ANKARA - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hailed his Turkish counterpart's determination to visit Syria despite US displeasure, urging neighboring countries to step up cooperation against foreign meddling in the region, in an interview with Turkish television broadcast Wednesday.
Assad told the CNN Turk news channel in Damascus that not only the United States but other countries as well had pressed Ankara to cancel a visit by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to Syria later this month.
"Turkey denied other countries the opportunity to interfere in its decision. This is the most important side of this visit," he said in remarks translated into Turkish.
Assad said he would discuss with Sezer the role of the United States and European countries in the region which he said was resembling "the colonial era."
"We can reduce the dangers to the minimum only if we act together. The dangers are threatening all of us.
"They started with Iraq, now they are threatening Syria and other countries... They are trying to interfere in Turkey's affairs," he said.
Sezer has said he will go ahead with his plans to visit Damascus, overriding US discomfort with Turkey's close ties with Syria at a time when Damascus is under international pressure to end its military presence in Lebanon.
The visit comes atop other tensions in Turkish-US ties stemming mainly from differences over Iraq.
Even though it backs Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, Ankara says it wants to contribute to the development of good neighborly ties in the conflict-torn Middle East.
Turkey and Syria have greatly improved their relations since 1998, when they came to the brink of war as Ankara threatened military action if Damascus continued to shelter Turkish Kurd rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and his militants.
The tensions eased when Damascus expelled Ocalan and signed a security accord with Ankara.
Turkey has sought closer ties with Syria since the US-led invasion of Iraq, both neighbors sharing concerns that post-war Iraq may break up and spark new turmoil in the region.
"If Iraq breaks up, we will pay a very heavy bill. It is difficult even to guess what dangers we may encounter," Assad told CNN Turk.

04/06/2005 09:15 GMT