20,000 evacuated from east Aleppo, Turkish FM says

ANKARA

A total of 20,000 people have so far been evacuated from eastern Aleppo, Turkey's Foreign Minister announced Monday.

On his official Twitter account, Mevlut Cavusoglu wrote: "Number of those evacuated from East #Aleppo to the area under control of opposition reached 20,000. Our efforts continue."

Under a ceasefire agreement secured last week by Turkey and Russia, civilians trapped in eastern Aleppo have been allowed to go to Syria's opposition-held city of Idlib.

The evacuation process, however, was temporarily suspended on Friday after pro-regime foreign terrorist groups attacked a civilian convoy out of the city, leaving a number of evacuees dead.

It has resumed Monday under last week's deal allowing thousands of civilians and fighters to be evacuated out of the war-torn city.

On Tuesday, a trilateral meeting between Turkey, Russia and Iran on Syria is scheduled be held in Moscow, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

The countries' foreign ministers will discuss the latest developments in Syria, which has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011.