Top Turkish delegation to visit Russia for Syria talks

A high-level Turkish delegation including the foreign and defence ministers is to pay a visit to Russia this weekend to discuss recent developments in Syria, according to the governing AK Party spokesman.

The delegation, including Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin, National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, will be in Moscow on Saturday, Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman Omer Celik said at a news conference in the capital Ankara.

President Erdogan could meet his Russian counterpart Putin depending on the outcome of negotiations between Turkish and Russian officials, Celik said.

Celik slammed Israel's Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked for her remarks against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over an expected anti-terror operation in Syria, saying she lacked the standing to criticize Erdogan.

On Sunday The Jerusalem Post quoted Shaked as saying: "I hope that they [YPG] will win in their battle against the Turks. I hope that the international community will prevent Erdogan from massacring the Kurds.”

Shaked was referring to Turkey's planned counter-terror operation against PKK/YPG terrorists in the region east of the Euphrates River in Syria.

The PKK/YPG terrorises Arabs and ethnic Turkmen as well as Kurds in the region, according to Turkish officials.

Since 2016, Ankara has carried out two similar counter-terror military operations in northern Syria.

Last week, US President Donald Trump ordered all US forces in Syria to withdraw from the country, saying Daesh's defeat was his sole reason for being in the civil war-torn country.