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Erdogan says no ‘full’ agreement on Syria summit
ISTANBUL, Feb 25, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Tuesday said there was not yet a full accord between Russia, and European
Union heavyweights France and Germany to hold a summit over the escalating
violence in Syria’s Idlib.
“There is no full agreement” between French President Emmanuel Macron,
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he told
reporters in a televised press conference before travelling to Azerbaijan.
Erdogan on Saturday announced he would hold a four-party summit with the
leaders of Russia, France and Germany on March 5.
However, the Turkish leader on Tuesday said he might instead hold face-to-
face talks with Putin on March 5, either in Istanbul or in Ankara.
Turkish troops have come under deadly fire from Syrian government forces
this month in the northwestern Idlib province — the last rebel enclave.
The clashes have prompted negotiations between Turkish and Russian
delegations in Moscow and in Ankara which have so far proved fruitless.
Erdogan said a Russian delegation would come to Turkey on Wednesday for
another round of talks.
A months-long offensive by Russia-backed Syrian troops against rebels
backed by Turkey in Idlib has seen hundreds of thousands of people flee the
violence.
The United Nations warned on Monday against an imminent “bloodbath” as the
fighting in Idlib was coming “dangerously close” to encampments holding
around a million displaced people.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1355 hrs