Turkish foreign minister meets UN envoy for Syria

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met the UN special envoy for Syria on Jan. 28, diplomatic sources said.

Çavuşoğlu hosted Geir O. Pedersen in capital Ankara and talked about the political process in Syria, said the sources, who refused to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The Turkish minister congratulated Pederson on assuming his new post.

On Oct. 2018, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named Pedersen as the new UN special envoy for Syria.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.