A Turkish delegation will travel to Moscow on Monday to discuss Syria and Libya, areas where the nations have some opposing views, for talks that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said would determine Turkey's course of action in the region.
Erdoğan said on Sunday more than 80,000 civilians were migrating from the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib to Turkey, after Russian and Assad forces intensified their air strikes in the area.
The Turkish delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal, visits Moscow weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin's planned visit to Turkey.
Turkey currently hosts some 3.7 million Syrian refugees, the largest refugee population in the world, and fears another wave from the Idlib region where up to 3 million Syrians live in the last significant rebel-held swathe of territory. Erdoğan said on Sunday that Turkey could not handle a fresh wave of migrants.
"We are putting up every effort with Russia for the attacks to stop, and we will continue to do so. In fact, we are sending a delegation to Moscow," Erdoğan said. "They will hold meetings, and we will determine the steps we will take depending on the results," he added.
The delegation will also discuss Turkey's potential troop deployment and military support to Libya, after Ankara and Tripoli signed a military cooperation accord last month.
On Sunday, Erdoğan said Turkey may increase military support to Fayez al-Serraj's Government of National Accord (GNA), which has been fighting off a months-long offensive by the forces of Khalifa Haftar in the east of Libya.
In September 2018, Turkey and Russia agreed to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Since then, more than 1,300 civilians have been killed in attacks by the regime and Russian forces in the de-escalation zone as the cease-fire continues to be violated.
On Nov. 27, Ankara and Tripoli signed two separate memorandums of understanding: One on military cooperation and the other on maritime boundaries of countries in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The maritime pact asserted Turkey's rights in the Eastern Mediterranean in the face of unilateral drilling by the Greek Cypriot administration, clarifying that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus also has rights to the resources in the area. It went into effect on Dec. 8.
Since the ouster of late leader Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: One in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.
