"We will not waver in our pursuit of terrorist groups," Assad told visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, according to state news agency SANA.
Davutoglu met with the Syrian leader in Damascus to deliver a message that Ankara has "run out of patience" with the crackdown, as activists said 34 people were killed by security forces on Tuesday.
Pro-democracy protests erupted on March 15 and, in the ensuing crackdown, turned to calls for the ouster of Assad. The president has consistently blamed "armed gangs" and "terrorist groups" for the unrest, but has also offered promises of reform.
In his remarks, SANA said Assad again promised wide-ranging reforms, but it did not elaborate.
On returning home, Davutoglu said he had spoken with Assad about ways to end the bloodshed and implement democratic reforms.
"We hope that some measures will be taken in the coming days to end the bloodshed and open the way to a process for political reform," he said.
"We had the opportunity to speak in a clear and succinct way about the measures to take so that the army and the people will not find themselves face to face, and the events like those that have taken place will not recur," he said.
As Assad held his ground, activists reported another 34 deaths, including 17 people killed and another 50 wounded, some of them seriously, by security forces in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor. An army assault there on Sunday killed 42 people.
"At least 15 people were killed in different parts of Deir Ezzor which has been raided by tanks and vehicles mounted with machine guns," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, quoting activists at the scene.
"Corpses are littering the streets. Tanks are deployed at Al-Hurriya Square," it said, adding that Deir Ezzor echoed with the sound of gunfire.
Five people, including a 13-year-old boy, were killed in Binnish in Idlib province bordering Turkey, six died in the protest hub of Hama, two in Homs, two in the Damascus area and one in Latakia, activists said.
A 35-year-old man "tortured" by authorities also died of his injuries on Tuesday, relatives said.
An activist in Hama said the city was calm after a military assault but suffering from "an acute shortage of food."
On the diplomatic front Brazil, India and South Africa meanwhile hoped to help open a dialogue between Syrian authorities and protesters, a Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.
"The Brazilian representative is already in Damascus, where he awaits his counterparts," and their meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem "should take place on Wednesday," the official said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr became the latest Arab official to call for an "immediate end" to violence in Syria and stress the need for reform in the autocratic country.
Amr warned that Syria was "heading to the point of no return" and said "reforms that are soaked in the blood of the martyrs who are dying daily are of no use."
He was to travel to Turkey on Wednesday for consultations, said his deputy, Ahmed Fateh.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow's call for an end to violence and the launch of deep-rooted political reforms in Syria, during a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, said a Russian statement.
It stressed the "priority of ending violence and continuing efforts to conduct comprehensive political, social and economic reforms in Syria without delay."
Last week, Russia backed a UN Security Council statement condemning the "use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities" after refusing to back a tougher resolution.
Pressure on Syria also came from neighbouring Iraq.
"We call for an end to all non-peaceful activities, and what is happening in Syria, the shedding of blood and the oppression of freedom, is condemned and unacceptable," Iraqi speaker Osama al-Nujaifi said in a statement.
On Monday, Kuwait and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Damascus, following in the steps of Arab heavyweight Saudi Arabia, and Washington said it was "encouraged and heartened" by the tougher Arab stand.
A chorus of Arab and Muslim condemnation of the bloodshed in Syria built up throughout the weekend and into Monday when Al-Azhar, the Cairo-based top Sunni authority, said the crackdown "has gone too far."
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said Syria must launch a "serious dialogue" with protesters who have rallied almost daily since mid-March, urging reforms in a country ruled by the Baath party for nearly 50 years.
Meanwhile, rights watchdogs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged world powers to take concrete steps, on the eve of a UN briefing to the Security Council on Syria.
"President Bashar al-Assad needs to hear loud and clear that the Security Council will not tolerate such contempt for its united call for Syria to change course," HRW Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson said.
Amnesty's Malcolm Smart added: "Any honest examination of the facts of the horrific situation in Syria should be more than sufficient to persuade the Security Council to come up with a legally binding resolution, not just a meek statement."
On August 3 the council issued a statement condemning the violence in Syria after failing to adopt a tough resolution due to objections from some members, including Russia and China.
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