WORLD NEWS | Moscow hosts landmark Turkey-Syria reconciliation talks

MOSCOW, May 10 (AP) – Russia’s foreign minister hosted his counterparts from Turkey, Syria and Iran on Wednesday for talks, the highest-level engagement between Ankara and Damascus since the start of Syria’s civil war more than a decade ago.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his opening speech that he hoped the meeting would pave the way for the drafting of a road map for the normalization of relations between Turkey and Syria.

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Lavrov said he saw Moscow’s task “not only as politically consolidating the progress already made, but also as defining general guidelines for further action.”

Russia has been trying for years to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rebuild ties with Turkey and other countries torn apart by a war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million.

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Russia began its military intervention in Syria in September 2015, joining forces with Iran to help the Assad government retake most of the country. Moscow has maintained a military presence in the Middle Eastern country, even though most of its troops are busy fighting in Ukraine.

Turkey has backed armed opposition groups seeking to oust Assad during the 12-year conflict. The Syrian government has often accused Ankara of controlling parts of the northwestern enclave previously seized by Assad’s opponents. Turkey has seized the territory since 2016 through repeated military incursions against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.

With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan under intense pressure at home to repatriate Syrian refugees amid a sharp economic downturn and anti-refugee sentiment, Turkey is working towards a reconciliation with Syria. He is seeking re-election on Sunday, when Turkey also holds presidential and parliamentary elections.

Syrian state media quoted Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad as saying at Wednesday’s meeting that Syria and Turkey “share common goals and common interests”. “Despite all the negativity of the past few years,” Damascus saw the talks as an “opportunity for the two governments to cooperate with the help and support of our friends Russia and Iran,” he said.

Mechdad added, however, that the Syrian government’s “principal goal” was to end all “illegal” military presence in the country, including the Turkish military.

“We will continue to demand and stick to the theme of exit,” he was quoted as saying.

Regional normalization with Damascus has accelerated following deadly earthquakes in Syria and Turkey in February that killed tens of thousands. In April, Moscow hosted the defense ministers of Turkey, Syria and Iran for talks that it said would focus on “practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and normalize relations between Syria and Turkey.”

In another development, the Arab League agreed on Sunday to restore Syria, ending a 12-year suspension following Assad’s brutal crackdown on initially peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011.

Meanwhile, oil major Saudi Arabia, which has backed opposition groups seeking to oust Assad, joined Syria in announcing on Tuesday that the two countries would reopen their respective diplomatic missions. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)