Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani travelled to Istanbul yesterday to meet with Turkish President Recep Erdoğan and discuss the conflict in Syria as well as “the need for a political resolution to the crisis that maintains the unity of Syrian land,” QNA reported.

The meeting came as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed to regain control of the entire country even as the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia – which, like Qatar and Turkey, supports rebels fighting the Syrian government – said al-Assad has no future ruling the country. Adel al-Jubeir also repeated threats to deploy Saudi ground troops to fight ISIL in Syria.