Representatives of the Turkish and Syrian secret services have held talks three times in the past month to normalize bilateral relations and organize the first meeting between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar Assad since 2011. "Things are progressing fast, both the leads will be seen together by the end of August at the latest," the report said.

The Sun newspaper, citing its own sources, reported that an assassination attempt was made in Moscow against the ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The 59-year-old Assad is said to have been poisoned and is currently in stable condition.