Erdoğan, Putin talks begin in search of ceasefire in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on March 5  began talks over a potential ceasefire in northern Syria with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

In his opening remarks in Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin thanked Erdoğan for accepting his invitation for talks on the recent escalation and offered condolences for fallen Turkish soldiers in Idlib.

Direct and personal talks are needed with Turkey to address the aggravated situation in Idlib, Putin said.

"Thank you for coming. There is always something to talk about, but now the situation in a well-known area, Idlib, has escalated so much that it requires our direct and personal conversation," Putin said.

Putin stated that neither Damascus nor Moscow was aware of the presence of Turkey's soldiers in the area where an airstrike killed at least 34 Turkish troops on Feb. 27.

"The loss of life is always a great tragedy. Unfortunately, as I told you on the phone, no one, including the Syrian military, knew about their [Turkish soldiers] whereabouts," he added. Putin went on to say that the Syrian regime forces have suffered great losses in Idlib, the last opposition stronghold in Syria.

"We need to talk about the situation that has developed to date so that nothing like this happens again, and so that it does not destroy the Russian-Turkish relations, which I, and as I know, you too, treat very carefully," he said.

Erdoğan said the decisions taken at the meeting would ease tensions in the region and in Turkey.

"The problem in the region is great. I know that the eyes of the world are on here right now. The right decisions that we will take today will make the region and our countries comfortable. We are in an era in which Turkish-Russian relations have reached...