Following remarks made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who claimed to have requested the meeting to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the defence ministers of Syria, Turkey, and Russia convened in Moscow.
At the beginning of this month, Mr. Erdogan suggested that ministerial-level meetings between the three countries should be established, with the ultimate goal of arranging a trilateral summit between himself, Mr. Putin, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria eleven years ago, Turkey and Syria have not maintained formal diplomatic contacts with one another.
According to the Turkish official news agency Anadolu, the meeting between the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu, the Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar, and the Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Mahmoud Abbas took place in a “positive mood.”
According to the statements released by the Russian and Turkish defence ministries, the three officials addressed “means to settle the Syrian crisis, the issue of refugees, and coordinated efforts to fight extremist organisations in Syria.”
According to the statement released by Russia’s defence ministry, the participants “noted the positive character of the discourse conducted in this format and the necessity to continue it in the interests of further stabilising the situation” in Syria and the surrounding area.
Additionally, Syria said that senior intelligence officials from both their country and Turkey met in Moscow.
Many of the millions of Syrians who were fleeing the conflict and the dictatorship of Assad sought sanctuary in Turkey because they believed it to be a secure country.
According to a study that was published by The National in the past, the country is now sheltering around four million Syrian refugees; yet, resentment and bigotry against these individuals have lately grown.
To the consternation of the Syrian opposition, which has rejected Turkey’s demands for the normalisation of relations with the Assad regime, Turkey has also been making hints at closer ties with the Syrian government. This is much to the opposition’s dismay.
After statements made in August by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the topic of reconciliation with Syria, demonstrations broke out throughout the country.
During that time, he made the statement, “There would be no lasting peace otherwise.”
Despite its unwavering support for the Assad government, Russia has been mediating talks between Turkey and Syria, in addition to other countries involved in the crisis.
A terrorist incident in Istanbul last month resulted in the deaths of six people, which prompted Turkey to recently initiate a military operation against Kurdish targets near the northern border of Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, who are supported by the United States, have denied any culpability for the assault and have sought for an international probe into the matter. Ankara has placed blame on Kurdish militants for carrying it out.