Erdoğan, Putin agree to continue pursuing cooperation, coordination against terrorism

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin confirmed their determination to fight against terrorism together in a phone call, a Turkish presidential source said on Monday.

Erdoğan and Putin discussed the process of establishing new observation posts in the Syrian town of Idlib in a phone call on Monday. During peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, the three guarantor countries Turkey, Iran and Russia agreed to establish de-escalation zones in Idlib, Syria and in parts of the Aleppo, Latakia, and Hama provinces.

A new observation point is to be established 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Turkey-Syria border. Assad regime army elements and Iran-backed groups are around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the deployment point.

On Oct. 12, 2017, the Turkish military started to cross into the region to establish observation points to monitor the cease-fire regime in the Idlib de-escalation zone. Under the Astana agreement, Turkey is set to gradually establish 12 observation points, from Idlib's north to south.

Idlib, located in northwestern Syria on the Turkish border, faced intense attacks by the Assad regime after a vicious civil war broke out in 2011. Since March 2015, Idlib was no longer under the control of the Assad regime and was dominated by military opposition groups and anti-regime armed organizations.

Erdoğan also informed Putin of the latest developments in Turkey's ongoing Operation Olive Branch.

Operation Olive Branch was initiated on Jan. 20 in Afrin to establish security and stability, eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh, and save locals from the terrorists’ oppression and cruelty.