Erdogan Talks With Putin on Syria Conflict

Turkey's President, Recep Tayip Erdogan, and Russia's Vladimir Putin have voiced the need for more diplomacy for resolving the conflict in northern Syria, during a telephone conversation that took place on December 3rd after fighting resumed.

According to the media announcement issued by Erdogan's office, the Turkish leader said Syria should not be transformed into a source of great instability.

“President Erdogan stressed that as long as Turkey continues to support Syria's territorial integrity, it also requires a just and permanent solution in Syria”, Erdogan told Putin during the telephone conversation, the Turkish leader's office said in a statement published on the X.

He also said it is important to open more space for diplomacy in the region and that the Syrian regime must engage in the process of political resolution.

Erdogan has pledged that Turkey will maintain its position in terms of the fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PPK), which has been declared a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the United States, and its “extensions”, which are trying to take advantage of recent developments in Syria, was said in the report.

Erdogan and Putin held this telephone conversation at the time the Syrian rebels were advancing against government forces after taking over Alepon last week. On December 3rd, rebels have approached the town of Hama, the rebels and the Syrian Watcher for Human Rights said.

Syrian Human Rights Monitor said on December 3rd that the number of victims from the rebel offensive in northern Syria has reached 602, including 104 civilians.

The attack on the town of Hama would increase pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom Russia and Iran support against opposition forces. This city has been under government control since civil war began in 2011.

Kremlin said Putin stressed the need for “a quick outcome of terrorist aggression against the Syrian state by radical groups”. The two leaders stressed the importance of close co-ordination between Russia, Turkey and Iran over the issue, the Kremlin was said in the announcement released.

The two presidents will continue to be in contact in the context of searching for steps to lower tensions”, the report said.

The Syrian civil war for years was asleep until the great offensive launched by militants in northwest Syria that revived the conflict.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and his allies took control of most of the city of Alepos and surrounding rural areas last week.