Turkey calls Russia to continue its influence over Assad in Aleppo evacuations

ANKARA

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım spoke to his Russian counterpart, Dimitry Medvedev, on the phone late on Dec. 15 to ask Russia to pressure Damascus to uphold the continuation of civilians’ evacuation from Aleppo, sources from the prime ministry said.

Yıldırım said he expected Russia would continue to use its influence over relevant actors in Aleppo to maintain evacuation operations are carried out without further security risks and damage to civilians. He also stated that Turkey would “take the necessary measures to improve human conditions and guarantee the evacuation continues.” 

Stressing that the regime and the opposition should be encouraged to seek political processes for a solution, Medvedev said they were closely monitoring the issue and were expecting Turkey to pressure opposition forces to comply with the ceasefire.

Both prime ministers mutually expressed their agreement to stay in close contact for regional and other international developments, including Syria, and mutually shared their contact information for “hotline” implementations between their offices.

Medvedev also expressed his condolences to Turkey over the Dec. 10 Istanbul terror attack that killed 44 and wounded hundreds.