Erdogan to visit Russia to meet Putin for talks

Ankara, Aug 5: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet on Friday in the seaside resort of Sochi in Russia.

Turkey’s planned military incursion to attack a Kurdish militia in northern Syria will top the agenda among other regional issues, dpa news agency reported citing Ankara’s state broadcaster TRT as saying.

Moscow had recently advised against such an offensive.

Ankara considers the US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia the People’s Defence Units (YPG) a terrorist group and suspects it is linked to domestic insurgents.

A Turkish offensive in Syria’s north has been on hold since 2019 following two ceasefire deals brokered by the US and Russia.

The two leaders will also discuss the war in Ukraine and a grain corridor deal, TRT added.

Turkey and the UN recently brokered the deal between Kiev and Moscow to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian ports.

According to the Kremlin, on the agenda is also the potential sale of unmanned combat drones from NATO member Turkey to Russia.

Shortly after the start of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Erdogan said he would not rule out arms deals with Russia.

Turkey maintains close ties with both Ukraine and Russia and sees itself as a mediator between the two neighbours.

–IANS