Turkey's Erdogan arrives in Saudi Arabia for Syria talks

Riyadh - Erdogan said his government and Saudi Arabia are working "in solidarity and consultation" to find a political solution for Syria.

Hours before arriving in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syria's president of "mercilessly" killing hundreds of thousands of people and criticized Russia for backing him.

Erdogan was speaking to reporters before departing for Saudi Arabia, where he will meet Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, for talks focused on the Syrian civil war.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are strong backers of the rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Erdogan said his government and Saudi Arabia are working "in solidarity and consultation" to find a political solution for Syria, as both countries push for an agreement that would remove Assad from power.

In comments apparently directed at Russia's military intervention in Syria, Erdogan said: "You cannot go anywhere by supporting a regime that has mercilessly killed 400,000 innocent people with conventional and chemical weapons."

Russia began airstrikes in Syria on September 30, saying it wanted to support the Syrian government and defeat Daesh militants and other extremists. But many of the strikes have hit Western-backed rebel groups in areas where Daesh is not present, and Syrian activists say the Russian strikes have killed civilians.

The UN says at least 250,000 people have been killed in the nearly five-year Syrian conflict, and some 12 million people displaced, triggering a massive refugee crisis. What began in 2011 as mainly peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring eventually spiralled into an armed conflict pitting rebels against the military, drawing in global powers as well as extremist groups like Daesh.

• MENA