Turkish tanks in the Kilis province close to the Syrian border. (Reuters)

Istanbul – Asharq Al-Awsat

Ankara denied on Saturday that it had reached a deal with Moscow over the Syrian regions of Afrin and Idlib.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Istanbul that there was no deal for Russia to exchange rebel-held Idlib for Afrin.

The operations in each of those two regions are separate from each other, he remarked.

Commenting on the fate of regime leader Bashar Assad, he remarked that he should leave office "at some point" in the future but denied there was any kind of contact between Ankara and Damascus over ending the seven year civil war, reported Agence France Presse.

Ankara has been a prime foe of Assad throughout the conflict but has occasionally softened its rhetoric in the last months as Turkey strengthened cooperation with the regime's main ally Russia.

Kalin said that Assad was not the leader to unite Syria and had lost legitimacy, adding however that there needed to be a "political transition” in the country, leading to a new constitution and elections.

"It is not going to be easy but that's the ultimate goal to reach and at some point Assad will have to go," he added.

"Where exactly, at what point precisely (Assad leaves), is something that will be answered as we go on, obviously," he remarked.

Kalin was speaking after Russia on Tuesday hosted a peace congress on Syria, with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressing "satisfaction", according to the Kremlin.

Kalin said the Russian position has been "not so much protecting Assad personally but protecting the state institutions, state apparatus and the Syria regime forces and regime elements".

He noted: "They want to make sure that the state doesn't collapse completely in Syria."

Turkey's position on Assad has been under ever greater scrutiny since Ankara on January 20 began a cross-border operation with Syrian allied rebel forces against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units based in the town of Afrin.

But Kalin denied any contact with Damascus "at any level".

"There is no communication, no relationship, direct (or) indirect. Nothing with the Syrian regime, at any level. I can say that categorically and very clearly," he said.