Erdoğan, Putin discuss besieged Aleppo over phone

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the grave situation in the Syrian city of Aleppo with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin by phone on Nov. 30 for the third time in a week, with the two “agreeing on the need for a ceasefire,” presidential sources said. 

The sources said the two leaders agreed to step up efforts to stop clashes in Aleppo and deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in the besieged city. 

The phone call marks the third such communication between the two leaders since Nov. 25, amid an ongoing normalization of relations but continued disagreement over the war in Syria.

Located 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Turkish border, Aleppo is Syria’s second-largest city. It used to be home to around three million people, mainly Arabs but also including around 400,000 Turkmens and 200,000 Kurds.        

A year after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, opposition forces took control of the city’s eastern districts.        

In 2013, the Bashar al-Assad regime began a campaign of indiscriminate bombardment on the city, triggering an ongoing humanitarian crisis.