Erdogan says talks between Turkey and Russian Federation on Syria to be held

Turkey is holding talks with Russia on the settlement of the situation in Syria. This was stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to journalists on November 20 upon his return from the G20 summit.

He noted that Turkey will continue to fight terrorism, and added that the country is ready for both the new situation in Syria, which will be created by the US withdrawal from it, and the current situation.

"Our national security comes first and above everything else. We are trying to turn this atmosphere in Syria to the benefit of the region by holding the necessary talks with Russia on this issue," NTV television quoted him as saying.

Erdogan added that Turkey is intolerant of groups that pose a threat to national security. According to the president, northern Syria was occupied by the Kurdistan Workers' Party with the support of the United States.

Furthermore, he pointed out that northern Syria is equally important for both Ankara and Damascus, noting that the Syrian civil war has led to instability in Turkey's neighboring country. Erdogan called on the Syrian administration to take measures to fight terrorist organizations.

On the eve of the day it was reported that the Russian military recorded 19 violations of Syrian airspace by aircraft of the international anti-terrorist coalition led by the United States. Also, the deputy head of the Center for Reconciliation of the Enemy Parties (CRAP) in the ATS, Captain First Rank Oleg Ignasyuk, noted that representatives of the center held a humanitarian action in the province of Hasakeh. They distributed 300 food packages weighing more than 2.9 tons.

Prior to that, on November 18, the CPVS reported that the Syrian Armed Forces had destroyed at least five militants in the Idlib de-escalation zone. The terrorists were thrown back to their original positions while trying to infiltrate the military positions in the area of Kafer Ruma. There were no casualties among Syrian servicemen.

On November 17, the US-led coalition aviation violated the rules of use of Syrian airspace by six pairs of F-15 fighter jets 12 times. There were also two cases of violations of the Dec. 9, 2019 deconfliction protocols due to uncoordinated drone flights.