carried out an artillery attack near Turkish observation point in Idlib de-escalation zone on May 12, according to Anadolu Agency correspondents on the ground.         

On April 22, a prisoner swap between the Assad regime and Syria's armed opposition took place as part of the Astana process, according to Turkey's Foreign Ministry.     

Several Russian envoys met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and discussed a constitutional committee, trade, as well as the ways to improve Syria's relations with neighboring Arab countries, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Syria on March 19 where he handed a message from President Vladimir Putin to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the defense ministry said.

The Assad regime in neighboring Syria is illegitimate and far from promising any future for the country, Turkey's presidential spokesman said on Feb. 4.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold Syria talks in Moscow on Wednesday, with Turkey saying they will focus on Ankara's so-called "security zone" in northern Syria, reported AFP.

Turkey under no circumstances should establish dialogue with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, the main political supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government, has said, stressing that the main objective of Turkish foreign policy should be to save Syria from the Assad regime.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on December 16, 2018 shows Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) receiving his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir upon his arrival in the Syrian capital Damascus.