Chair of Turkish national socialist party to meet with the Syrian President

A senior official of a political party in Turkey confirmed in a live broadcast that the chair of the party will visit Syria with a delegation to meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The General Secretary of Vatan Party (Patriotic Party), Ozgur Bursali, said:

"A party delegation headed by party's chair Dogu Perincek will visit Syria in 10-15 days and will hold meetings at the highest level. Dogu Perincek, Ethem Sancak and some other senior party officials will take part in the delegation."

"The PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] will have one or two months left to live once a cooperation with Syria has been secured," Bursali said, in actual fact referring to the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) that has been established under the leadership of Kurdish political parties that according to both Patriotic Party and the ruling parties in Turkey have ties to the PKK.

"This cooperation will end the PKK," he continued. "The PKK will surrender. So will the dreams of the US be buried. There will no more be a threat of a second Israel."

Bursali's confirmation of an unofficial meeting with Assad came immediately after the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu signaled a U-turn in Turkey's Syrian policy, saying:

"Syria must have a strong administration if a division of this country is to be prevented. A political will can be enforced across Syria only through unity."

He added:

"We must find a way to reconcile the Syrian opposition with the Syrian regime. We can't have a lasting peace otherwise."

Bursali's confirmation also followed remarks by a Syrian pro-government figure with close ties to Patriotic Party.

Bessam Abu Abdullah, a prominent Baathist and a regular opinion writer for Patriotic Party's daily Aydinlik in recent past, said that Syria wants to see action, before making any comment about starting a dialogue with Turkey.

Patriotic Party is a tiny national socialist party without any significant popular support who is a fervent supporter of the ruling "People's Alliance" in Turkey although it does not officially take part in the alliance.