Ankara: Turkey aims to develop good relations with Syria and Iraq, and both countries need to be stable for counter-terrorism efforts to succeed, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday.

Yildirim said in a televised address that Turkey is expanding its circle of friends, adding: “I am sure that we will return (our) ties with Syria to normal. We need it.”

Turkey has long been one of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s staunchest opponents, arguing that only his departure could stabilise Syria. That has set it at odds with Al Assad’s ally Russia and distanced it from a US-led coalition more focused on fighting Daesh.

Since taking office in May, Yildirim has repeatedly said that Turkey needs to “increase its friends and decrease its enemies” - an apparent tacit admission that past policies have left Ankara sidelined.

“It is our greatest and irrevocable goal: Developing good relations with Syria and Iraq, and all our neighbours that surround the Mediterranean and the Black Sea,” Yildirim said.

“We normalised relations with Russia and Israel. I’m sure we will normalise relations with Syria as well. For the fight against terrorism to succeed stability needs to return to Syria and Iraq,” he said.

Terror group Daesh, which controls parts of Syria and Iraq, has also established a network across the border in Turkey that has been blamed for a series of suicide bombings, some of which have targeted foreign tourists.

Turkey last month announced the restoration of diplomatic ties with Israel after a six-year rupture and expressed regret to Russia over the downing of a warplane, seeking to mend strained alliances. Officials have insisted those moves do not mark a broader foreign policy shift for Ankara.

“There is currently no change in Turkey’s Syria policy.

Turkey does not want to have problems with any countries in the region and emphasises the importance of ending terrorism as well as engaging in close cooperation for regional stability,” one official said after Yildirim’s comments.

“Of course Turkey wants to normalise ties with Syria, but there is no change in Turkey’s policy regarding Syria with Al Assad.”

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the path to Turkish citizenship would be open to Syrians who meet several criteria including having no links to terror groups.

Turkey’s war on terrorism is primarily focused on Kurdish militants - which Ankara considers a threat in both the Syrian and Turkish context - as well as Daesh.

Meanwhile, French diplomatic missions in Turkey have cancelled their planned events to mark France’s July 14 National Day due to security concerns, the consulate general in Istanbul said on Wednesday.

“Information points to a serious threat against plans for the celebration of the July 14 national holiday in Turkey. As a precaution, we have decided, in conjunction with the Turkish authorities, to cancel the celebrations,” a statement from the mission in Istanbul said.

The consulate general had been due to hold a reception on Wednesday evening, while French missions in the capital Ankara and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir had planned events for Thursday.