Erdogan puts on the “table” a meeting with Bashar al-Assad

It’s possible that meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as part of a new peace process, after the defense ministers of the two countries met in the highest-level talks between Ankara and the Damascus government since the war in Syria broke out in 2011, left on Thursday (5/1) Tayyip Erdogan.

During a speech in Ankara, Erdogan announced that the next step, after the landmark talks between defense ministers in Moscow, would be a tripartite meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia and Syriain order to further develop contacts.

“We started a process as Russia-Turkey-Syria,” Erdogan said, as reported by the Athens News Agency. “We will bring together our foreign ministers and then, depending on developments, we will come together as leaders,” he added.

Turkey has been the main backer of Syria’s opposition for more than ten years of war, while Russia has supported the Syrian government.

The conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions more and embroiled regional and global forces, is now in its second decade, although the fighting is less intense than in previous years.

With the support of Russia and Iran, the govt Assad regained most of Syrian territory. Turkish-backed opposition fighters still control an enclave in the northwest, and Kurdish fighters backed by the United States also control territory near the border with Turkey.

A Turkish official said the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers met in Moscow on December 28, with the issues of migration and Kurdish fighters on the agenda.

A Turkish-Syrian rapprochement seemed unthinkable earlier in the conflict, and Syria’s opposition has called on Turkey to reaffirm its support. Ankara sought to reassure the opposition, with Defense Minister Hulusi Akar saying Turkey would not take any step that could cause them trouble.