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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Monday to try to come to an agreement over the Syrian rebel stronghold of Idlib.

The leaders of the two countries are on opposite sides of the deadly seven-year conflict but remain key global allies.

"We have a lot of issues to discuss, including difficult ones," Putin said at the start of the talks at his residence in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

He added that the meeting would help "find solutions for where there are none yet."

"I think not just the region, but the entire world has eyes focused on our meeting today," Erdogan said for his part, in comments that were translated into Russian.

"I believe that the statement we will make after the Sochi meeting will give new hope to the region," he added.

Russia-backed forces of the Syrian regime have massed around Idlib province in recent weeks, sparking fears of an imminent air and ground attack to retake the last major opposition bastion.

The United Nations and non-governmental organisations have repeatedly warned that such an offensive would unleash a "bloodbath" and "humanitarian catastrophe" in Idlib, which is home to three million people.

Turkey has intensified negotiations with Russia to avert a possible attack, repeatedly calling for a ceasefire.

Erdogan and Putin met previously on September 7 in Tehran for a three-way summit with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that saw the Russian and Turkish leaders openly disagree over how to deal with the rebel stronghold, which borders Turkey.

"The situation with Idlib is acute," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA Novosti state news agency ahead of the talks Monday.

"There are certain differences in approaches" between the leaders, he added.

- Mass exodus fears -

The two men met as Turkey's military has sent significant reinforcements to Idlib in recent weeks, according to media reports.

They were sent over the border Sunday and included tanks and other hardware, with a convoy of 50 military vehicles, according to the Hurriyet daily.

Russia and Iran are key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Turkey however backs opposition fighters seeking the ouster of the Syrian leader, and has said a large-scale offensive against the rebels could trigger a mass exodus towards its border.

Russian and Syrian air strikes, artillery fire and barrel bomb attacks have killed more than 30 civilians across the province in the past month, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The bombardment has slowed over the past week, however, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that the Syrian regime is not preparing a major offensive against Idlib, adding that Moscow will do everything to protect civilians.

"What is being presented at the moment as the beginning of a Russian-backed offensive by Syrian forces is not a faithful representation of the facts," Lavrov said.

"We are doing everything to ensure that the civilian population would not suffer," he said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday said Turkey was ready to cooperate with anyone in the fight against terror groups in Syria, but criticised the Damascus regime for using the presence of jihadist groups to legitimise a possible operation in Idlib.

The Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, when the Assad regime launched a vicious crackdown on pro-democracy protests that evolved into a complex conflict involving jihadists and world powers.

It has killed an estimated 360,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.

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Putin, Erdogan hold talks on Syria's rebel-held Idlib - World ...

This frame grab from video provided by Central Station for Turkish Intervention, an activist-operated media group monitoring Turkish activities in Syria, that is consistent with independent AP reporting, shows a Turkish military convoy heading to some of the 12 Turkish observations points that ring Idlib, Syria, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018. Turkey sent in military reinforcements Thursday to beef up its positions inside Syria's last rebel bastion Idlib, activists reported, even as the Turkish defense minister said Ankara is still trying with Russia and Iran to prevent a humanitarian tragedy in the case of a threatened Syrian government offensive. (Central Station for Turkish Intervention, via AP)

BEIRUT The Latest on developments related to the war in Syria (all times local):

1:15 p.m.

The Kremlin says that President Vladimir Putin could meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next week.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that preparations are under way for Putin's meeting with Erdogan in Sochi on Monday. He wouldn't elaborate on the meeting's agenda, but the two leaders are likely to discuss the tensions in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib.

The Syrian army, backed by Russia and Iran, is preparing for a military offensive to reclaim control over Idlib, the last remaining rebel stronghold on the border with Turkey. Turkey strongly warned against the military action, saying it would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.

Russia has urged Turkey to persuade rebels in Idlib to sever ties with al-Qaida linked rebels in the area.

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1:10 p.m.

Turkey's military and defense chiefs have visited areas bordering Syria where the country has reinforced troops amid fears of a looming Syrian government offensive on Syria's last rebel-held province of Idlib.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Chief of Military Staff Yasar Guler on Friday inspected troops in the border provinces of Hatay and Gaziantep.

Turkey has been reinforcing the border in recent weeks. Syrian activists meanwhile said new military reinforcements had arrived to beef up Turkish observation points inside Idlib.

