ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria will significantly contribute to maintaining Syria's territorial integrity, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian President Vladimir Putin during the two leaders' phone talks.
"Our president told his Russian colleague that Operation Peace Spring, along with contributing to the fight against terrorism, will also make a significant contribution to protecting Syria's territorial integrity and to the political settlement process," the Turkish presidential administration said in a Tuesday statement.
Erdogan and Putin had a phone conversation late on Tuesday, at the initiative of the Turkish side. The two leaders discussed Turkey's operation in northern Syria, launched earlier this month.
Ankara has repeatedly stressed that the aim of the operation is to clear the border area of IS (Islamic State terrorist group, banned in Russia), as well as Kurdish militants, whom Turkey considers an extension of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), branded a terrorist organization by Ankara.
