Türkiye-Syria top diplomats to meet in Moscow on May 10

The foreign ministers of Türkiye and Syria will meet under the mediation of Russia and with the participation of Iran in a four-way encounter in Moscow and discuss normalization of bilateral ties, fight against terrorism, Ankara has announced.

"Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Türkiye will pay a visit to the Russian Federation on May 9-10, 2023, to attend the quadripartite meeting to be held in Moscow on May 10 with the participation of the Ministers of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation, Iran and Syria," read a statement issued by the ministry on May 9.

Çavuşoğlu and Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad will come together in Moscow accompanied with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. The normalization process between the two neighbors started in the last days of 2022 by the efforts of Russia.

The two countries' defense ministers and intelligence chiefs discussed security matters and the return of the Syrian refugees to Syria in the meetings. It will be the first time that the parties' foreign ministers will attend the normalization talks.

"At the meeting, it is planned to exchange views on normalization of the relations between Türkiye and Syria and to discuss counter terrorism, political process and humanitarian matters including the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Syrians," said the ministry.

Çavuşoğlu, in an interview with the CNN Türk on May 9, said one of the top issues he will discuss will be the return of the Syrian refugees. "For the return of the refugees, necessary conditions should be provided. Stability in Syria must be strengthened, and the political process [between the regime and the opposition] should be...