Turkey wants to hold summit with France, Germany and Russia

Turkey plans to hold a summit in Istanbul on September 7 with France, Germany and Russia to discuss regional issues including the conflict in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quoted Sunday by Hurriyet newspaper as saying

"We will discuss what we can do together in the region," Erdogan said, adding no details about the summit or the issues that would be addressed.

The Turkish president, who 'expressed to Turkish journalists during his trip to South Africa from 25 to 27 July, but added that Turkey would continue its dialogue with Russia "outside this four-fold format."

M . Erdogan had spoken in Johannesburg Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit of emerging countries, the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), to which the Turkish President was invited as other leaders of non-member countries

"We will have separately a summit in Istanbul on September 7 with Russia, Germany, France and Turkey," Erdogan told the Turkish press.

No confirmation was immediately available in Moscow, Paris or Berlin.

Syria's seven-year-old conflict should be at the top of the agenda for such a summit as Russia, Iran and Turkey sponsor despite their the Astana process, which has reduced the intensity of violence on the ground in Syria by setting up "de-escalation zones" last year

Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Turkey supports the rebels who seek t to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, whom Russia and Iran support militarily.

In April, Erdogan welcomed Mr. Putin and the Iranian President Hbadan Rohani to Ankara.

The three leaders are expected to meet in the near future in Tehran, said Erdogan quoted by Hurriyet as saying, without providing an exact date.

Technical talks in the framework of the Astana process on the settlement of the crisis in Syria are planned Monday and Tuesday in Sochi (Russia).