Ali Asghar Khaji, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Assistant, has confirmed that the delegations of Russia, Syria, Turkey, and Iran agreed to continue working on a roadmap to normalize relations between Ankara and Damascus.
Khaji told Sputnik News Agency: “We have exchanged views on this issue. Of course, we did not expect to be able to achieve complete progress in just one meeting, but it is important to start work. We agreed to continue the negotiations.”
The diplomat also expressed hope for further progress in efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and Syria.
He clarified that there’s no specific time set for the foreign ministers’ meeting but there’s another deputy foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled. The official also affirmed that, if necessary, a ministers’ meeting could be held during this period.
Khaji pointed out that normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus implicitly involves discussing refugee issues, border security, and Turkey’s presence in Syria. According to him, the normalization process between the two countries is not a simple task and has multiple dimensions.
He noted: “We are trying to move in this direction step by step, and there are many issues such as counter-terrorism, trade cooperation, refugees, which are Turkey’s problems, border security issue, and Turkey’s military presence in Syria.”
