Turkish And Syrian FMs Meet For The First Time After 12 Years

A quadrilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Turkey and Syria was held in Moscow on May 10 with the aim of reviewing the developments in Syria and resolving the differences between Ankara and Damascus. One of the important achievements of this meeting was the meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkey and Syria for the first time after 12 years since the start of conflicts in Syria.

At the beginning of this meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia as important and said: “We have continuously moved to achieve this result. The process of normalizing relations between Turkey and Syria creates new opportunities for the Astana meeting to resolve the Syrian crisis. The beginning of the normalization process between Turkey and Syria has a positive effect on the situation in the region and the Middle East in general.”

The Russian Foreign Minister further proposed the development of a road map within the framework of the process of normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus and said: “The road map for the settlement of the Syrian case should be prepared for the next meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia, and then to be presented to the presidents.”

At the end of this meeting, a joint statement was issued by the four countries. In this statement, it is stated that according to the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and the official statements in the Astana process, the participants reaffirmed their commitment to the territorial integrity of Syria, non-interference in internal affairs and the fight against all forms of terrorism, separatism and extremism. The participants also agreed that the deputy ministers of foreign affairs should undertake the task of designing a road map to advance relations between Turkey and Syria in coordination with the ministries of defense and intelligence chiefs of the four countries.