UPDATE 2 - Quadrilateral meeting on Syria to be held in Moscow on March 15-16

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM DIPLOMATIC SOURCES

By Dildar Baykan Atalay

ANKARA (AA) - A meeting on Syria at the level of deputy foreign ministers between Türkiye, Russia, Iran and Syria will be held in Russia's capital on March 15-16, Turkish diplomatic sources said on Monday.

The meeting will be attended by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, their Syrian counterpart Ayman Susan, and Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior adviser to Iran’s foreign minister.

Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that a Turkish delegation will visit Moscow for technical talks ahead of a planned Turkish, Russian, Iranian, and Syrian foreign ministers' meeting.

"The Iranian side will also attend this meeting. At this meeting, preparations for the foreign ministers' meeting will be made," Cavusoglu said at a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian in the capital Ankara.

On Dec. 28, 2022, the Turkish, Russian, and Syrian defense ministers met in Moscow to discuss counterterrorism efforts in Syria and agreed to continue the tripartite meetings to ensure stability in Syria and the wider region.

About the possibility of the inclusion of Iran into the talks, Türkiye previously said Ankara would be "pleased if Iran is involved in this process."

Although no date or location has yet been announced, the foreign ministers' meeting would mark another high-level talk since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.

The diplomatic sources said the deputy foreign ministers will exchange views on which agenda the ministers can meet and which areas of cooperation they can consider.

For Türkiye, the main priority will be to stand up to the separatist groups that threaten Syria's territorial integrity, and to increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism, according to the sources.

- Call for reaching a political solution

Another priority is to revive and accelerate a "viable and sustainable" political process led and owned by Syrians, and for this purpose, there is a need for the continuation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee negotiations, the sources said.

Recalling that Türkiye has affirmed Syria's territorial integrity from the very beginning and strongly defended it on all platforms at all levels, including the Astana documents, they said: "All parties should do their best to reach a political solution as soon as possible. In this context, parties should understand that Türkiye’s sitting at the table is an opportunity for everyone.”

The sources said that Türkiye continues to inform and consult with the Syrian opposition regarding both the tripartite meetings and the quadrilateral meetings attended by Russia and the Syrian regime officials.

"In accordance with the UN Security Council resolution 2254, our support to the Syrian opposition and people is known. As Türkiye, we have repeatedly stated that we are the guarantor of the Syrian opposition and that we will not act against the rights of the opposition, and we will continue to do so," the sources said.

They said one of the agenda items of the meeting is the return of Syrians who were displaced during the civil war and had to flee their country.

Türkiye will reiterate the need to work on facilitating the safe, voluntary and dignified return of Syrians in line with international humanitarian law, they added.

The sources also said that many people lost their lives in Syria after the Feb. 6 earthquakes in southern Türkiye, adding that Ankara offered to use Oncupinar and other gates in addition to the Cilvegozu border gate so that international humanitarian aid could reach the region quickly.

** Rejecting the reports that claimed that Türkiye prevented international aid to Syria, the sources said that hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid passed through the Cilvegozu and Oncupinar gates without any hindrance or delay, and that the airspace was opened to all planes that wanted to bring humanitarian aid to Syria, thus planes landed directly in Aleppo or Damascus.

* "All things are made easier to heal the wounds of the earthquake victims," they added.

*Writing and contribution by Diyar Guldogan in Ankara