ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres in a call on Thursday that a new phase “being managed calmly” has been reached in the Syrian conflict, his office said.

Syrian militants captured the key city of Hama on Thursday, bringing the insurgents a major victory after a lightning advance across northern Syria and dealing a new blow to President Bashar Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies.

Erdogan told Guterres that the Syrian government needed to rapidly engage with its people to achieve a political solution, and added Turkiye was working to de-escalate tensions, protect civilians and pave the way for a political solution, his office said in a statement on X.