Damascus, March 4 (RHC)-- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of supporting ISIL Takfiri militants. Assad made the comments while meeting with a delegation of Turkish opposition figures in the Syrian capital Damascus on Tuesday.

"This is what the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is doing, providing support to extremist and Takfiri forces to win the favor of his masters through implementing their plots," Hürriyet Daily News quoted Syria's official news agency SANA as reporting on Tuesday. The visiting delegation, led by Dogu Perincek, the head of the ultranationalist Land Party, includes various members of Turkish opposition parties.

Assad told reporters: "Erdogan leads with a destructive policy that does not serve at all the interest of his people, by supporting Takfiri" militants. He added that real cooperation among countries is required to battle the "scourge of terrorism."

The group also stressed that the majority of Turkish people still believe in relations with the people of Syria and oppose Erdogan's support of terrorism in Syria. The opposition figures arrived in Syria on Saturday following an invitation from Assad.

Turkey has long been under fire for its reluctance to crack down on militants using its territory to travel into Syria. The ISIL Takfiri terrorists were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government.

The Takfiris, who control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.