The foreign ministers of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia will meet in Moscow on 10 May, Turkey’s foreign minister announced on Friday.
The meeting which will be held four days before Turkey’s critical elections will be the second highest level reconciliation talks between the two neighbours following meetings of defence ministers and intelligence chiefs.
Moscow has confirmed the date of the meeting as 10 May, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on 24 TV, adding that some other senior Iranian official might join the meeting as the country’s foreign minister might be on a tour visiting African countries.
Repeating Turkey’s claims that terrorist groups will take over control if Turkish troops withdraw from territories in north Syria, Çavuşoğlu said a political solution is the only way of keeping the unity of Syria.
“We will see, maybe we can organise a press conference during the meeting between foreign ministers on the 10th, maybe we can make a joint statement. It is impossible to say beforehand what issues we can reach an agreement on in that meeting,” he said.
Turkey’s top diplomat also said that he would have a bilateral meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the same day before the start of the quadrilateral summit on 10 May.
Russia’s state news agency Tass reported Çavuşoğlu’s statements, without mentioning any confirmation on the meeting by Russian officials.
Syria’s state news agency also avoided any reporting of the claimed summit on 10 May.
Çavuşoğlu previously said that the meeting between foreign ministers might involve preparations for a possible meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Syrian President Bashar Assad, once close friends who turned into foes in the last decade.
The Turkish government’s intent is to share a joint photograph with the Syrian regime ahead of 14 May polls, said Ahmed El Sukkari, a member of the Syrian parliament.
“Today’s statements and steps by Turkey are actually a desire to make gains for the elections. For that end, they are using some tools for testing. And their recent statements seem to concentrate more on normalisation with Syria,” he told Artı Gerçek, referring to Çavuşoğlu’s statement.
Sukkari said Turkey should display some attitude that proved its goodwill for Damascus’ government to accept to join any high-level meeting.
“What is expected from Turkey is to show its seriousness not only by statements and comments, but with concrete steps taken on the ground,” the parliamentarian said, adding that Turkey’s withdrawal from territories in north Syria should be the outcome of those steps.
Ending Turkish occupation in north Syria will be a precondition for Damascus, no matter who wins the elections on 14 May, said Sukkari.
