Erdoğan to meet Putin for Syria talks in Sochi on Sept. 29
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shake hands before their meeting in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Oct. 22, 2019. (AP Photo)


President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's upcoming visit to Sochi to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will take place on Sept. 29.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the violence in northwestern Syria, where Moscow and Ankara back opposing sides.

Turkey has backed opposition groups who sought to topple Bashar Assad regime, while Russia has helped shore up Assad after a decade of conflict.

Both sides have complained about violations of a truce they agreed on 18 months ago in the northwestern Idlib region, the last opposition bastion left in Syria, where Ankara says two Turkish troops were killed in an attack on Saturday.

"The main agenda point is Syria, namely Idlib," a senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the planned talks in the Russian resort of Sochi. "The conditions set out in the Idlib agreement have not been fully implemented."

The March 2020 agreement followed weeks of fighting that brought Turkey and Russia close to conflict and displaced nearly a million people.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that preparations are underway for Erdoğan’s upcoming visit.

"It will be the most comprehensive agenda since bilateral relations started. These relations are multifaceted and the leaders have always something to talk about within this scope," he told journalists.

Peskov said that Turkey and Russia would discuss Syria as well as other regional issues.