Syrian Foreign Ministry says potential rapprochement and restoration of diplomatic relations between Damascus and Ankara depends on Turkey withdrawing its troops from the Arab nation’s territory.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has stressed his readiness to restore ties with Syria after over a decade of severed relations.

Bagheri Kani was in Syria on the second leg of his regional tour after visiting Lebanon.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad receives the first ambassador to be sent by the United Arab Emirates to Damascus in 13 years.

Syria has appointed Ayman Soussan, the country’s deputy foreign minister, as its new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries after more than a decade.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the West is seeking to distort the facts on the ground in the Gaza Strip and legitimatize Israeli crimes in the besieged coastal enclave.

President Assad says the US is in a close partnership with foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists operating in the northeastern part of Syria.