22 December 2017•Update: 22 December 2017
ANKARA
Speaking to his Russian counterpart on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thanked him for his support in Thursday's UN General Assembly vote.
According to presidential sources, Erdogan thanked Vladimir Putin for voting in favor of a UN resolution rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital -- a move that has drawn condemnation from across the world.
In a telephone conversation, the two leaders also agreed to continue close relations in the near future, touched on the Syrian peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, and spoke about energy and defense cooperation, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Among those voting in favor of the UN resolution were Russia, China and several U.S. allies, notably Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, and Japan.
Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem might eventually serve as the capital of an independent state of Palestine.
A major topic of the phone call concerned efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Syria's besieged Eastern Ghouta region.
The two leaders voiced their concern over the possibility of conditions worsening in the region, and discussed what could be done to help the people.
Home to some 400,000 civilians, Eastern Ghouta has been under siege by regime forces since December 2012.
The besieged area falls within a network of de-escalation zones -- set up in Syria by Turkey, Russia and Iran -- in which acts of aggression are forbidden.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.
