Turkish, Russian, Syrian FMs set to meet this month

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the details of the tripartite ministerial meeting with his Syrian counterpart.

The meeting could take place in the second half of January, NTV broadcaster quoted Çavuşoğlu as saying on Dec. 31.

Çavuşoğlu said Lavrov asked him when to hold the tripartite foreign ministers’ meeting of Türkiye, Russia and Syria.

“I said, ‘Let’s prepare well. Let’s do it whenever we’re ready.’” Çavuşoğlu told reporters in Brazil where he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The minister said Lavrov proposed the second half of January.

“We haven’t decided where to hold it yet. It could also be in Moscow. It can also happen in a third country. We talked about some countries,” he said without naming those countries.

He recalled that Syria and Türkiye held technical meetings first, and now stepped up for the political dialogue stage and added that they will work towards a possible leaders meeting in the future.

“So what we are going to talk about, it goes upwards. First meeting at the technical level, military intelligence. Then the political stage, the foreign affairs, then a higher meeting in the future or not.” Çavuşoğlu said, noting that “we need to make it work.”

Türkiye supports territorial integrity of Syria, but there must be stability in the neighboring country as well, and some steps must be taken in this political process, Çavuşoğlu said.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry also issued a statement on the phone call between Çavuşoğlu and Lavrov, and said: “The Ministers mutually congratulated the New Year and discussed cooperation plans for 2023 between the foreign ministries, including further coordination of steps for the resolution of the Syrian issue.”

The defense ministers and the intelligence chiefs of Russia, Türkiye and Syria held a meeting in Moscow on Dec. 28, the first such talks between Ankara and Damascus since the war broke out in Syria.

Ankara and Damascus have been working on a road map for restoring bilateral ties after a years-long chill, and the next step would be meeting between the foreign ministers of the two neighbors, Çavuşoğlu said on Dec. 29.