Foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Russia, Iran meet in Moscow

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Russia and Iran met in Moscow on Wednesday, May 10, marking the highest-level talks between Ankara and Damascus since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.

Russia’s foreign ministry praised the meeting, saying that it occurred under a “positive and constructive atmosphere”. “We hope that our talks will contribute to laying out a roadmap for restoring Syrian-Turkish relations to normal,” added the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavarov.

Moscow has long pushed for the two countries to find an understanding. Observers say Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped that a settlement before Turkish elections on May 14 would herald a favourable result for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a figure that has long appeased Putin.

Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad, on the other hand, has dragged his feet. After Wednesday’s meeting, Syria’s Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, said that “despite all the negatives of the past years, there is an opportunity” for Damascus and Ankara to work together. However, he stressed the precondition of ending Turkey’s presence in the country. “Without progress in this matter, we will remain stagnant and will not reach any real results,” Mekdad was quoted as saying.

Turkey has invaded Syria three times since 2016, occupying large swathes of the country’s north and positioning its armed forces along the contact line in Idlib between the Syrian government and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front), a jihadist group.

After the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that he had stressed the need for “cooperation in the fight against terrorism and working together to establish the basis for the return of Syrians.”

Cavusoglu said “taking the political process in Syria forward and protection of Syria’s territorial integrity” were the other issues discussed.

Government officials of Syria and Turkey have held a number of meetings since last year. In December, the two countries’ defense ministers had met in Moscow.

Reporting by Sasha Hoffman