Türkiye holding a meeting between the Turkish and Syrian foreign ministers next month
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced, on Saturday, that his country had proposed holding a meeting with Syria between the foreign ministers of the two countries, in a third country, during the second half of next January, to be the second meeting at the ministerial level, after the meeting that brought together the two ministers.
The Defense ministers of the two countries met in Moscow, last Wednesday.
Commenting on Damascus’ demand for the withdrawal of the Turkish army from Syria, Cavusoglu said, in press statements that followed a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that “steps must be taken regarding the political process, and terrorist organizations must not be allowed to fill the void,” he said.
Earlier, an official sources at the Syrian capital confirmed that the atmosphere of the tripartite meeting, which was held in Moscow, under Russian auspices, was the result of several meetings held between the intelligence services in Türkiye and Syria.
The meeting wouldn’t have taken place without several points agreed upon between the two sides, in a way that meets Damascus’ interest and conditions, the most important of which is the withdrawal of Turkish forces from all Syrian territory.
On the other hand, the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar revealed that “Türkiye confirmed in the meeting that it supports Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and its only goal is to fight terrorism”.
For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow and Ankara’s steps regarding the Syrian settlement had been coordinated, in a phone call that took place on Saturday, between foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
