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FM quadripartite meeting to be held in Moscow in May: Turkey FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Apr 2023 20:33
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The Turkish minister says that normalization with Syria would require a quadripartite meeting of the presidents of Turkey, Syria, Russia, and Iran.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (AP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu revealed that Moscow will be hosting in early May a meeting of the Turkish, Syrian, Russian, and Iranian foreign ministers.

"A meeting of four foreign ministers is planned, we discussed it with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov during his visit. We think that such a meeting will take place in early May, I believe in Moscow. We received such information from the Russian side," Cavusoglu said, pointing out that the objective of the meeting would be discussing a political settlement for the Syrian crisis.

The Turkish minister added that the so-called road map for normalization with Syria would require a quadripartite meeting of the presidents.

"You know, the road map for Syria suggests this meeting of leaders. The heads of defense ministries, intelligence agencies, and foreign ministries were supposed to meet in stages. The meeting of the foreign ministers, in turn, implies the preparation of this meeting [between the presidents]," Cavusoglu added.

Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s trip to Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to Turkey will not take place before the May 14 presidential election in Turkey.

"Neither Erdogan’s visit to Russia nor Putin’s visit to Turkey are planned at the moment, but the leaders are holding intensive phone conversations," Cavusoglu told the A Haber broadcaster when asked if state visits are planned before the presidential election.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov revealed that several possible dates for the anticipated quadripartite meeting, between Syria, Turkey, Russia, and Iran, were proposed during the talks between the deputy foreign ministers on April 4.

The four deputy foreign ministers agreed to maintain contact during their meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

Last week, in the same context, Deputy Foreign Affairs, and Expatriates Minister Ayman Sousan, affirmed that Turkey’s formal and unequivocal announcement that its forces will exit completely from Syrian territory is "the gateway to re-establish communication between the two sides".

Sousan stressed that restoring the situation in the northeast and northwest of Syria requires conditions to preserve the country’s sovereignty and unity. Withdrawing illegal forces, combating terrorism, and restoring the Syrian state’s control over all of its territory are a priority to reach this goal.