On al-Assad visit to Turkey

A Turkish diplomatic source announced Wednesday that the expected visit of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to Turkey, and his talks with Turkish President Ahmad Necdet Sezer and senior officials aim at boosting and developing relations between the two neighboring countries, describing as historic the visit.

The Turkish source was quoted by the Turkish Ikhlas News Agency as saying that President Assad's visit aims at boosting the bilateral relations between Turkey and Syria, pointing out that "His Excellency will meet Turkish businessmen at the Economic Center in Istanbul."

For its part, Saudi newspaper Riyadh underlined that President al-Assad's visit will lead to a turning point in the Syrian-Turkish relations, which have witnessed great development, expecting the announcement of a new principle to organize a strategic relation between the two countries in all domains.

It also praised the Syrian leadership, stressing that the leaders of the Turkish army have been pressing for accelerating relations of partnership and cooperation with Syria.