Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart today reiterated their “unconditional” support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Kremlin said, after a lightning offensive by rebels seized large swaths of northern Syria.
“Unconditional support was expressed for the actions of the legitimate authorities of Syria to restore the constitutional order and territorial integrity of the country,” the Kremlin statement on the telephone conversation between the two leaders emphasized.
Putin and Pezheskian “underlined the importance of coordinating efforts (…) with the participation of Turkey,” which supports rebel organizations.
Erdogan: We are closely following the developments in Syria
Turkey is closely monitoring and taking all measures to prevent negative developments in the context of its national priorities, the Turkish president said.
The Turkish president welcomed the president of Myrovouni, Yakov Milatovitch, to the presidential palace in Ankara, and after the end of their meeting he said:
“We are closely following the developments that suddenly broke out in the last few days in our neighboring Syria.
As Turkey, we are ready today, as in the past, to contribute to extinguishing the fire in our region.
As part of our country’s national security priorities, we monitor developments in the field at all times and take all measures to prevent any negative actions.
Our greatest desire is to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria and end the instability by consensus in accordance with the legitimate demands of the Syrian people.”
More than 500 dead
More than 500 people have been killed in fighting in northern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in its latest tally.
Specifically, 514 people have been killed, including 92 civilians.
Among the dead, 268 are fighters from the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebel groups, 154 soldiers and pro-government fighters and 92 civilians, the NGO said.
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