Global Courant 2023-05-10 21:15:52
The talks are taking place as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad restores ties with regional powers after more than a decade of isolation.
The foreign ministers of Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iran have met in Moscow for high-level talks on restoring ties between Ankara and Damascus after years of animosity during the war in Syria.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was quoted by the Syrian state news agency SANA that “despite all the negatives of recent years, there is an opportunity” for Damascus and Ankara to work together.
But the priority for the Syrian government was to end the presence of all foreign armies, including Turkey’s. “Without progress in this matter, we will stagnate and we will not achieve real results,” Mekdad said.
Northwestern Syria includes territory held by opposition groups, including Turkish-backed forces.
Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement that there was a “positive and constructive atmosphere” and that the countries’ deputy foreign ministers would be tasked with drawing up a roadmap to promote ties between Syria and Turkey.
In his opening speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed the hope that the meeting would pave the way for establishing a roadmap for normalizing relations between Turkey and Syria.
Lavrov said he sees Moscow’s task as “not only politically consolidating the progress made, but also setting general guidelines for further movement”.
Moscow is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main ally and Russia has encouraged reconciliation with Turkey. Syrian and Turkish defense ministers also held talks in Moscow in December.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed at the meeting the need for “cooperation in the fight against terrorism and cooperation to lay the foundations for the return of Syrians,” he said in a tweet.
Cavusoglu said that “advancing the political process in Syria and protecting Syria’s territorial integrity” were the other issues discussed.
NATO member Turkey has supported the political and armed opposition to al-Assad during the 12-year war, sending its troops to the north of the country. It also hosts more than 3.5 million refugees from its neighboring country.
Invitation from the Arab League
Also on Wednesday, al-Assad was formally invited to attend the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia on May 19, a telltale sign that Damascus’s regional isolation has thawed.
The foreign ministers of Arab League member states on Sunday at their headquarters in Cairo agreed to restore Syria’s membership after its suspension more than 10 years ago.
Arab states have attempted to normalize ties, working on an “Arab-led political path” to resolve the crisis and continuing direct dialogue on common issues, including the refugee crisis, “terrorism” and drug smuggling.
The re-establishment of ties with Damascus gained momentum following the deadly February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-mediated restoration of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had supported opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
While Saudi Arabia has long resisted normalizing relations with al-Assad, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud visited Damascus last month for the first time in more than a decade, and the two countries also restore embassies and flee between them.
The decision to readmit Syria back into the Arab League has sparked anger among many residents of opposition-controlled areas of Syria and members of the country’s political opposition, who see it as a justification for the government’s attacks against them during what has now been a 12-year war.
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