Talks with Syria to reach settlement, says Turkish diplomat: Exclusive
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The director of the Syrian issue in the Turkish Foreign Ministry tells Al Mayadeen that talks with Syria are ongoing as part of the quadripartite meeting held by Russia.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabollahian, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow, Russia, May 10, 2023 (AP)
Talks with Syria will be held as part of the quadripartite meeting that will be hosted by Moscow, noting that the talks set to be held will be decisive when it comes to reaching a settlement to the situation in Syria, the director of the Syrian file in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told Al Mayadeen.
This comes a week after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced last week that his country decided to put together a committee charged with drawing up a roadmap and plan of action to "normalize ties with Syria," explaining that the committee will convene in the coming days to kickstart its work.
A quadripartite meeting of the assistant foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Iran, and Turkey took place in April at the Russian Foreign Ministry's guest palace in Moscow.
According to state news agency SANA, the Syrian delegation will focus during the meeting on three points, "Ending the illegal Turkish presence on Syrian territory, non-interference in the Syrian internal affairs, and combating terrorism in all its forms.”
Turkey and Syria have the opportunity to work together to achieve the aspirations of the peoples of the two countries, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said earlier.
"Syria and Turkey share long borders, common goals, and interests," Mekdad said, highlighting that "despite all the negative events that took place over the past years, the two countries have an opportunity to work jointly."
The Syrian minister stressed that Damascus is open to dialogue with Ankara, as it is the best way to reach the desired goals, as long as that is based on mutual respect for Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and non-interference in its internal affairs.
Meanwhile, during a meeting with the foreign ministers of Iran, Syria, and Turkey in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "The optimal result of our meeting today could be an agreement to instruct experts to prepare a draft roadmap for Syrian-Turkish normalization for the next ministerial meeting, which will then be reported to the heads of our states."
"This roadmap should allow to clearly define the positions of the contracting parties — Syria and Turkey — on their priority issues which includes solving the problem of restoring control of the Syrian government over the territory of the country and ensuring reliable security of the shared 950-kilometer [590 miles] border with Turkey excluding the possibility of cross-border attacks, infiltration of terrorists," he added.
Elsewhere in his remarks, he affirmed that Russia has proposed addressing the restoration of transport and logistic communications between Syria and Turkey at the ongoing quadrilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Syria.
Read next: Russia lays out a roadmap for Syria-Turkey ties normalization
The Russian, Syrian, and Turkish defense ministers held talks in the Russian capital, Moscow, earlier in December 2022 where they discussed means of resolving the Syrian crisis.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the defense ministers highlighted how the dialogue was constructive, stressing the need for all three parties to hold further talks to bring more stability to Syria and the whole region, the statement added.
On April 4, during a quadripartite meeting of the assistant foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Iran, and Turkey at the Russian Foreign Ministry's guest palace in Moscow, Syria laid out three conditions for normalizing ties with Turkey.
These include "ending the illegal Turkish presence on Syrian territory, non-interference in the Syrian internal affairs, and combating terrorism in all its forms,” according to the Syrian news agency SANA.
Additionally, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Monday that the Turkish and Syrian presidents consider meeting in person in the future and under the right circumstances.
"No date has been set so far... Such meeting is not ruled out but it is not expected in the short term. It all depends on how the situation unfolds," Kalin said in an interview with Haber broadcaster, adding that senior Turkish and Syrian officials have been working on preparations for the summit between the two presidents.
