Turkiye has asked Russia to clear Kurdish forces from northern Syria, which it blames for a bomb blast in Istanbul last month that killed six people.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a telephonic call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said the Kurdish fighters must be cleared from the border to a depth of at least 30 kilometres.

Ankara and Moscow had signed an agreement in 2019 under which a 30-kilometre "safe zone" was established to protect Turkey against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory.