Upon his arrival at Sochi International Airport, President Erdoğan was welcomed by Mayor of Sochi Anatoly Pakhomov, Head of the State Protocol Department at Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Igor Bogdashev, Turkiye's Ambassador to Moscow Mehmet Samsar and Turkiye's Consul General in Novorossiysk Yunus Emre Öziğci.

Accompanying President Erdoğan on his visit to Russia are First Lady Emine Erdoğan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak and Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar.

President Erdoğan meets with Iranian President Rouhani

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran prior to the summit. Following their tête-à-tête, the two leaders co-chaired the meeting between the Turkish and the Iranian delegations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation in Sochi ahead of the Trilateral Summit on Syria, which will be held with the participation of President Putin of the Russian Federation and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran.

President Erdoğan and President Putin of Russia co-chaired the talks between delegations of Turkiye and Russia.

Making a statement prior to the talks, President Erdoğan thanked President Putin, who had extended his condolences to Turkiye for the collapsed building in the Kartal district of Istanbul.

"We attach great importance to preserving the Idlib memorandum"

Pointing to the U.S. decision to pull out from Syria as one of the most important challenges on their agenda, President Erdoğan noted that there remain uncertainties as to how the U.S. will execute the decision, and underscored that it is of utmost importance that Turkiye and Russia work together in the face of the new situation.

"We should adopt a course of action which focuses on protecting Syria’s territorial integrity and on defeating terror in all its forms, including PYD/YPG and DAESH. Syria's territorial integrity cannot be ensured unless the PYD/YPG is cleared from Manbij and east of the Euphrates, and these areas are handed over to their true owners," President Erdoğan said.

Underlining that Turkiye supports the idea of a safe zone in Syria as long as it serves to address its national security concerns, President Erdoğan said that they continue to discuss the details with the U.S., that they welcome Russia’s positive approach toward the idea, and that they want to act in coordination regarding the issue.

Noting that the view that the U.S. is trying to give its withdrawal a subtle image by planning a safe zone must be kept in mind, President Erdoğan said: "We attach great importance to preserving the Idlib Memorandum. We expect that Russia maintains its commitment to the deal reached on the issue."

"The impasse regarding the constitutional committee must be overcome in Syria"

Highlighting Turkiye’s intense efforts for the problem concerning the radical groups in Idlib to be resolved, and to ensure that there is no attack against Russia’s Hmeymim base, President Erdoğan said he welcomes the agreement reached by military authorities on conducting joint patrols in the region.

Stating that the UAVs scanning the demilitarized zone found no elements with heavy weapons, President Erdoğan said: "It is very important that the cooperation which took place regarding the use of airspace in Idlib also takes place in Afrin and the area covered by Operation Euphrates Shield."

President Erdoğan also underscored that there will be full coordination with Hmeymim base concerning the flights.

"The impasse regarding the Constitutional Committee must be overcome in Syria," President Erdoğan said and added that the formation of the constitutional committee may soon be concluded, taking into account reservations expressed by the UN.

ILKHA