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Russian-Turkish 'decisive' summit in Sochi Tues. discusses northeastern Syria developments

(Report by Adeeb Al-Sayed)

MOSCOW, Oct 21 (KUNA) -- Russian and Turkish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan respectively, will be meeting in Russia's Sochi City to discuss the latest developments in northeastern Syria.
The "decisive" summit will tackle the impact of the Turkish military operation codenamed "Operation Peace Spring" on the situation in Syria and Syrian regime's reposition and control of the areas on the Turkish-Syrian border.
Russia expressed its understanding of the Turkish security worries but called on Ankara to confine its military offensive to counter terrorism, ensuring the unity of Syrian lands.
Moscow is eager for Turkey and Syria to hold direct talks to mend differences in accordance with the Adana accord signed between the two sides in 1998.
The agreement allows Turkish troops to enter Syrian lands for the purposes of foiling and countering terrorist plots.
Russians are conflicted over the current situation in Syria.
On the one hand, Moscow is pleased with the current situation northeastern Syria with the Turkish military targeting terror elements; however, Russia is concerned that unchecked and ongoing military operations might complicated things in the region.
Speaking to KUNA on the current status quo, researcher at the civilizations dialogue institute Alexey Malashenko said that Russia had fulfilled the Turkish desire to counter Kurdish elements in the region, which paved the way for the Syrian regime's troops to control the Turkish-Syrian border area.
Malashenko added that Russia wanted is to prevent a military confrontation between Turkish and Syrian troops, noting that Moscow also wanted Kurdish elements to coordinate with the Syrian government within the boundaries of Syria.
With the upcoming summit, the Russians are eager to known what the Turkish government is going to do in the upcoming period in regards to Syria especially with Ankara wanting to establish a safe zone within the neighboring country, said the researcher.
Moscow keenness on maintaining good relations with Ankara and this is equally true when it comes to ties with Damascus, indicated Malashenko, noting that this very idea would be hard to tackle during the Sochi talks in addition to the issue of thousands of terrorists fleeing from Kurdish captivity since Turkey launched its offensive.
While Russia is pleased with the departing of US troops from Syria, the Russian government is still worried about the reemergence of terrorist groups especially the so-called Islamic State (IS), affirmed Malashenko.
Meanwhile, Maria Zakharova -- the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson -- said terrorist groups, namely IS, in the region took advantage of the turmoil east of the Euphrates to renew its hostile activities.
She added that some of the terrorists' family members were residing refugees in camps such as the one on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Al-Hawl close to the Iraqi borders.
Touching on the Sochi summit, Zakharova said that one of the main topics of discussions would be how to deal with the situation in Idlib, Syria, with the Russians claiming that the province was harboring terrorists.
Though the Sochi summit involves Turkey and Russia, Iran -- the third party in the Astana talks for Syria -- will also be interested in the outcome of the Putin-Erdogan meeting.
Russian and Iranian officials held talks in regards to Syria with the main outcome being the importance of maintaining the unity of Syrian lands and stability in the Eastern Euphrates region. (end) as.gta