Turkey plans to host four-way summit on Syria in September

Turkey is planning to host a summit with Russia, France and Germany in September on developments in war-torn Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in front of Turkish journalists, according to a report Sunday in the Haberturk newspaper.

"We will address regional topics at the four-way meeting in Istanbul," said Erdoğan. There has been no confirmation of the summit planned September 7 in Istanbul from Berlin, Moscow or Paris.

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and top general Valery Gerasimov to discuss the situation in Syria.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the talks had centred on the "preparation of conditions for the return of refugees" to Syria, which has been in the grip of civil war for seven years.

Lavrov and Gerasimov have also recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in order to discuss the same issue.

The report of the summit comes a day ahead of a meeting in the Russian city of Sochi between Russia, Iran and Turkey on Syria.

Russia is the main military backer of the Syrian government, while Turkey supports the rebels. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad recently announced the retaking of the rebel stronghold of Idlib in north-western Syria, a move that Turkey wants to prevent as it would likely cause Syrians to flee towards Turkey to avoid clashes.