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Turkish minister briefed Russia on progress in Syria operation – Turkish sources

The Iranian spokesman said that until Turkey pulled out, the conflict would only intensify.

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A U.S. defense official told Agence-France Presse in Washington on Tuesday that the Turkish and Kurdish-led forces had reached a “loose agreement” to stop fighting each other.

The call took place at the initiative of the Turkish side.

Cavusoglu told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that progress was being made by the Syrian opposition against Islamic State, the sources said.

“Although the fight against terrorism… is a principle for all peace-seeking governments, it can not and must not justify military operations on another country’s territory without coordination with its central government”, he added.

Ankara regards the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) it has been fighting in southeastern Turkey for three decades.

In the war on terrorism, there is no place for the approaches that would undermine a central government’s political sovereignty and legitimacy, Qassemi added. It denies that any of its professional soldiers are active in Syria – insisting its commanders and generals act purely as “military advisers” – but it also leads large volunteer forces, comprised of fighters from both Iranand neighbouring Afghanistan.

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The report did not specify whether Gholami was killed by Islamic State militants or USA -backed Sunni rebels who are fighting against forces of Iranian-backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

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