Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 21 to discuss Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s surprise visit to Moscow, the latter’s first official international trip since the civil war broke out in Syria over four years ago, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Erdoğan reportedly expressed his concerns over the Syrian military’s recent strikes in Aleppo and its environs, which he said could trigger a new wave of refugees, according to sources.
Reuters reported that he also stressed the importance of “fighting all terrorist groups,” underlining the link between the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the Kurdish PYD in northern Syria, and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
