(Daily Sabah)- Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday Turkey would cooperate with Russia "if Russia is sincere in cooperating to establish a permanent cease-fire and transporting humanitarian aid to Syria."
Çavuşoğlu's comments were made in Ankara during a joint press meeting with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Linkevics, after Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated in an interview given to the Greek News Agency on Thursday that it is possible for Turkey and Russia to conduct a joint action regarding Syria."Turkey has been closely supporting with all means of determination in the establishment of a permanent cease-fire in Syria while supporting the transportation of humanitarian aid and reaching a political resolution," Çavuşoğlu said. He further noted all matters are being discussed following the normalization with Russia as he stressed that "if Russia is sincerely willing to cooperate with us in the permanent cease-fire and humanitarian aid matter then we will also cooperate."
The Russian Foreign Ministry further said, "[Regarding Syria] we are constructively discussing the matters that we both have concerns on and the ones we are far from agreeing on. We are closely watching Ankara's actions in a realistic matter as there is no room for illusion or doubt." The Russian Foreign Ministry's official further noted that if needed, there could be a joint action with Turkey in Syria. Çavuşoğlu also commented on the recent attack on UN humanitarian aid trucks en route to Syria by the Assad regime and said "as the recent agreement [on cease-fire] was not followed upon then we must continue our efforts in finding political resolutions and reaching a permanent cease-fire."Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the phone where the two leaders discussed the latest developments in Syria and Operation Euphrates Shield. Erdoğan informed Merkel about the Turkish military's cross-border operation in Syria during the call. The leaders also stressed the necessity to revive efforts to cease hostilities in and around Aleppo as well as in Syria.
‘A proper roadmap necessary for visa-free travel deal with EU'
Adding on to his remarks at the second press conference held with Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen, also in Ankara yesterday, Çavuşoğlu responded to a question on Turkey's visa-free travel to European Union (EU) states and said if a proper roadmap for the agreement were implemented then Turkey is willing to wait until the end of October. Underlining that all three agreements [visa-free travel, readmission agreement and preventing illegal migration] must be implemented, Çavuşoğlu said, "We have suggested to the EU that a concrete roadmap must be determined and that it should be scheduled. We are now waiting for the EU's response as all of these agreements are interconnected and must be implemented together. Either all must be implemented or we will leave them all. If we have an agreement we must implement it."
The Latvian and Danish foreign ministers also met with Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım as well and addressed bilateral relations and regional matters, while the foreign ministers have reiterated their solidarity to Yıldırım following the failed July 15 coup attempt.
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