ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday claimed that there are ongoing talks between Turkish and Syrian intelligences regarding the fight against terrorism - a claim previously denied by Damascus. Turkish authorities have claimed in recent years that although they do not have diplomatic relations with the Syrian regime their meetings on the level of security and intelligence officials continue. Damascus has totally denied this claim. Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met in Sochi on Friday, discussing a number of issues, including Syria. On his way back to Turkey, Erdogan told journalists that Putin had asked him to coordinate with the Syrian regime in the fight against terrorism. “He specifically states that he will always be with us in the fight against terrorism. Here it implies to us that has an approach such as ‘It would be much more accurate if you prefer to solve them together with the regime as much as possible,’ said the Turkish president on Saturday. “We say that right now our intelligence agency is already dealing with these issues with the Syrian intelligence, but the whole point is to get results. If the terrorist organziations are still active there [Syria] despite the fact that our intelligence is working with the Syrian intelligence, you [Russia] need to support us in this matter,” added Erdogan. Ankara-Damascus relations have been thorny since the Syrian regime responded with violence to nationwide protests in 2011. Turkey supports Syrian rebel forces in the northwest of the country, groups Damascus has labeled terrorists. Turkey has also carried out two military campaigns against Kurdish forces in Syria since 2018, claiming that they are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Ankara has recently threatened to carry out a fresh offensive against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria but the international community, including Russia, have warned against this.
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