Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he and Syria's newly appointed president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, had discussed in Ankara on Tuesday steps to be taken against Kurdish militants in northeast Syria. Speaking alongside Sharaa at a news conference in Ankara,

Speaking alongside Sharaa at a press conference in Ankara, Erdogan said Turkiye was ready to help Syria’s new leadership in the battle against both the militant Islamic State group and Kurdish militants, and added he believed the voluntary return of Syrian migrants would accelerate as Syria became more stable.

Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa was in the Turkish capital on Tuesday for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to focus on Syria’s economic recovery as well as the presence of Kurdish-led forces in the north of the country that Turkey considers to be a security threat.