Turkey Set to Cooperate With Russia on Terrorists' Elimination in Syrian Idlib - Erdogan

ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2018) Turkey is ready to cooperate with Russia on the fight against terrorist groups in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said ahead of his upcoming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Talks are set to be held in the Russian resort city of Sochi later on Monday. They will focus on the situation in the Idlib de-escalation zone, which is one of the remaining strongholds of insurgency in the country.

"If the situation in Idlib continues as is, the results will be heavy. We have to find a solution with Russia and coalition forces without letting this happen. As you know, the U.S. has a different position, however, we have previously held meetings with Germany and France. We are already in it together with Russia," Erdogan said on Sunday, as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper.

Erdogan stated that he had noticed Putin's positive approach toward the crisis settlement during the trilateral summit, held between the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Iranian capital of Tehran on September 7.

"I hope he [Putin] will continue the positive stance also going forward," Erdogan said, adding that he considered it necessary to eliminate terrorists, but not the moderate opposition, also operating in Idlib.

The Turkish leader added that the results of Monday's talks would be essential for the political settlement to the problem.

"The outcome of our meeting with Mr. Putin will be important.

I also have visits to the United Nations General Assembly and Germany toward the end of the month. It is my wish that, with positive decisions made at these meetings, we will carry out the situation [in Idlib] to a new level," Erdogan said.

The president went on to say that although the situation in Idlib had recently stabilized, it was still far from being satisfactory, and this is why Turkey was going to reinforce its troops there.

"It is true we have been strengthening our soldiers there. We cannot afford to have a weakness there, we will continue to strengthen them. If we do not enforce our monitoring posts, some others can take initiatives and as results of their actions civilians may be harmed," he said, adding that the 12 observation points that Turkey had in Idlib were meant to protect "innocent civilians."

While the Syrian government has eliminated terrorists in vast territories of the country, Idlib is still occupied by the militants. Since late August, tensions have escalated in the region, with Russia claiming that terrorists were preparing a false-flag chemical attack there, set to provoke western intervention into he country. The West, meanwhile, tends to believe that it is Damascus who plans to carry out an attack against civilians.

Turkey, along with Russia and Iran, is a guarantor of the ceasefire regime in Syria, and the leadership of the three countries is constantly seeking solutions to the Syrian problem, with the Tehran summit being just the most recent example of this.