In view of the planned withdrawal of US troops from Syria, Turkey and Germany want to stay in close contact. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chancellor Angela Merkel had agreed on a telephone call, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.
In addition to the developments in Syria, the conversation also dealt with the topics of migration and the fight against terrorism.
A spokeswoman for the German government said the Chancellor appreciated the role of Turkey, especially in welcoming Syrian refugees. She also expressed the expectation that Turkey would react with restraint and responsibility to the announced withdrawal of the US troops.
Merkel and Erdogan had stressed the importance of the UN-led political process to resolve the conflict in Syria. Although the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) is pushed back by joint action, it remains a considerable danger.
Offensive postponed
On Saturday, at a ministerial-level meeting in Moscow, Turkey and Russia had agreed to coordinate their actions in Syria more closely. The meeting was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and their respective Turkish counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu and Hulusi Akar.
The US government announced just over a week ago the withdrawal of its ground forces from areas controlled by the Kurdish militia YPG in northern Syria. So far, the YPG has been a close US ally in the fight against IS. Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist organization and wants to expel it with an offensive from the Turkish-Syrian border. After the announcement of the US withdrawal, Erdogan has postponed the offensive but only once.