MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan can have a telephone conversation soon, Kremlin Aide Yuri Ushakov said responding to a question from TASS.
"What I do know is that Turkey has requested an opportunity to talk over the phone. We will coordinate the time and answer," Ushakov commented.
Erdogan earlier told reporters at a news conference in Ankara that he planned to discuss the situation in Syria with the Russian leader. According to the Turkish president, Ankara "will honor its part of the commitments under the agreements that had been reached to the very end." "We do not back away from the memorandum," he added.
On October 9, Turkey launched a military incursion into northern Syria, codenaming it Operation Peace Spring. The Erdogan government claimed that its goal was to establish a 30 km-long buffer zone in Syria’s north, where over 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey would resettle. Damascus branded the operation as an act of aggression, while the international community condemned Ankara’s actions.
On October 22, at a meeting in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a memorandum on joint actions aimed at resolving the crisis in northeastern Syria. In accordance with the document, on October 23, Russian military police and Syrian border guards were deployed to the areas bordering the 30-kilometer safe zone, which Turkey is trying to set up.
On October 29, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the Kurds had completed the withdrawal of their armed units from that safe zone.
On Thursday, November 7, Erdogan stated that the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, which Ankara branded as terrorists, had not withdrawn their fighters from northeastern Syria yet.