Erdoğan-Putin meeting expected to focus on Syria's Idlib

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will visit Russia's President Vladimir Putin today (September 29) in Sochi.

The most important topic of the meeting will be the recent military activity and air raids in Syria's Idlib province, the last stronghold of the armed groups fighting against the government.

Ankara is concerned that a ground offensive into Idlib may trigger another massive refugee wave into Turkey.

Over the past week, Erdoğan complained multiple times about relations with the US, saying that "We weren't off to a good start with Biden" and the situation "does not bode well."

About the relations with Russia, he said, "Putin has done nothing wrong to us," after returning from the UN meeting in New York last week.

In a CBS interview aired on Sunday (September 26), Erdoğan said Turkey will buy more S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia. In response, the US State Department warned that such a move would have consequences according to the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Government officials yesterday leaked to the press that Erdoğan will meet US President Joe Biden at the next G20 summit, which will take place in Rome at the end of October.

Hosting Syria's President Bashar Assad in Moscow on September 14, Putin said all uninvited foreign powers should leave Syrian soil.

Russia wants Ankara and Damascus to implement the 1998 Adana Memorandum, an agreement between the two countries for cooperation against "terrorism."

In this context, Russia wants the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which has a large military presence and several observation posts throughout Idlib, should leave the province.

Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar admitted yesterday that Ankara and Moscow disagree on the recent air raids, saying that "There are no terrorists among those who died or those who escaped."

"We hope to return to the state of cessation after Mr. President's meeting with Mr. Putin," he said, adding that all parties must work for the ceasefire to become permanent. (PT/VK)