ISTANBUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2023) Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar confirmed on Sunday plans to hold a trilateral meeting of technical delegations of the defense ministries of Turkey, Russia and Syria later in February.
On Thursday, Akar said that the sides would hold meetings "in the coming days" as a continuation of the trilateral format of talks on normalization between Ankara and Damascus.
"Let's say we left Syria, who will stop the terrorists, who will prevent migration? As part of the continuation of the Syria-Russia-Turkey trilateral meeting, a technical delegation from the defense and intelligence ministries will be convened later this month. They will continue this dialogue," Akar told the Turkish daily Sozcu.
The minister claimed that "about a third" of Syria's territory is "controlled by terrorists."
In late January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Iran could join the planned talks between Turkey, Russia and Syria at the highest level.
In December 2022, the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey held trilateral talks in Moscow to discuss ways to resolve the Syrian crisis. The negotiations marked the first official meeting between the Turkish and Syrian defense chiefs in 11 years. In the same month, Ankara suggested that the Turkish, Syrian and Russian foreign ministers hold a meeting in February 2023, possibly in a third country.
In 2011, a civil war broke out in Syria. Turkey, which maintained close relations with Damascus before this conflict, took the side of opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Since then, Turkey's relations with Syria have remained difficult. However, in recent weeks, both sides, as well as some media outlets, have been talking about the possibility of a gradual normalization.
