4/4/2023–|Last updated: 4/4/202302:05 PM (Makkah Al-Mukarramah)
Today, Tuesday, the quartet meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria began in Moscow, and aims to discuss the normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus.
A source in the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that a series of consultations were held in Moscow in preparation for the quadripartite meeting of foreign ministers.
And SANA reported that Ayman Sousan, the Syrian assistant foreign minister, assured Mikhail Bogdanov, the special representative of the Russian president and deputy foreign minister, of the need to “end the illegal Turkish presence on Syrian territory, not to interfere in Syrian internal affairs, and to combat terrorism in all its forms.”
In turn, Anadolu correspondent reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov delivered the opening speech of the meeting held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicating that the Turkish delegation was headed by Burak Akcabar, Deputy Foreign Minister.
Mikhail Bogdanov, Special Representative of President Vladimir Putin in the Middle East and African countries representing Russia, Ali Asghar Haji, Political Affairs Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs representing Iran, and Ayman Soussan, Deputy Foreign Minister representing the Syrian regime, will participate in the meeting.
According to information from diplomatic sources, the Moscow talks will serve as a prelude to the upcoming meeting between the foreign ministers of the four countries, at a time yet to be determined.
The sources indicated that the parties will exchange views on the agenda that the ministers can meet and the areas of cooperation that they can consider.
It is noteworthy that following an 11-year estrangement, the Turkish Minister of Defense and his counterpart in the Syrian regime met in Moscow last December, in the presence and participation of the Russian Foreign Minister, and agreed to form joint committees of defense and intelligence officials to hold meetings in the Russian capital and later in each of Ankara and Damascus.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu revealed during the same period that he would meet with his Russian and Syrian counterparts, within the framework of a tripartite meeting in the second half of January 2022.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also indicated at the time that he might meet with the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, following meetings at the level of the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.
It is noteworthy that relations between Ankara and Damascus have been greatly strained since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011, which later turned into a bloody armed conflict that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
