ISTANBUL (AFP): Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday it was essential to create a “safe zone” inside Syria near the Turkish border, his office said.
Under a 2019 agreement, Russia and Turkey agreed Russian military police and Syrian border guards would start driving a Syrian Kurdish militia 30 kilometres (19 miles) away from the Turkish border.
Ankara views the militia as a terrorist organisation.
Erdogan told Putin in a phone call that “a terror-free zone with a depth of 30 kilometres from the Turkish border… was not established, and that it s imperative to make these areas secure,” according to the Turkish presidency.
He pointed to the Kurdish militants “continued attacks” aimed at Turkey.
Erdogan said last week Turkey would soon launch a new military operation into northern Syria to create a “safe zone” along the border.
The United States has warned against launching a new operation, saying the uneasy NATO ally would be putting US troops at risk.
Turkey has launched three offensives into Syria since 2016 aimed at crushing Syrian Kurdish fighters who assisted the US-led campaign against the Islamic State extremist group.
Ankara alleges these fighters are allied with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 and is listed as a terror group by the European Union and the United States.
– Putin tells Erdogan Russia ready to work to reopen shipping –
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday that Moscow was ready to work with Ankara to free up maritime shipping blocked over the conflict in Ukraine.
“Vladimir Putin noted the readiness of the Russian side to contribute to the unimpeded maritime transit of goods in coordination with Turkish partners. This also applies to grain exports from Ukrainian ports,” the Kremlin quoted Putin as saying in a readout of a call with Erdogan.
The Kremlin said the two discussed “ensuring safe navigation in the Black and Azov Seas” and “eliminating the threat of mines in their waters”.
Putin also repeated claims that global food shortages were the result of “short-sighted” Western policies, saying Russia was ready to export “significant volumes of fertilisers and agricultural products if the relevant anti-Russian sanctions are lifted.”
Russia s offensive in Ukraine and Western sanctions have disrupted supplies of wheat and other commodities from the two countries, fuelling concerns about the risk of shortages and hunger around the world.
Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply.
Dozens of container ships are blocked in Ukrainian ports that are surrounded by Russian forces, choking off exports of wheat, sunflower oil and other foodstuffs, as well as fertiliser for crops.
Black Sea navigation has also been hampered by mines placed by both Russian and Ukrainian forces.
