Ankara says united, peaceful Syria impossible with Assad

"Our position on Assad is clear. We don’t believe that a united, peaceful Syria will be possible with Assad remaining in power. But we will see how Astana talks go, we want to go step by step at this point," Kalin said.

Kalin told reporters in Ankara that the fighting in Syria had largely stopped over the past two weeks under a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

A countrywide ceasefire in Syria was declared on Thursday (29 December 2016), after Turkey, Russia and opposition fighting groups reached a deal in the Turkish capital Ankara. According to the deal, Turkey and Russia would act as guarantor countries for the implementation of the ceasefire.