UPDATE - Türkiye welcomes Russian forces' retreat from Ukraine's Kherson region

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Russia's decision to pull its forces back from the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson was "positive and important," the president of Türkiye said on Thursday.

"Russia's decision regarding Kherson is positive, an important decision," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in the capital Ankara before leaving for a summit of Turkic countries in Uzbekistan.

Vowing to maintain dialogue with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Erdogan's comments came after Moscow ordered its troops on Wednesday to withdraw from Kherson to the east bank of the Dnieper River.

"I don't know whether there will be Russian participation in the G20 or not. We'll have the opportunity to meet face-to-face there (with Putin). Otherwise, we'll continue to maintain telephone diplomacy with Russia," Erdogan said.

On efforts to normalize Türkiye's ties with Armenia, Erdogan said the country's diasporas in France and the US were hindering the process.

"The diasporas are constantly working against it, both in France and in the US," he said, suggesting that Armenia could turn "the negative efforts of these diasporas into a positive direction."

"If the Armenian administration achieves this, of course, the steps they will take with Azerbaijan over both Lachin and Zangezur (corridors), will positively affect the steps we will take," added the Turkish leader. "We strive to make friends, not enemies."

The Lachin corridor is a road that links Armenia and the Karabakh region under an agreement that ended the 44-day war with Azerbaijan in fall 2020, when Baku liberated that region, located in the South Caucasus, from roughly three decades of Armenian occupation.

Also agreed upon in the cease-fire, the Zangezur route is a planned link through Armenian territory to connect Azerbaijan and its exclave of Nakhchivan.

Erdogan said he believes the Organization of Turkic States summit to begin in Samarkand on Friday would carry cooperation between member nations to a new level.

"At the Samarkand Summit, we're going to hold talks on the future of our organization and deepen our existing cooperation, and we will take important decisions," he said.

Bilateral relations and global matters will be on the agenda in his contacts with heads of states and governments at the Turkic Council Summit, Erdogan added.