Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Erdogan is a thief," Assad said during a visit to military units in al-Hbeit area in the southern countryside of Idlib today.

Assad stressed that "the battle of Idlib is the basis for resolving chaos and terrorism in all areas of Syria."

"For them, Idlib was an advanced outpost, and the outpost is usually on the front line, but in this case the battle in the east and the outpost in the west is for the dispersal of the Syrian Arab Army," Assad said.

He stressed that "all areas in Syria are equally important, but what governs priorities is the military situation on the ground."

He added: "When we are attacked or stolen we must stand with each other and coordinate with each other, but some Syrians did not do so, especially in the early years of the war, and we told them not to bet on the outside, but on the army, the people and the homeland."

He said: "The first work we did when the aggression began in the north, is to communicate with the various political and military forces on the ground, and said we are ready to support any resistance group, which is not a political decision but a constitutional and national duty, and if we do not do not deserve the homeland."

This is the first visit of the Syrian president to this region since the crisis broke out in Syria in mid-2011.

Assad's visit to the region is an indication of the possibility of starting a military operation for government forces to regain control of the road to Hama Aleppo, after the cessation of fighting on these axes since the beginning of last August.