Four-party meeting on Syria to be held in Moscow on Tuesday

"A meeting between defense and intelligence chiefs from Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iran will be held in Moscow on Tuesday. Our goal is to find a solution to the existing issues through talks and ensure peace and tranquility in the region as soon as possible," Turkey’s defense chief said, TASS reported.

According to Akar, "a number of positive events" is expected to follow the Moscow meeting. He did not elaborate.

Consultations between the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey took place in Moscow on December 28, 2022, as part of efforts to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus. The meeting’s participants reached an agreement to create a trilateral commission. A meeting between top diplomats is expected to follow the consultations to discuss the possibility of talks between Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Bashar Assad of Syria. Later, it was reported that Iran would join the consultations at the level of foreign ministries.

Erdogan told reporters on December 15, 2022, that he had suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin host a trilateral meeting involving the Syrian president, adding that the summit should be preceded by a meeting between officials from intelligence agencies, defense and foreign ministries.