Russia, Turkey discuss military coordination in Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to strengthen coordination between the two countries’ military and security services in Syria in the fight against terrorism, Reuters reported the Kremlin saying in a statement.

Putin and Erdogan, in a telephone conversation, also discussed the prospects for new contacts between Russia, Turkey and Iran on Syria, the statement said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a possible summit meeting between the leaders of the three countries was discussed, but no date has been agreed, RIA news agency reported.

Last week, Erdogan and Putin agreed to establish observation posts around the north-western province of Idlib, Syrian news agency Zaman Al Wasl reports.

Turkey and Russia have regularly cooperated on the issue of Syria, representing the opposition and the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad respectively. Alongside Iran, they convened the Astana negotiations during which they agreed to establish de-escalation zones to stem the bloodshed in the seven-year conflict. However the agreement is regularly violated by forces allied to the regime, with Idlib province and the suburb of Eastern Ghouta subject to an intensified assault by regime forces in recent months.

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