Turkey's Chief of Staff Gen. Akar travels to Russia to discuss Syria

Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar headed to Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi to attend a trilateral meeting with his Iranian and Russian counterparts Tuesday.

According to a military statement, Akar will meet with Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov and Iran's Muhammed Bakiri to discuss regional developments and the Syrian crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Syria's Bashar Assad on the same day and discussed the political process in the war-torn country.

On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also travel to Sochi to attend a trilateral summit on Syria.

Erdoğan was in Russia on Nov. 13 to discuss the Astana process and his visit Wednesday will mark the sixth time he meets his Russian counterpart.

On May 4, Russia, Turkey and Iran signed a deal in the Kazakh capital Astana to establish de-escalation zones in Syria.

The May 4 de-escalation zone agreement envisages the halt of hostilities between Assad regime forces and moderate opposition groups within the zones as well as the creation of conditions for humanitarian access, medical assistance, the return of displaced civilians to their homes and the restoration of damaged infrastructure. The guarantor states previously agreed to take all measures necessary to continue fighting Daesh, al-Nusra and other terrorist groups both within and beyond the de-escalation zones.