Iran said Wednesday it supports a rapprochement between Türkiye and Syria and the return of relations to their normal status.
This came as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Türkiye, Syria and Iran are meeting in Moscow next week as part of the normalization process between Ankara and Damascus.
During a joint press conference held with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Ankara, Cavusoglu revealed Russian proposal to hold a meeting between the four countries at the technical level in preparation for a possible meeting between their foreign ministers.
“The Iranian side will also attend this meeting,” he added.
Cavusoglu said a meeting by the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Türkiye, Syria and Russia was held in Moscow on Dec. 28, 2022, where Turkish and Syrian officials talked for the first time as part of the efforts to ease the tension and restore the relations between the two countries.
The Turkish FM stated that during the previous visit of Amir Abdollahian to Türkiye last January, Ankara agreed with the Iranian side on Iran's participation in the meetings, within the framework of the Astana talks.
“Astana is the only surviving format (to address) Syria anyway,” Cavusoglu said.
The Turkish FM then affirmed that Türkiye and Russia have no problem if Iran is involved in this process and if the meetings are held in a four-way format instead of three.
“Now we are planning for a meeting between the four foreign ministers,” he said.
Abdollahian, for his part, said Iran is ready to play a role to resolve the different points of view between Türkiye and Syria under regional cooperation.
“Iran supports the return of relations between Ankara and Damascus to their normal status,” Amir Abdollahian said.