The state-run Anadolu Agency reported late Thursday that commando units as well as howitzers, tanks, armored personnel carriers and heavy work machines were sent to the town of Reyhanli, in Hatay province as reinforcements

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12:20 p.m.

Turkey's foreign minister says his country is still working for a peaceful solution for Syria's rebel-held province of Idlib, adding that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would hold talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin on Monday.

Turkish media said the two leaders would meet in the Russian city of Sochi.

Speaking during a visit to Pakistan on Friday, Mevlut Cavusoglu said: "We will continue our efforts with Iran and with Russia. ... We will continue our efforts on international platforms as well." His comments were broadcast live on Turkish television.

At a meeting in Tehran last week, the leaders of Russia and Iran backed military operations in Idlib despite pleas from Erdogan for a cease-fire.

Turkey fears a humanitarian crisis in Idlib, which straddles Turkey's borders and is home to more than 3 million people.

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The Latest: Kremlin says Putin could meet Erdogan next week

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey hopes a summit with Iranian and Russian leaders in Tehran on Friday will avert a Syrian government offensive on the rebel-held Idlib enclave and prevent a new influx of refugees to Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying.

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, resumed air strikes against insurgents in Idlib on Tuesday following weeks of bombardment and shelling by pro-Syrian government forces in an apparent prelude to a full-scale offensive against the rebels last major enclave.

The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran are due to meet on Friday in Iran and are expected to discuss the situation in northwestern Syria. Turkey, which backs rebels against Assad, has said an offensive on Idlib would be disastrous. Ankara is sheltering 3.5 million Syrian refugees.

We will take the situation to a positive point at this summit .... God willing, we will be able to hinder the Syrian governments extremism in the region, the Hurriyet newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying overnight.

On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu echoed his comments and called to end the bombing of Idlib, where millions of civilians also live.

If the problem here is the radical groups, a common strategy needs to be adopted. Joint work can be done to eliminate these groups but the solution is definitely not to bomb Idlib in its entirety, Cavusoglu told a press conference.

Turkey has told Russia that these attacks were wrong, particularly before the Tehran summit, he added.

Russia has described Idlib as a nest of terrorists and a festering abscess that must be resolved. A Syrian rebel and a war monitor said Russian air strikes on the province had resumed on Tuesday after a pause of several weeks.

Erdogan, speaking to reporters on his plane back from a visit to Kyrgyzstan, also warned about the potential influx of refugees from Idlib to Turkey in the case of such an offensive, the Hurriyet said.

In a situation like this, where will the fleeing people go to? A large proportion of them will come to Turkey, he was quoted as saying.

On Wednesday, Turkeys defense ministry said Turkish and Russian officials had met in Ankara to hold five days of meetings on developments in Syria. It said joint efforts would continue.

Russias ambassador to Ankara was later cited by broadcaster NTV as saying Turkey and Russia were in contact regarding the latest developments in northern Syria.

The summit that will be held in Iran on Friday is a great opportunity for a solution in Syria, ambassador Aleksei Erkhov was quoted as saying.

Erdogan also said a road map for the northern Syrian city of Manbij endorsed by Ankara and Washington in June was not progressing well, according to the Hurriyet.

As part of the road map, Turkish and U.S. forces are now carrying out patrols in Manbij to clear the area of YPG militants, which Turkey views as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish militants on its own soil.

We are not at an ideal point (on Manbij). Unfortunately the agreement made is not going forward in the same direction as the initial discussions, Erdogan was quoted as saying.

In a meeting on Tuesday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, discussed the developments in Syria.

Later on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke by phone to his U.S. counterpart, Mike Pompeo, to discuss developments in Idlib and Manbij, as well as bilateral ties, a diplomatic source said, amid a widening row between the NATO allies.

Both diplomats agreed that an Syrian government offensive in Idlib would be an unacceptable, reckless escalation, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk, David Dolan and Matthew Mpoke Bigg

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Turkey's Erdogan says attack on Idlib would be a massacre ...

Moscow (AFP) - The Kremlin on Monday said the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey would on Friday hold a tripartite summit in Iran seeking an end to the Syrian conflict.

In a statement confirming the date of September 7 that was reported earlier by Turkish media, the Kremlin said Putin would "make a working visit to Iran" for the talks.

He and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will consider "further joint efforts to ensure long-term normalisation of the situation in Syria," the Kremlin said.

Putin also plans bilateral talks with each of the leaders, it added.

