Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan will hold telephone talks on the situation in Syrian Idlib on Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, said the head of the Presidential Administration of Turkey Fahrettin Altun.
“Our president will hold talks (on Idlib) with Macron, Merkel, Johnson and Trump today”, – Haberturk quoted Altun.
He added that during Erdogan’s telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, they agreed to hold a personal meeting as soon as possible.
The situation in Idlib escalated after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorists launched a large-scale attack on Syrian government positions on 27 February. The SAR army returned fire. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the shelling included Turkish soldiers who should not have been there.
As a result, 33 soldiers of the Turkish Army were killed and more than 30 wounded. Immediately after receiving information about the Turkish military casualties, the Russian side took measures for a complete ceasefire by Syrian troops, and safe evacuation of the dead and wounded Turkish soldiers to Turkey was ensured. The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that no aviation was used in this area.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called a meeting on security after the attack. On Friday, the NATO Council will hold consultations on the situation in Syria in response to the relevant request of Ankara. The U.S. State Department told that it supports Turkey as its NATO ally and “is considering options on how best to support Turkey in this crisis”.
Security of the Russian Embassy in Turkey, which previously received threats, has been strengthened since Thursday evening, the security is provided by police special forces.