Turkish committee to visit Russia on Dec. 29 to discuss Syria

A committee of Turkish officials, including the Turkish foreign and defense ministers and the head of Turkish intelligence, will pay a visit to Russia on Saturday, Dec. 29 to discuss the latest developments in Syria, AK Party spokesman Ömer Çelik said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın and National Intelligence Organization (MIT)'s chief Hakan Fidan will be among the officials visiting Moscow, Çelik said.

A Turkish committee will also pay a visit to Washington soon, the spokesman said, adding that U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is scheduled to come to Turkey after New Year's in early January.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had said Tuesday that he would have a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin regarding the U.S. withdrawal from Syria, saying "The U.S. did its part" by announcing their pullout.

On Wednesday, Washington announced it will be withdrawing all of its troops from Syria, following a conversation between Erdoğan and U.S. Trump over an imminent Turkish cross-border operation to eliminate PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) terror group from northern Syria.

It has been reported that the U.S. still has about 2,000 troops in Syria, many of whom are working in close cooperation with the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Following Trump's move, Erdoğan said Friday that Turkey had decided to postpone its cross-border operation into areas controlled by the YPG in eastern Syria for some time.