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ILE IMAGE: Şimal Müldür – Anadolu Ajansı
Turkey, Syria and Iran have agreed with the concept of a road map submitted by Russia to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus, Russia’s special presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told Sputnik on June 22.
Work on the roadmap draft began after a meeting between the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkiye, Syria and Iran that was held in Moscow on May 10. Deputy foreign ministers of the four countries met in Astana on June 20 to discuss the draft.
“All parties generally agreed with the concept of a road map to advance the process of normalizing relations and expressed their views and proposals. Now they need to be systematized and coordinated,” Lavrentyev said.
The senior diplomat noted however that progress in the Turkish-Syrian normalization process would take some time.
“The most important thing is that the process is moving forward, and there is progress. It cannot be delayed much, everyone agreed with this,” Lavrentyev said.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the roadmap prioritized restoring the Syrian government’s control throughout the country, ensuring the security of the Syrian-Turkish border and eliminating the possibility of cross-border attacks or terrorist infiltration.
While the Syrian-Turkish normalization process is clearly moving forward, an agreement between Ankara and Damascus does not appear to be near.
Earlier this month, several Syrian soldiers were killed in Turkish artillery and drone strikes that targeted areas in northern Syria held by Kurdish forces considered by Ankara to be terrorist groups. In response, Damascus deployed a large force in the region.
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