Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has an instrumental role in the evacuation of the civilians in East Gouta."

Speaking at a news conference alongside Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Moscow, Putin announced that President Erdoğan helped for the evacuation of civilians from Eastern Ghouta but did not give any time or details when the civilians were evacuated.

No civilian evacuated from the region during the "ceasefire" in East Ghouta, which was implemented between 9.00 am and 2.00 pm local time on Tuesday. Assad regime and opponents accused each other of not obeying to the ceasefire.

The Syrian regime, with the support of Russia, has intensified attacks on the Eastern Ghouta in the past month, more than a thousand people lost their lives in the attacks while thousands of people injured.

The people of the East Ghouta region, where about 400,000 people live, are experiencing a "humanitarian crisis" because they cannot even meet their most basic human needs. 

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said late Wednesday that Erdoğan discussed the evacuation with Putin one month ago, demanding the transfer of about 700 civilians to Turkish hospitals for medical treatments.

Kalın said Russia evacuated these civilians one week after Erdoğan's demand, adding that the injured were brought to southern Damascus instead of Turkiye.

"We did not share the information as the civilians were not brought to Turkey," the presidential spokesperson said. (ILKHA)