MOSCOW, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday stressed the need to separate terrorists from civilians in Syria's Idlib Province, the last major terrorist stronghold in the war-torn country.

It is necessary to separate terrorists from civilians in order to neutralize them, Lavrov said at a joint press conference following talks with Cavusoglu in Moscow.

A military operation in Idlib to destroy terrorists can trigger a flood of refugees and damage confidence in Turkey and Russia's reliability, Cavusoglu said at the press conference.

"Our task is to eliminate the concerns of our Russian colleagues and destroy the terrorists operating in this region," the Turkish top diplomat said.

Lavrov said the two foreign ministers will discuss the separation of terrorists from civilians in Idlib with Russian and Turkish defense ministers.