'New era' with Russia begins, Turkish PM says

MOSCOW

A "new era" started in relations with Russia, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

"We can say a new era in our relations has started," Yildirim said Wednesday during his first visit to Moscow as a premier.

Yildirim added: "This was confirmed during my meetings with President [Vladimir] Putin and Prime Minister [Dmitry] Medvedev."

He said Russia and Turkey decided to make up for lost time following the "sad" event. Indeed, relations between Russia and Turkey soured in November last year after the downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border.

Syria

Yildirim also said there was "no connection" between Operation Euphrates Shield and a regime change in Syria.

"The operation has just one aim which is to neutralize all the terrorist organizations in the region, particularly Daesh," Yildirim said.

Operation Euphrates Shield began in late August to rid Syria's northern border area of terrorists.

Over 215 residential areas, including more than 1,800 square kilometers (694 square miles) of land in northern Syria have been cleared of Daesh terrorists as part of the operation so far.

Yildirim said Turkey and Russia had a "close" cooperation to ensure peace in Syria.

"Surely, the fate of Syrian people is more important than one person, namely Bashar al-Assad [President of Syria]," he added.

Yildirim said Turkey was one of the most affected countries due to the events in Syria.

"We are in contact with Russia, Iran and other countries in the region on what will happen in Syria in the future. I hope we will soon come to an agreement on this issue," he added.

Yildirim reiterated the main target of Turkey was preserving the territorial integrity of Syria.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.

*Reporting by Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan; Writing by Diyar Guldogan