Russia’s Sergey Lavrov wants road map for restoring Turkey-Syria ties

Foreign Minister encourages countries to re-establish transport routes and economic relationship

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called for a road map towards restoring ties between Turkey and Syria.

He was speaking in Moscow at a meeting that included counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu from Turkey, Syria’s Faisal Mekdad and Iran’s Hossein Amirabdollahian.

The plan would “embody a set of principles supported by all four countries”, Mr Lavrov said.

Those principles include “commitment to sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and unity of the countries participating”, he said.

It would also feature “co-operation in the fight against “terrorism and terrorist organisations that are being stimulated from outside”, he added.

Mr Lavrov accused the US of supporting Kurdish groups which Ankara considers terrorists on the Syrian border with Turkey.

The road map, Mr Lavrov said, would also state the positions of the four countries “on priority issues including restoring Syrian control on the entire territory of the country and establishing reliable security along the 950km border with Turkey”.

Ankara and Damascus have had no diplomatic ties since the civil war in Syria broke out in 2011, following President Bashar Al Assad’s crackdown on demonstrators.

Today, Turkey hosts over three million Syrians, the largest population of refugees from the country in the world.

The Syrian government does not control the whole of the country. It has the major cities, but rebel groups have strongholds in the north-west and north-east.

Turkey also has a presence in the north of the country.

Mr Lavrov also said that Ankara and Damascus had “similar problems and have found ways to resolve them”.

He also encouraged the restoration of transport routes, trade and economic ties “without barriers”.

Russian state-owned news outlet Sputnik reported that Mr Lavrov is expected to hold separate talks with Mr Cavusoglu in Moscow.

Mr Mekdad and Mr Lavrov also held separate meetings, Syria’s state news agency Sana reported.

Iran’s Mr Amirabdollahian also met his Syrian counterpart to discuss “the latest regional political developments related to Syria”, Iranian state news agency Irna said.

“Emphasises the importance of political settlement of issues between Syria and Turkey,” Irna reported.

Mr Mekdad said the biggest “obstacle to normalisation” with Syria remains the need for Turkish withdrawal from Syrian land, Irna said.

Updated: May 10, 2023, 2:50 PM