Talks at the level of foreign ministers between Türkiye and Syria were held in Moscow on Wednesday, with the participation of Russia and Iran’s top diplomats as well as sides seeking to give momentum to the normalization of ties.
On Wednesday, a landmark quadripartite meeting of foreign ministers of Türkiye, the Assad regime of Syria, Russia and Iran was held in Moscow. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu represented Türkiye at the meeting, first at this level.
Russia and Iran seek to convince Ankara and the Assad regime to restore their ties through the talks.
Çavuşoğlu said that at the gathering, he stressed the need for “cooperation in the fight against terrorism, working together to establish the basis for returns of Syrians, taking the political process in Syria forward and protection of Syria’s territorial integrity.”
The meeting was closed to the press while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave an opening speech.
Lavrov expressed hope that the meeting would pave the way to draft a normalizing road map. Lavrov said he sees Moscow’s task as “not only in consolidating politically the progress that has been made but also in determining general guidelines for further movement.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, Syrian regime media quoted Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad as saying that Syria and Türkiye “shared goals and common interests.” He said that “despite all the negatives over the past years,” Damascus saw the talks as an opportunity “for both governments to cooperate with the help and support of our friends Russia and Iran.”
Russia’s long-standing effort to open a channel of dialogue between Türkiye and the Bashar Assad regime paid off last year, as the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Türkiye, Russia and the Bashar Assad regime met in Moscow on Dec. 28.
The US has no interest in this reconciliation.
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