In the first quadrilateral meeting following the election of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Russia will convene in the Kazakh capital, Astana, on June 21st.
According to the Russian agency TASS, Mikhail Bogdanov, the Deputy Foreign Minister and Russian President’s Special Envoy to the Middle East and Africa, announced that the meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria, and Iran will take place in Astana on June 21st.
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Bogdanov stated today to reporters, “A substantial Russian delegation will attend the meeting in Astana. We have prepared the draft Russian road map for normalization between Damascus and Ankara, and our objective is to discuss it with our partners and make significant progress. We hope that this meeting in Astana will facilitate substantial advancements.”
The announcement of the quadripartite meeting’s date comes two days after a meeting between President Bashar al-Assad and Ali Asghar Khaji, the Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Special Affairs. During the meeting, they discussed the details of the Syrian-Turkish reconciliation process. President al-Assad emphasized the need for a joint strategy that clearly defines the foundations, objectives, and timeline for the upcoming negotiations. The strategy covers various issues such as the Turkish withdrawal from Syrian territory, counterterrorism efforts, and other matters. Cooperation with the Russian and Iranian sides will be integral to implementing these objectives. Khaji affirmed the validity of the Syrian vision in the ongoing negotiations on various fronts.
In a recent press interview, Alexander Yefimov, the Russian President’s Special Envoy to Syria and Russia’s Ambassador in Damascus, expressed his optimism regarding Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election for another presidential term. Yefimov stated, “With the electoral pressure now behind us, I hope that the Turkish leadership will be able to devote more attention to this direction than its foreign policy.” He also regarded the progress achieved so far in the Syrian-Turkish reconciliation as positive, considering it an important factor in improving the political situation in the region, along with restoring Syrian-Arab relations and Saudi-Iranian normalization.
On May 10th, the foreign ministers of Syria, Russia, Turkey, and Iran convened in Moscow. The final statement of the meeting emphasized the appointment of the four deputy foreign ministers to develop a roadmap for enhancing relations between Syria and Turkey. The statement affirmed Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms, the continuation of high-level contacts and technical negotiations among the quadrilateral countries, and the call for increased international assistance to support Syria’s reconstruction and the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
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.
