A quadrilateral assembly in Moscow on Tuesday between Türkiye, Russia, Syria and Iran mentioned “concrete steps” that may be taken to normalize Turkish-Syrian relations, the Turkish Protection Ministry stated.
The events additionally mentioned “the battle in opposition to terrorist organizations and all extremist teams on Syrian territory,” the ministry added.
Stepping up efforts to return Syrian refugees to their nations was one other difficulty on the agenda of the 4 nations.
The Protection Ministry’s statements come because the protection ministers and intelligence heads of Ankara, Moscow, Tehran and Damascus met on Tuesday within the Russian capital.
Russia’s long-standing effort to open a channel of dialogue between Türkiye and the Bashar Assad regime paid off final yr, because the protection ministers and intelligence chiefs of Türkiye, Russia and the Bashar Assad regime met in Moscow.
Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decadelong Syrian battle. Turkish backing has been important to sustaining reasonable Syrian opposition of their final vital territorial foothold within the northwest after Assad defeated opponents throughout the remainder of the nation, aided by Russia and Iran.
Nonetheless, in keeping with statements from the Bashar Assad regime, Damascus needs to finish the Turkish presence on Syrian territories.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of profitable counterterrorism operations throughout its border in northern Syria to forestall the formation of a terror hall and allow the peaceable settlement of residents: Euphrates Defend in 2016, Olive Department in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019.
The PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing, the YPG, has managed a lot of northeastern Syria after Bashar Assad’s forces withdrew in 2012.
Turkish officers have voiced that Ankara and Damascus may cooperate in returning Syrian refugees in Türkiye and counterterrorism efforts because the PKK/YPG nonetheless controls a lot of the war-torn nation’s east. Bashar Assad cannot set up territorial integrity.
Conversely, normalization has additionally been ongoing with the regime and the Arab world.
