Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the Syrian conflict with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in phone talks on Friday after the Turkish army accused Moscow ally Damascus of killing its soldiers in northern Syria.

Erdogan informed Putin of the strike that killed four Turkish soldiers, presidential sources said, which the Turkish army assessed to have been by the Syrian early on Thursday.

Erdogan stressed Turkey’s commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity — Russia had previously said it was “deeply concerned” by Turkey’s incursion while Damascus has called it a “blatant violation of sovereignty”.

The presidents also backed the process to normalize relations between Russia and Turkey after the crisis sparked by the shooting down by Turkish forces of a Russian jet over Syria last year.

Source: AFP