Pak Sahafat – Al-Watan newspaper reported on the quadrilateral meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, Turkey and Syria on April 3rd and 4th in Moscow and wrote that with the holding of this meeting, the first political spell between Damascus and Ankara will be broken after about 12 years.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report on Tuesday, Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper quoted knowledgeable sources as saying: Intensive calls were made in the diplomatic corridors of the capitals of the four countries with the aim of reaching an agreement on holding this meeting in Moscow, and these calls and consultations show that the views of the parties on several points that previously prevented any political progress between Damascus and Ankara was, has come close together.
These sources said: The main topic of intensive consultations in the past weeks were the guarantees that Damascus insisted on regarding the need for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from the occupied Syrian territories and the cessation of support for armed groups.
They added that apparently these consultations have led to an agreement that may lead Damascus to agree to sit at a political table with the Turkish side at the level of deputy foreign ministers; this will clearly define Turkey’s goals.
These sources told Al-Watan that a few days after the meeting of the deputy foreign ministers, another meeting between the defense ministers of the four countries and representatives of the security agencies will be held in the capital of Russia.
Earlier, at the end of last year, a tripartite meeting between Syrian Defense Minister Ali Abbas, Turkish Defense Minister Khulusi Akar and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was held in Moscow.
“Mikhail Bogdanov”, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, emphasized on Monday that a quadrilateral meeting between the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iran may be held in Moscow in early April.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the proximity of Damascus and Ankara.
The press office of the Kremlin Palace announced in a statement that in this conversation, the importance of continuing efforts to resume relations between Ankara and Damascus was emphasized.
According to the report of the Kremlin press office, during this conversation, the issue of the Syrian crisis was discussed, and the President of Turkey emphasized the constructive role of Russian mediation between Ankara and Damascus.
Earlier, “Ibrahim Kalin”, the spokesman of the Turkish presidency, announced the attempt to hold a quadrilateral meeting with the presence of Iran regarding Syria and pointed out that this meeting will not include the leaders of the four countries of Iran, Russia, Syria and Turkey.
Pointing out that additional details about the developments of this path will be known soon, he stated: There are three main issues on the table, which are “coordination for the war against terrorism”, “driving the political process to continue the Astana negotiations” and Dignified return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
In 2011, the civil war started in Syria. Turkey, which had close relations with Damascus before this conflict, took the side of the opposition and armed groups against the legitimate government of Syria. Since then, Türkiye’s relations with Syria have remained difficult.
However, after the failure of the plan and the imposed terrorist war against the Syrian government and people, especially in recent months, Ankara and Damascus, as well as some media, are talking about the possibility of gradual normalization of relations.
Bogdanov previously said that the resumption of diplomatic missions in both countries (Turkey and Syria) should be one of the results of joint efforts in this direction.
This is while the negotiations in the Astana format started six years ago for the political settlement of the Syrian issues, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia and Turkey participate in it.