Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that a political solution to the Syrian conflict was impossible without the departure of President Bashar al-Assad, branding him a “terrorist”.

“It is absolutely impossible to advance with Assad in Syria,” Erdogan told a news conference after meeting Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi.

“Bashar al-Assad is a terrorist… We cannot just say this person goes on doing this job. If we do then it’s unfair” to the Syrians who have been killed, he added.
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Turkey has opposed Assad throughout the conflict, now in its seventh year, backing the opposition seeking to oust him and accusing the Syrian leader of war crimes.

Ankara is now a key player in efforts to end the war along with Russia and Iran, Assad’s main allies.

Erdogan’s comments came just days after the powerbrokers agreed to hold a peace congress for Syria in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi in late January.

A previous attempt to convene the Sochi congress in November failed following a lack of agreement among would-be participants.

More than 340,000 people have been killed and millions have been driven from their homes since Syria’s conflict erupted with anti-government protests in 2011.

Several diplomatic attempts to halt the war have stumbled, mainly over Assad’s future.
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