He made the comment on Wednesday during a flight back from recent trips to Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan.
Erdogan attended the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh on Monday, where he and Assad were both present. Though once close friends, they did not engage in any personal encounters during the event.
Despite the lack of progress so far, Erdogan remains hopeful, stating that he hopes to meet with Assad and restore Turkish-Syrian relations. He believes that normalized relations would contribute to peace in Syria and that Turkey poses no threat to Syria's territorial integrity.
Erdogan accused Kurdish militant groups, including the PKK and YPG/PYD, of threatening Syria's territorial integrity and urged Assad to address the threat posed by Israel.
He cautioned that the recent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon could escalate in the region.
Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, Turkey initially sought to remove Assad from power, backing rebel groups. However, Ankara's focus has shifted to preventing the establishment of a "terror corridor" in northern Syria. Turkish forces and Turkey-backed rebel factions control parts of northern Syria, and Turkey has taken in over 3.2 million refugees from the war-torn country.
Assad has approached Erdogan's normalization efforts cautiously, highlighting the need for a meaningful dialogue. He has indicated that Turkey's withdrawal from Syrian territory and halting its support for "terrorism" are crucial for any future meeting.