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Russia, Turkey 'must jointly resolve Syria crisis'

09 August 2016 02:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has highlighted the importance of cooperation between Turkey and Russia in finding a solution to the long-standing Syria conflict, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.

In remarks made during an interview with Russia’s TASS wire service and state television Rossiya 24 prior to his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, Erdogan on Monday said: “I must tell this clearly, the most important step, and primary actor in bringing peace to Syria is the Russian Federation.

"I think that we, Russia and Turkey, should resolve this [Syria] issue by taking a step together."

He added that if need be, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.S too could be included in the process. In a reference to the Bashar al-Assad regime, he said: “Of course, we are not up for backing the killer who committed the state terrorism. Let the Syrian nation elect the one or ones who will rule them.”

About the opposition’s hopes for excluding Bashar al-Assad from the solution to the crisis, Erdogan said: “In this regard, Iran can be included in this issue; we all desire to end the blood and deaths as soon as possible.”