Russia asked Syrian president, Dr. Bashar al-Assad if he would join the Ankara Summit along with Iranian president and hosted by no other than Turkish Erdogan, Assad reportedly turned down the offer for a number of realistic reasons.

Something Russian president Vladimir Putin should do, and he should do it immediately, is to replace whoever is advising him on Syria with a person more knowledgeable about the country, the people, their history, traditions, the way of thinking, what they aspire to, and above all what they despise.

Lebanese al-Akhbar newspaper reported that a Russian source of a high level has confirmed the request, also confirmed Assad’s turning down the request for a number of objective reasons.

Turkey has repeatedly tried to approach Damascus in the past few months and to restore the relations with Syria at times Turkey invaded north of Syria and occupied a number of cities there with the assistance of designated terrorist groups under the guise of eradicating another terrorist group represented by the Kurdish militias.

The source has conveyed the reasons president Assad turned down the Russian request in its form and content. ‘Assad cannot visit Turkey, despite the Erdogan welcoming of this visit as confirmed by the Russians, while Turkey sponsors terrorist groups in northern Syria, continues its incursion inside Syrian territories and its occupation of the area from Jarabulus until Afrin through its illegal ‘Euphrates Shield’ and ‘Olive Branch’ operations’, until Turkey retreats from the Syrian land it occupies and ceases its breaching of Syria’s sovereignty.

Mr. Putin advisors on the region, especially on Syria, have proved over the past few years their failure to grasp the overall sentiment of the Syrian people, even in cases the Russians themselves wouldn’t accept. We all remember how the Beslan massacre ended when Mr. Putin rejected to negotiate with the terrorists there; pressuring Syria to continue to negotiate, on the ground and in international conferences, with terrorist groups committing horrific crimes all over the country and calling for a foreign invasion against the Syrian state is not accepted well among the vast majority of the Syrian people.