Turkey and Syria will continue military-to-military contacts in the coming days. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said this following talks with his Syrian counterpart Ali Mahmoud Abbas held in Moscow.
"We expect that the works to be carried out in the coming days will make a serious contribution to ensuring peace and stability in the region and Syria," TRT TV quoted the minister as saying on Thursday.
On December 28, the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers met in Moscow for the first time in 11 years. The meeting was held in a trilateral format, with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in attendance.
According to Akar, the main issue on the agenda of the talks held in Moscow was counterterrorism. "[During the talks] we noted that we respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our neighbors, including Syria and Iraq, and our main goal is the fight against terrorism," the Turkish military chief stressed. He added that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoots, as well as the Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia) are the main threat to Turkey. Akar noted that the settlement in Syria should be based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254. "As a result of the talks, it was agreed to continue the trilateral meetings. We hope to ensure peace, tranquility and stability in the region as soon as possible. As before, we are ready to do everything we can to achieve this goal," the head of the Turkish defense ministry said.
Earlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke about the possible meeting at the level of the Turkish and Syrian military leaders. Answering the questions of journalists from the presidential pool, on December 15, he said that he proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold a trilateral meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He said this summit should be preceded by talks at the level of special services, defense and foreign ministers.
Following the August 5 talks between the presidents of Turkey and Russia in Sochi, Turkish media reported that Ankara is discussing the possibility of establishing direct contacts between the Turkish and Syrian leaders. The Turkish authorities stated in this connection that such talks were not planned yet. On October 6, following the summit of the European political community in Prague, Erdogan said that a personal meeting with Assad was out of the question now. Later, he said that such meeting will take place "when the time comes".
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: LoggaWiggler/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS