MESOP : TWINS & PARTNERS – Putin & Erdogan Discuss Syria, Mosul, Bilateral Relations

Shoguna B. Sobir – 19/10/2016 – BasNews – MOSCOW — At the initiative of the Turkish side, a telephone conversation took place this Tuesday night between the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders discussed the developments of Russian-Turkish cooperation and the situation in Syria, reports the Russian President’s official website.

The discussion was about the “further development of bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic, and other areas” according to the statement on the website.“The Russian side stressed, in particular, on the importance of ensuring effective separation of the moderate opposition forces from the militants of Jabhat al-Nusra and their affiliated groups. The two leaders also touched upon the operation in Iraq to retake Mosul from ISIL” reports the statement using another acronym for the Islamic State.  “It was agreed to continue contacts at various levels on bilateral and regional issues.”

The last meeting between Putin and Erdogan took place earlier this October, following a special session of the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul. Following the meeting, and in the presence of the two presidents, the energy ministers of the two countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on the Turkish Stream pipeline www.mesop.de