Russia 'open to Turkish ops in Syria under Adana Agreement'

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have once again met in the Russian city of Sochi to determine the fate of Syria. Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov gave an interview to Hürriyet Daily News right after the trilateral summit. Peskov answered our questions in Turkish.

Q: How was the summit?

A: It went well. Now, as the three guarantor countries and the countries that initiated the Astana process, the continuation of this dialogue is very positive every time. This is the first matter…The second is, unfortunately, the fact that the situation is quite uncertain as it was mentioned once again this afternoon. Americans said that they will withdraw, but their president says one thing, people working with him do something entirely different. We do not know how they will proceed, because of this, there is uncertainty. Thirdly, everyone is in favor of Syria's territorial integrity and they are ready to do their very best to protect it. However, on the other hand, everyone finds Turkey's security demands legitimate. This is, in earnest, an understandable right, and the leaders are trying to determine how Turkey can safeguard this right. Of course, now Turkey is saying "I will establish a safe zone, there will be a special arrangement and so on. And we say that there is no need for that, because a deal was signed in 1998 between Turkey and Syria.

Q: Adana agreement…

A: Yes, according to the agreement, Turkey can carry out cross-border operations and doing so is deemed legal. Consequently, the legal ground is evident, and there is no need for a new ground.

Q: In a sense, does Kremlin signal to do an operation without establishing a safe zone by emphasizing the...