Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia to Meet Next Monday

Ahram Online

Wednesday 29 Mar 2023

Moscow will host next Monday a quartet meeting at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Turkey and Iran, to bring together views between Damascus and Ankara, according to the Russian agency Sputnik.

Then Turkey s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) talks with Syria s President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting in Istanbul on June 7, 2010. AFP

"Deputy foreign ministers will meet in Moscow on Monday, 3 April", a well-informed Syrian source told Sputnik Wednesday.

He added that "the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Ayman Soussan, will participate in the two-day meeting".

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed, during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday, that "a meeting will be held between Syria, Iran, Turkey and Russia at the level of deputy foreign ministers next week."

The purpose of the meeting is to prepare for the upcoming talks between the foreign ministers of the four countries, which are aimed at resolving the long-standing crisis in Syria and building on contacts between Ankara and Damascus after years of hostilities during the Syrian war.

In December 2022, Russia hosted what was considered the first talks between the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers to take place in 11 years.

Later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he might meet his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, as part of a process to normalize ties between the two sides.

But Assad this ruled out any meeting with Erdogan until Turkey is ready to withdraw its military from northern Syria, deemed occupying forces by the Syrian president.