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Turkish PM meets Syrian opposition leader

31 March 2012 17:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a closed-door meeting with Syrian opposition group Syrian National Council’s chairman Burhan Ghalioun here on Saturday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The meeting was held closed to news media and lasted about one and a half hours, Turkish semi-official Anatolia news agency reported, without giving any detail about the topic at the meeting.

This is the first time that the Turkish prime minister met the head of the Istanbul-based Syrian opposition group, Anatolia said, adding that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and National Intelligence Organization chief Hakan Fidan also attended the meeting.

Turkey is set to host a so-called "Friends of Syria" meeting in Istanbul on Sunday. More than 70 countries are expected to send representatives to the meeting to seek an international agreement on how to end the violence in Syria.

Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said Saturday that the number of Syrian citizens who fled to Turkey reached 18,158, including 9,186 in Hatay province, 2,731 in Gaziantep province and 6,188 in Kilis province.