ANKARA, September 21. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed his readiness to meet with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, before flying to the United States to attend the UN General Assembly session.

"We have said that we would like to hold a meeting with [Syrian President] Bashar Assad to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria. Now we are waiting for the other side to respond," Turkish TV channels quoted Erdogan as saying on Saturday.

According to the Turkish leader, Ankara and Damascus "can take joint steps toward ensuring peace and stability across Syria." "We can see that the Syrian administration and opposition have ensured that there has been no fighting in Syria for a while. These circumstances create a favorable atmosphere for an effective search for an ultimate resolution. Millions of people outside Syria are waiting to return home," Erdogan emphasized.

Russia favors the normalization of relations between Turkey and Syria, the development of the negotiating process and preparations for a meeting between the two countries’ leaders, Russia’s special presidential envoy for the Middle East and African countries and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in early August. However, he emphasized, serious preparations are needed for such a meeting.