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Erdogan-Putin summit highlights differences over Syria

Ankara gets little out of Moscow regarding its plans for northern Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan attend Russia-Turkey talks in an expanded format at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia January 23, 2019. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1489354BE0

It may be too harsh to say that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned empty-handed from his summit in Moscow this week with President Vladimir Putin. On the plus side, there was much talk about having agreed to increase the already burgeoning economic cooperation.

Erdogan, nevertheless, appears not to have gotten much out of this summit with regard to Turkey’s expectations in Syria. He had traveled to Moscow to discuss, as his main priority, northern Syria in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out US forces from the area.

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