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Conflict in Syria

Erdogan hopes joint work with Russia, Syria helps bring more Syrians home from Turkey

According to the Turkish leader, 550,000 people have come back to their homes thanks to this work

ANKARA, January 11. /TASS/. More Syrian refugees will be able to return to their homeland thanks to the joint work with Russia and Syria, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday at the international conference of human rights commissioners ‘The Future of Human Rights in the 21st Century’, held in Ankara.

"I hope that more refugees will return to Syria through our diplomatic efforts with Russia and Syria. To date, 550,000 people have come back to their homes thanks to this work," he said.

Erdogan recalled that Turkey "has sheltered about four million deprived and destitute Syrians, including 3.5 million who fled the combat area" since the crisis broke out in Syria. He added that the trilateral work of Turkey, Russia and Syria "has begun bearing fruit."

On December 15, Erdogan said that he had offered Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold a trilateral meeting involving Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. According to the Turkish president, the summit should be preceded by negotiations between intelligence agencies, as well as between defense and foreign ministers.

On December 28, the defense chiefs of Russia, Syria and Turkey held consultations in Moscow. Ankara said that those relations could potentially lay the basis for a meaningful political solution to the Syria crisis, including the refugee issue.

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Syrian conflict

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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