The Kremlin said they would discuss further measures "aimed at finally liquidating the hotbed of international terrorism" in Syria, where the conflict has killed more than 350,000 people since 2011.

Discussions will look at "promoting the process of a political settlement, including creating the conditions for the return of refugees and the internally displaced," the Kremlin said.

The statement did not say where in Iran the talks would be held, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week they would be in Tehran.

Putin, Rouhani and Erdogan have backed Syria peace talks based in the Kazakh capital of Astana which they insist are aimed at reinforcing, rather than undermining, a parallel UN peace process in Geneva.

The three leaders last met for similar tripartite talks in Ankara in April and before that in November last year in the Russian resort of Sochi.

Iran and Russia are the main allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and their military interventions in Syria are widely seen as tipping the balance of the seven-year civil war in the regime's favour.

Turkey has backed rebels seeking to oust Assad but since late 2016 has been working increasingly closely with Iran and Russia to bring peace to Syria.

Preparations for the talks are going on as a Syrian regime offensive is expected imminently in the country's last rebel stronghold, northwestern Idlib province, which Assad wants to recapture to crown a string of military successes.

Turkey has warned that a military operation to take Idlib risks provoking a humanitarian "catastrophe" with 3.5 million people crammed into the region.

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Putin, Erdogan, Rohani to hold Syria talks Friday: Kremlin

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan appealed to Turks religious and patriotic feelings ahead of a major Muslim holiday on Monday, promising they would not be brought to their knees by an economic crisis that has battered the lira currency.

FILE PHOTO - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

The lira TRYTOM=D3 has tumbled some 40 percent this year, hit by worries about Erdogan's influence over monetary policy and a worsening diplomatic rift with the United States. The sell-off has spread to other emerging market currencies and global stocks in recent weeks.

Highlighting the increased tensions, the U.S. embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara came under brief gunfire early on Monday by unknown assailants in an attack condemned by Erdogans spokesman as a bid to create chaos. Nobody was hurt. A person was later detained, Anadolu news agency said.

In a pre-recorded address to mark the four-day Eid al-Adha festival, which starts on Tuesday, Erdogan, a pious Muslim, sounded a characteristically defiant note as he lashed out at those selling the lira.

The attack on our economy has absolutely no difference from attacks on our call to prayer and our flag. The goal is the same. The goal is to bring Turkey and the Turkish people to their knees - to take it prisoner, Erdogan said in the televised address.

Those who think they can make Turkey give in with the exchange rate will soon see that they are mistaken.

Erdogan stopped short of directly naming any countries or institutions, but he has, in the past, blamed a shadowy interest rate lobby, Western ratings agencies and financiers.

Much of the recent tension has centered around a U.S. evangelical Christian pastor, Andrew Brunson, who has been detained in Turkey on terrorism charges, which he denies.

Brunson, originally from North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for two decades and has become an unwitting flashpoint for the diplomatic rift.

On Friday, a Turkish court rejected Brunsons appeal for release, drawing a stiff rebuke from President Donald Trump, who said the United States would not take the detention of the pastor sitting down.

In response to Brunsons case, Trump - who counts evangelical Christians among his core supporters - has said he would double previously announced tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports.

Turkey said on Monday it had initiated a dispute complaint with the World Trade Organisation over the additional tariffs.

The lira weakened to 6.1290 to the dollar by 1546 GMT on Monday, from a close of 6.0100 on Friday.

On Friday two ratings agencies, Moodys and Standard & Poors, further cut Turkeys sovereign rating into junk territory.

The downgrades confirmed prevailing concerns that Turkey is unlikely to avoid a significant slowdown in economic activity and that the liras fall poses a risk to financial stability, said Piotr Matys, an emerging markets strategist at Rabobank.

In addition to the lira, Turkeys sovereign dollar bonds fell and the cost of insuring its debt rose.

The German finance minister said on Monday the Turkish currency crisis posed an additional risk to Germanys economy.

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her Christian Democrats at a meeting that she saw no urgent need to offer financial aid to Turkey to ease the crisis, the partys general secretary said.

Qatar and Turkeys central banks last week signed a $3 billion currency swap agreement, a move designed to provide liquidity and financial stability.

That came days after Qatars emir approved a $15 billion package of economic projects, investments and deposits for Turkey.

Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan and Gareth Jones

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Erdogan invokes patriotism, Islam as lira remains under ...