Russia says Turkey, Syria to resume talks similar to Astana
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday that communication between Turkey and Syria will continue on different levels – similar to Astana, without setting the date and place of the next meeting.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Vershinin, said in a statement to TASS that several meetings have been held between high-level officials from Syria and Turkey, and that these communications will continue at the same level “and most importantly prove effective.”
The Russian official announced the intention to hold another meeting similar to Astana.
On June 20 and 21, the 20th round of Astana Peace talks on Syria was held in the Kazakh capital, Astana, with the participation of the Syrian government and opposition, the guarantor countries Russia, Iran and Turkey, representatives of the UN, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq as observers.
Kazakhstan announced at the end of the Astana meetings that it would be the last, justifying the situation in Syria has witnessed a dramatic change, especially after Syria resumed ties with neighboring countries and its return to the Arab League.
The initial talks on Syria in the Kazakh capital began in January 2017.
Russia, on the other hand, swiftly overshadowed Kazakhstan’s announcement and stressed that all parties are committed to the course that will “move to a new platform to continue the rounds.”
The last meeting focused on the Syrian-Turkish ties. The two parties discussed mutual terms concerning the Turkish military presence in northern Syria.
The Syrian-Turkish normalization process began on December 28 2022, in Moscow when military leaders of Russia, Syria, and Turkey held discussions and were joined later by Iran in a subsequent meeting.
The quadruplet meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria on May 10 in Moscow issued the decision to prepare a roadmap to develop relations between Syria and Turkey.
Vershinin said that Kazakhstan “worked hard for this coordination. I have a feeling it still has the ability to continue its efforts.”