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Russia has goodwill to broker dialogue between Ankara, Damascus, says Turkish top diplomat

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow'd continue efforts to broker dialogue between Turkish, Syrian authorities on ways to improve the situation along the border

ANKARA, October 16. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement about Moscow’s readiness to contribute to cooperation between Ankara and Damascus was a gesture of goodwill, Turkish top diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

"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 [Turkish President Recep] Tayyip Erdogan to discuss all these issues," he said, as cited by the Anadolu news agency.

According to Cavusoglu, the recognition of Turkey’s "rightful concern about ensuring national security" is crucial.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would continue efforts to broker dialogue between Turkish and Syrian authorities on ways to improve the situation along the border.

On October 9, Ankara announced the launch of Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria. The operation’s goal is said to create a buffer zone along the Turkish border, where, according to Ankara, Syrian refugees residing in Turkey could return. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) slammed the operation as aggression. On Sunday, SANA said that Damascus had sent troops to northern Syria to confront the Turkish army.