Erdogan and Putin To Meet on Oct. 22, as Heavy U.S., Russian Diplomacy Under Way

Oct. 17, 2019 (EIRNS)—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 22 in Sochi to discuss Syria, after Putin made the invitation in their phone call on Oct. 15.

At the same time, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met with U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien on Oct. 16 in Ankara, where they discussed the latest developments in northern Syria. Turkey’s Chief of Staff Gen. Yasar Güler discussed the latest developments with British Chief of the General Staff Gen. Nick Carter on the same day.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday Russia will continue efforts to broker dialogue between Turkish and Syrian authorities on ways to improve the situation along their border. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded to Lavrov’s statement, saying: “Russia made this statement with good intentions. It can express readiness to cooperate with the [Bashar al-Assad] regime in Syria. It can show goodwill, calling for control over more areas in Syria, like it was with Manbij. This is not the first time that Moscow has shown such an approach. The Russian President earlier invited Tayyip Erdogan to discuss all these issues,” he said, reported TASS, citing the official Anadolu Agency. Cavusoglu stated that the recognition of Turkey’s “rightful concern about ensuring national security” is crucial.