Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Moscow on January 23 to coordinate the withdrawal of US troops from Syria with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin announced.
The Turkish official Anadolu news agency quoted Erdogan as saying that he would meet with Putin “on January 23, without specifying the venue of the summit”.
Earlier, the White House said that US President Donald Trump told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Monday that he wanted to address Turkish security concerns in Syria, but also stressed the importance of not disrespecting Washington’s allies, the Kurds.
According to the office of the Turkish president, Erdogan agreed to the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, and also discussed with Trump the idea of establishing a security zone in northern Syria.
The new summit between Erdogan and Putin before the withdrawal of US troops from Syria at the time was not issued by the Russian side after the confirmation of the new summit.
The foreign ministers and defense of the two countries held a meeting in the Russian capital Moscow last December to discuss the situation in Syria.
It’s noteworthy that Turkey has been a supporter of the Syrian opposition forces, while Russia supported Syrian government forces and Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, since the beginning of the conflict in the country in 2011.
