Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested holding a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the fifth of next month, and said that his country plans to do what is necessary to rid its control points of the siege of the Syrian regime until the end of this month.
The Turkish President said that it is not possible to categorically talk about holding a four-way summit on Idlib. Media reports have talked in the past days about an agreement in principle between the leaders of Turkey, Russia, Germany and France to discuss the Idlib issue.
Erdogan said in a speech today to members of the parliamentary bloc of the ruling Justice and Development Party, that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, believes that it is better to have a solution only.
He said that the big problem Turkey faces there is the problem of not using the Syrian airspace within the framework of what it is doing in Idlib, but it will find a solution to this, stressing that his country will never back down from its decision to force the regime to withdraw to the borders of the Sochi Agreement.
"We intend to liberate our observation posts from the siege of the regime forces by the end of this month in one way or another," Erdogan added.
The Syrian opposition forces, supported by the Turkish army, took control of the town of Neirab in Idlib this week, but the regime forces continue to advance in other areas of the province.
American support
In other statements to reporters during the return trip from Azerbaijan, Erdogan said that the United States has not yet provided support to Turkey in the Syrian Idlib region, and that he will need to speak with US President Donald Trump on this issue again.
Erdogan added that he was informed that Washington does not have any Patriot defense systems to supply Ankara with it at the present time.
Turkey has set up 12 observation posts around the "de-escalation zone" in Idlib under a 2017 agreement with Russia and Iran, but many of them are now behind the front lines of the Syrian government forces.
On the other hand, Al-Jazeera correspondent said that a Russian delegation will hold meetings today with Turkish officials in Ankara to discuss ways to find a solution to the crisis in the Syrian city of Idlib.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo أوlu said that what his country expects from the meetings with the Russian delegation is to ensure a permanent cessation of the aggression against Idlib.
Gawishoglu added that Ankara's most important priority in the meeting was to reach a cease-fire in Idlib.