Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met with Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa in Ankara, with the leaders discussing bilateral relations and regional developments as Türkiye hosted the NATO summit.

The two leaders discussed Türkiye-Syria bilateral relations and regional developments, according to a statement by Türkiye's Communications Directorate on Wednesday.

The closed-door meeting at the presidential complex came on the margins of a two-day NATO summit hosted by Türkiye.

The summit in Ankara brought together leaders of the 32-member alliance as well as key partners to discuss Europe's defence capacity, the alliance's defence spending targets, military modernisation, and continued support for Ukraine. Sharaa represented Syria as a guest of the summit.

During the meeting, Erdogan said efforts to strengthen cooperation between Türkiye and Syria would continue to intensify and reaffirmed that Ankara would continue to stand by the Syrian people, the Communications Directorate said.

The Turkish president also stressed that keeping Syria out of the conflicts affecting the region is "vital" for rebuilding the country, according to the statement.

The Ankara meeting marks the second NATO summit hosted by Türkiye, following the 2004 Istanbul summit. The gathering also provides a platform for bilateral meetings between Türkiye and allied countries and partner nations on political, security and economic cooperation.

Türkiye, a NATO member for nearly 75 years, joined the alliance in 1952.