Damascus (Daily Pakistan Online) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has broken his silence on Syria’s growing reconciliation with Turkey and demanded the withdrawal of its troops from Syria and the end of support to opposition groups.
According to Arab News, Russia is mediating for reconciliation between Damascus and Ankara. Moscow hosted talks between defense ministers last month, with the goal of meeting foreign ministers and eventually President Assad and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Assad met with Russian presidential envoy Alexander Lavrentiev in Damascus and said talks with Turkey should be based on the goals of “ending the occupation of Syrian territory” and ending Turkey’s support for what it calls terrorism. . He said the meetings should be “coordinated in advance between Syria and Russia in order to achieve concrete results desired by Syria”.
Foreign ministers Mevlut Cavusoglu and Faisal Meqdad are expected to meet in early February for the highest-level talks between Ankara and Damascus since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. The reconciliation is being closely watched by Iran, Syria’s other main ally. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdullahyan said that his country is happy with the talks between Syria and Turkey.
