Turkish, Russian top diplomats discuss Syria over phone

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia discussed on Thursday a recent deal between the two countries about northern Syria on the phone.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Sergey Lavrov discussed the progress towards implementing a memorandum of understanding signed after a meeting between Ankara and Moscow in Sochi on Oct. 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The parties agreed to continue coordinating their efforts in order to stabilize the situation in the northeast of Syria as soon as possible," the statement said.

On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi.

Ankara and Moscow reached a deal under which YPG/PKK terrorists will pull back 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) south of Turkey’s border with northern Syria within 150 hours and security forces from Turkey and Russia will conduct joint patrols there.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.