Türkiye asked for Russia’s support and discussed mutual steps in northern Syria, where Ankara has been seeking to carry out a ground operation, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. “We asked for his (Russian President Vladimir Putin’s) support for making mutual decisions and maybe acting together to take steps together here (in northern Syria),” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara, saying that Türkiye would not ask for anyone’s permission. Ankara is ready to cooperate with Damascus on counterterrorism and the repatriation of Syrian refugees if Syria acts “realistically,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. “We are holding talks with the Syrian regime through intelligence channels,” Cavusoglu said while speaking before parliament during a discussion on the Foreign Ministry's budget. With the nearing of the June presidential and parliamentary elections, the Turkish government is haunted by the topic of Syrian refugees and the deteriorating economic situation. The Turkish opposition is using the refugee file to add popular pressure on Erdogan’s government. Under Russian pressure, Türkiye has said that it is prepared to restore ties with Damascus. It has held intelligence meetings to assess the possibility of raising the level of talks with the Syrian regime. Erdogan has voiced, time and time again, his readiness to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus, on the other hand, did not show enthusiasm towards convening such a meeting ahead of elections in Türkiye. Damascus’ refusal to hold the meeting is motivated by its unwillingness to grant Erdogan a “free win” in the upcoming presidential elections, according to media reports. “Ankara realizes the importance of normalizing and preserving ties with Damascus,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said following Turkish-Russian talks in Istanbul. Vershinin added that there is an understanding in Türkiye about the need for normalizing ties. “As for the issues of organizing meetings at various levels, including at the highest levels, we proceed from the fact that this is a decision of two sovereign states,” he explained.