Kerry, Cavusoglu discuss situation in Aleppo over phone

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had a phone conversation on Wednesday, which was dominated by the situation in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, diplomatic sources said.

According to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, the two ministers discussed the current developments in Syria, especially in Aleppo.

Cavusoglu mentioned the importance of the evacuation of civilians from Aleppo and added that Turkey continues resolutely its efforts for the evacuation of civilians.

He told that the Assad regime and its supporters violated a cease-fire in eastern Aleppo.

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, at around 10.30 a.m. local time Wednesday, regime forces bombed several residential areas in opposition-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo.

Violence has recently escalated in the city as Syrian regime forces advanced into opposition-held parts of eastern Aleppo on Monday following a five-month siege and persistent aerial bombardment.

The Russia-backed Bashar al-Assad regime had been trying to reestablish control over parts of Aleppo captured four years ago by armed opposition groups.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which had erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced.

Kerry conveyed his condolences to Cavusoglu over Saturday's deadly PKK bombings in Istanbul.

The armed group TAK, an affiliate of the PKK terrorist organization, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Cavusoglu told that there is not a difference between TAK, PYD/YPG, and PKK and that all of them are the "same terrorist organization".

Saturday’s twin terror attacks -- one by a bomb-laden car and the other a suicide bomb -- against riot police near Besiktas’s Vodafone Arena after a Turkish football league match martyred 44 people and left dozens of others wounded.