Erdogan Says Putin Asked Him to Cooperate with Assad Regime

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)
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Erdogan Says Putin Asked Him to Cooperate with Assad Regime

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin... Close Relations and Coordination in Syria (DPA)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin asked him to cooperate with Bashar al-Assad’s regime to resolve the Syrian crisis.

He assured Putin that the Turkish intelligence service is cooperating with the Syrian intelligence in this regard, but what is important is the outcome of this coordination.

“As long as the two intelligence services are working on the matter, we need Russia’s support, and there are agreements and understandings between the two countries in this regard.”

Erdogan made the remarks from the plane on his way back to Turkey, a day after the two leaders met at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The meeting reaffirmed the divergence of positions between the two sides and underscored Moscow’s rejection of a possible Turkish military operation in northern Syria.

Erdogan said Putin adheres to a “fair approach” to Turkey on the Syrian issue and supports Ankara in the fight against terrorism.

The Turkish leader said he discussed with his Russian counterpart the possibility of carrying out a cross-border operation in Syria.

He pointed to their discussion on steps to be taken against terrorist organizations in Syria and agreed to take necessary actions to protect the country’s territorial integrity.

“We agreed on the decision to grant Turkey the right to respond to attacks on its security forces and squadrons of killers who attack civilian citizens,” Erdogan stressed.

In a statement issued after the talks that lasted four hours, Putin and Erdogan underlined the “key importance of sincere, frank and trusting ties between Russia and Turkey for regional and global stability.”

Since May, Erdogan has been talking about Turkey’s plans to launch a new military operation in Syria against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in an effort to link up two areas already under Turkish control in the northern region near the Turkish border.

Erdogan said the aim is to create a 30-km safe zone along the Turkish border with Syria.

Ankara sees the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU. The PKK has been rebelling against the Turkish government for over 30 years.

However, the United States and European countries rejected such step, and so did Russia and Iran, which support the Syrian regime.



Trump Says He Expects Hamas Decision in 24 Hours on 'Final' Peace Proposal

Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Trump Says He Expects Hamas Decision in 24 Hours on 'Final' Peace Proposal

Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

US President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours whether the Palestinian group Hamas has agreed to accept what he has called a "final proposal" for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump said on Tuesday Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.

He was asked on Friday if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, and said: "We'll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours."

A source close to Hamas said on Thursday the group sought guarantees that the new US-backed ceasefire proposal would lead to the end of Israel's war in Gaza.

Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza authorities.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a US takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the UN and Palestinians as a proposal of "ethnic cleansing."