Saturday, September 30th., 2017
Putin Says Conditions Needed to End War in Syria Have Been Reached
Putin and Erdogan agree to push for de-escalation zones in Syria, particularly in IS-held Idlib province.
(MEE) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the de facto conditions needed to end Syria’s civil had been achieved, after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Putin‘s comments, which followed talks with Erdogan in Ankara, come as Russia, Turkey and Iran cooperate on maintaining de-escalation zones in Syria.
Erdogan said after talks in Ankara that the pair agreed to “pursue more intensely” the implementation of a de-escalation zone in Idlib, which is currently under militant control, in comments echoed by Putin.
The Russian leader said Russia and Turkey would work to “deepen coordination” on ending the more than six-year civil war, adding the “necessary conditions” now existed for the conflict to end.
Erdogan, meanwhile, called the recent Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum illegitimate. Putin offered no opinion of the vote, saying Moscow’s position had been expressed the foreign ministry, which said it respected the Kurds’ “national striving” but supported the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq.
“The Kurdish referendum has no legitimacy in terms of the Iraqi constitution and international laws,” Erdogan said in his comments at the presidential palace.
“No one has the right to throw our region in the fire. In this delicate period after the referendum, we have to prevent the Kurdish Regional Government from making bigger mistakes,” Erdogan added.