ANKARA, May 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the situation of Syria's Idlib over phone, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.
During the phone conversation on late Monday, Erdogan expressed concerns over cease-fire violations in the past two weeks by forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in the Idlib de-escalation zone.
He said that targeting civilians, schools and hospitals could not be considered as fighting against terrorism.
Erdogan told Putin that tensions in the war-ravaged city aimed at disrupting the Turkish-Russian cooperation and harming the spirit of the Astana peace talks.
The two leaders also affirmed their commitment to the Sochi deal, agreeing to turn Idlib into a de-escalation zone in which acts of aggression would be strictly prohibited.
On Tuesday morning, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar also discussed with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu the latest developments in Idlib in a phone conversation, Turkey's Defense Ministry said.
