A meeting on Syria with the leaders of France, Germany, and the UK was “good,” Turkey’s president told reporters on Tuesday afternoon just after the meeting.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, both in London for a two-day NATO summit, alongside host British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at 10 Downing Street, the prime ministerial residence.
Speaking to reporters in London after a nearly hour-long meeting, Germany’s chancellor said she had a “good and useful” meeting with the leaders and discussed their efforts to end the conflict in Syria.
“We agreed that the fight against Daesh should continue,” she said, adding that authorities from these countries would continue their discussions on this matter.
“Secondly, we all reaffirmed our support for the efforts of UN Special Envoy [Geir] Pedersen for a political process, for the meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, and we will be more active on that,” she said.
Following the meeting, 10 Downing Street issued a statement.
During the meeting, leaders agreed that “attacks against civilians” in Syria, including those in Idlib, must stop.
The statement also cited their support for the UN-backed political process in Libya with Ghassan Salame, Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.
The leaders discussed Turkey’s operation targeting the terrorist YPG/PKK in northern Syria.
Turkey on October 9 launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the European Union — has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
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