MOSCOW, March 8. /TASS/: Russia and Turkey would like to hold a four-party meeting at the level of deputy foreign ministers in Moscow next week, but so far there has been no response from Syria and Iran, Russia’s special presidential representative for the Middle East and African Countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told TASS.
"We have already invited everyone, but have not yet received confirmations from everyone. We have already agreed it with our Turkish counterparts, but we are waiting for answers from the Syrians and Iranians whether this is convenient for them," he said.
He explained that this would be a technical meeting at the level of deputy foreign ministers tasked to prepare for a meeting of the four countries’ foreign ministers.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a news conference following talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian that technical negotiations at the level of deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran would be held in Moscow next week. Organization of the ministerial level meeting will be discussed.
On December 28, 2022, consultations were held in Moscow by the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey as part of the process of normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus. At the meeting, it was agreed to establish a joint tripartite commission. Following these consultations, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries should take place. Its agenda will include the issue of negotiations between Turkish and Syrian presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar Assad. Erdogan told the media on December 15 last year that he had invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold a trilateral meeting with the Syrian leader. This summit, Erdogan said, should be preceded by negotiations at the level of representatives of special services, and defense and foreign ministers.
