Phone call between the Turkish Defence Minister and his Russian counterpart to discuss the Syrian issue

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar made a telephone call to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu during which they searched several regional files, including the Syrian and Ukrainian files.

According to a statement issued by the Turkish Defence, Akar stressed that Turkey’s primary objective is to ensure the protection of its borders with Syria, and to combat “terrorist” organizations to avoid any new human suffering.

The Turkish minister said talks between Presidents Erdogan and Putin would contribute significantly to peace in the region in general and Syria in particular.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had said days earlier that Russia had requested the postponement of the quadripartite meeting on Syria at the level of deputy foreign ministers, claiming that he could not prepare for it, after consultation with the Assad regime.

Moscow was planned to host a meeting at the level of Turkey’s deputy foreign ministers, Russia, Iran and the Assad regime on March 15 and 16.