UPDATE 3 - Turkish, Russian presidents to meet in Sochi

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH PRESIDENT; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Ahmet Salih Alacaci

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet on Feb. 14 in Russia's coastal city of Sochi, where they will discuss Syria.

"We will meet with Putin on Feb. 14 in Sochi," Erdogan told Turkish state broadcaster TRT News in an exclusive interview on Sunday.

The president said Turkey, Russia and Iran will hold the second Syria summit in Sochi and hoped that the summit would contribute to the situation in Syria.

Erdogan, Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani first met in Sochi in 2017.

Turkey and Russia, together with Iran, are the guarantor countries which brokered a cease-fire in Syria in December 2016, leading to the Astana talks, which are running parallel to the Geneva talks.

Erdogan said a Turkish delegation just returned from Russia with progress on Syrian agenda.

"We hope that this positive development will ensure the [terrorist] organizations to leave here [Syria] and rightful owners to return to their lands," he added.

The president said that around 300,000 Syrian people returned from Turkey to their lands so far.

Erdogan criticized Washington’s failure to leave Syria's Manbij within 90 days as previously promised and signaled for a possible operation east of Euphrates River.

"I hope that they fulfill this shortly because we do not want to live under threat. That is why we have all the preparations ready if we see the signs of threat," he added.

In recent days, Turkish officials said Turkey has completed all preparations for an operation east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, which Ankara said would serve territorial integrity in the war-torn country.

- Turkey backs Syrian territorial integrity

"Turkey’s policy in northern Syria centers on Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity. In other words, we are against breaking up the Syrian people," Erdogan said.

Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, including Al-Bab, Afrin and Azaz, making it possible for Syrians who fled the violence there to return home.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG/PYD is the group's Syrian branch.

Erdogan said the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey has organic ties to PKK/YPG/PYD terror group.

"The HDP is equal to PKK and that is equal to YPG and PYD. No ifs and buts, it is the truth," he added.

- 'FETO operations to continue'

About Turkey's fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, Erdogan said the operations against the terror group will continue.

"There are more operations to be carried out. They still exist in state institutions, in our police, military and other places. Therefore, it is not easy. It is like a metastasis," he said.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Erdogan said that the recents efforts by the FBI could affect the U.S.' decision to extradite Gulen to Turkey.

Ankara has long sought the extradition of Gulen and expressed frustration with delays on the U.S. side.

- Murder of Suadi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Regarding the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi early October at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Erdogan reiterated Turkey's commitment to the issue and demanded answers from Saudi Arabia.

"We want everything to come to light. There is a savagery at stake, a murder. Why are you hiding it?" he added.

Erdogan said that the murder was planned by 22 people, 15 of whom arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate on the day of the killing.

"What they [Saudi Arabia] say is '22 people are arrested now'. Despite this, we have some information. They might have taken some of them out. They might be victims of traffic accidents. Because the system there is working very weird," he said.

Erdogan also criticized the U.S.’ silence on the issue, saying: "I cannot understand the silence of the U.S. in the face of all this savagery. We have had the U.S. intelligence listen to the audio tape and the CIA director [Gina Haspel] briefed the Senate. Our intelligence president [Hakan Fidan] also briefed seven senators."

Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post, was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After producing various contradictory explanations, Riyadh acknowledged he was killed inside the consulate building, blaming the act on a botched rendition operation.

Turkey has sought the extradition of the Saudi citizens involved in the killing as well as a fuller accounting of the killing from Riyadh.