In this file photo dated May 20, 2022 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Türkiye. (PHOTO / TURKISH PRESIDENCY VIA AP)
ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that he has suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a trilateral meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and trilateral steps on security issues.
"As of now, we want to take a step as Syria-Türkiye-Russia trio," Erdogan told reporters during his flight back from Turkmenistan when asked about Türkiye's security concerns in northern Syria.
The 2019 Sochi deal with Russia envisages the withdrawal of YPG fighters to 30 km south of Türkiye's border with Syria
"For the discussions on this issue, first the intelligence organizations, then the defense ministers, and then foreign ministers of the parties should meet," the state-run TRT broadcaster quoted the president as saying.
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"Let's meet as leaders after their talks. I offered this to Mr. Putin. He viewed it positively," Erdogan added.
Erdogan and Assad have not met since the outbreak of a civil war in Syria in 2011, as Türkiye has backed Syrian rebels politically and militarily during the 11-year crisis.
In the past few months, however, the Turkish president has said he does not rule out a meeting with the Syrian president after more than a decade of severed ties between the two countries.
On the flight back to Türkiye, Erdogan also urged a quick solution to what he called "a terror threat" posed by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from Syrian territory to Türkiye.
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The 2019 Sochi deal with Russia envisages the withdrawal of YPG fighters to 30 km south of Türkiye's border with Syria, he said, adding his country will "take every step" to establish the "safety corridor."
Türkiye carried out an aerial operation against the YPG in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Nov. 20, a week after a bomb explosion in Türkiye's largest city Istanbul killed six and injured 81.
Türkiye will launch a ground operation into northern Syria "at the most convenient time" to build a security strip, Erdogan has vowed several times in the past weeks.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades.