Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu held a surprise meeting with the former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, who defected from the Bashar al-Assad regime. The meeting took place in the Qatari capital, Doha.
“We discussed the latest developments in Syria with Hijab in Qatar, where we came to hold a tripartite meeting with Russia and Qatar,” Cavusoglu said in a tweet.
The meeting came hours before a tripartite meeting on Syria, which brought together the foreign ministers of Qatar, Russia, and Turkey, in Doha, on Thursday, where a new political process regarding the Syrian file was announced.
The announcement was made by Cavusoglu during a press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, in which Cavusoglu said that a new consultative process on Syria will begin.
He added, “we decided to continue the joint meetings with Qatar and Russia to discuss the Syrian file, and the next meeting will be held in Turkey,” noting that the aim of the meetings is “to discuss efforts to reach a permanent political solution in Syria.”
The Syrian file is witnessing remarkable political developments in the past few days, represented by a Gulf tour by Lavrov, during which he discussed the Syrian file with senior officials in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, in addition to a tripartite meeting that brought together the foreign ministers of Qatar, Russia, and Turkey, in Doha.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.