MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held a telephone conversation with this Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Reuters reported citing Erdogan's administration.

According to the administration, Erdogan noted that the attack on Turkish military personnel in Syria damages joint peace efforts in the region. The Turkish leader added that Ankara will use its self-defense rights in case of a similar attack.

On Monday, Turkish aviation and artillery delivered strikes at 54 targets in Idlib, as a result of which 76 Syrian servicemen were "neutralized," according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. This attack came as a response of Syrian army's shelling of the Turkish positions near Saraqib, in which five Turkish servicemen and three civilian personnel were killed.

The Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides in Syria said that Turkish military came under fire by Syrian government forces late Monday because the Turksh side did not notify Russia about its movements. The Syrian forces opened fire on terrorists that were retreating to Saraqib.