Turkey, Russia agree to build strong Syria mechanism: FM

Turkey and Russia have agreed to build a mechanism on Syria which includes intelligence members, diplomats and military representatives, Turkey's foreign minister has said, underlining that the first bilateral meeting of this mechanism will take place in St. Petersburg on Aug. 11. 

"In the past, we had separate mechanisms with Russia on Syria. Now, we are bringing intelligence, Foreign Ministry and military mechanisms together," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency in an interview on Aug. 10. 

The formation of this mechanism was agreed to during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Çavuşoğlu said. 

National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Hakan Fidan and representatives form the Foreign Ministry and Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will depart for Russia late on Aug. 10 for the meeting in St. Petersburg, he added.
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