Erdogan expects extraordinary UN meeting on Aleppo

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday he expects the UN to hold an extraordinary meeting on the Syrian city of Aleppo, presidential sources has said.

Erdogan spoke via telephone with UN Secretary-General-elect Antonio Guterres and made the remark while stressing the importance UN action because of recent developments in the city.

Erdogan also congratulated Guterres on his new post that will begin Jan. 1, according to the presidential source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restriction on talking to media.

Syrian opposition forces in eastern Aleppo reached a cease-fire deal Tuesday with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to evacuate civilians from the city.

More than 1,071 civilians have been killed in eastern Aleppo in attacks by Syrian regime and Russian warplanes since mid-November, according to local sources.

Fierce bombardments have forced most of the city’s hospitals to halt operations, while most academic activities have been indefinitely suspended.

In recent days the Russia-backed Assad regime has reestablished control over parts of Aleppo captured four years ago by armed opposition groups.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which had erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced.

*Reporting by Sarp Ozer; Writing by Emin Avundukluoglu