ANKARA, December 16. /TASS/. The West should drop attempts to link future aid to Syria with the presence of Russian military bases there, because this is a matter of bilateral relations between the country's new authorities and Moscow, Omer Celik, the spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, told a news briefing.

"Some Western countries, as we can see, are making certain reservations and putting forward preconditions regarding their support for Syria. Some point to Russian bases as an obstacle in discussing their assistance to the country. Stop talking about that. Let what happens to other countries' bases there, whatever country they belong to - Russia in this case - let their existence and future in Syria be determined through negotiations between Russia and the Syrian administration," Celik said.

He added that it was the kind of stance that other countries eager to help Syria rebuild itself should demonstrate.