A meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria and Russia is in the works

THE Turkey, Syria and Russia are planning a meeting of their foreign ministers this month and possibly before the middle of next week although a date or venue has not yet been chosen, a senior official said today Turkish official.

Such a one meeting it would be the first to take place at the highest level between Ankara and Damascus since the start of the war in Syria in 2011 and would mark the further escalation in their relations. Turkey, a member country of NATO, has played a large role in the conflict by supporting opponents of President Bashar al-Assad and sending troops to the north of the country. THE Moscow is Assad’s main ally and Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for reconciliation with Ankara.

The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the meeting could take place before or after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s scheduled meeting with his US counterpart Anthony Blinken in the US on January 18. “Discussions are ongoing and it has not been set yet exact date. There are no problems with the meeting, they are just working out the timing of it,” the official said, adding that it would either take place in Moscow or another location.

Last month the defense ministers of Turkey and Syria held historic talks on border security and other issues. Last week, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would likely meet Assad after a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers. Syria’s pro-government newspaper “Al-Watan” wrote on Monday that no specific date has been set for the tripartite meeting.

Moscow has not commented on this.

The conflict in Syriawhich has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions of people and drawn in regional and global powers, has entered its second decade although it has relatively subsided.

With the support of Russia and Iran, the Assad government has recaptured most of the Syrian territory. Those supported by Turkey fighters of the Syrian opposition still control an enclave in the northwest, and US-backed Kurdish fighters also control territory near the border with Turkey, APE reports.

THE Washington does not wish for the restoration of other countries’ relations with Assad. It has allied with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes the YPG militia, in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

The meeting of top diplomats will deal with political rather than security issues and will pave the way for an Erdogan-Assad meeting, the senior official said. A second senior Turkish official told Reuters that Ankara was seeking the safe return of Syrian refugees and was working with Damascus to target the YPG, the primary target of ongoing cross-border clashes.

Source: News Beast

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