Turkish, Russian teams to continue talks on Idlib

Russian officials had talks with Turkish interlocutors on Feb. 8 aimed at stopping the Syrian government's offensive in Syria's northwestern Idlib region and halting an imminent humanitarian catastrophe there.

In Ankara, officials from Turkey and Russia held three hours of talks, agreeing to meet again next week, the Foreign Ministry said after the initial talks.

"The situation in Idlib was discussed. Steps that could be taken to establish peace on the ground as soon as possible and advance the political process were evaluated," said the ministry.

Turkey was represented in talks as a team under the leadership of Deputy Minister Ambassador Sedat Önal, made up of officials from the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, General Staff and National Intelligence Organization (MİT). The Russian team included representatives of military and intelligence authorities, chaired by and the Special Representative of the Russian Federation Ambassador Alexander Lavrentiev, said the ministry.

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara on Feb. 7, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu repeated that Turkey would do whatever is necessary to stop a humanitarian tragedy in Idlib, where on Thursday Russian-led Syrian forces entered the strategic town of Saraqeb. "A delegation from Russia will arrive in Turkey. We will hold talks. Our goal is to stop the [Syrian] regime's aggression and move the political process forward," he said.

Russia-backed Syrian forces have pressed to capture Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in the country, displacing more than half a million people since early December. Their shelling last week killed eight Turkish personnel, prompting a retaliation. The escalation in Syria's nearly nine-year-old war disrupted fragile cooperation...