AKP President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent a message to Syrian leader Bashar Assad saying he is “ready to meet”, with sources in Ankara reportedly saying the start of the crucial summit had been set for June 11.
According to a pro-government Turkish newspaper, after Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made contact in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his special representative Alexander Lavrentiev to Damascus to persuade Assad to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Assad also conveyed the message that he was “ready for normalization,” but was unable to come to Russia.
The meeting is expected to take place by September 2024, with the summit planned to be held in a third country, the people said.
When asked about the country where the meeting will be held, the most prominent answers were Russia, the Gulf countries and Iraq. According to the news, the Damascus regime is preparing in line with neighboring Iraq. Meanwhile, the Turkish government wants the process to be carried out quietly and the meeting to be leader-oriented, not delegation-level. Also, the meeting will not be attended by any foreigners. The country where the meeting will take place will be revealed after Russian President Putin’s visit to Turkey.
“Just a few more points please.”
Ahead of the talks, the two countries will set up a mutual committee to decide on military, political, economic, terrorism and refugee-related issues. Both parties are expected to revise their past demands. The most important topics at the meeting: Syrian sovereignty, return of refugees to their countries and the presence of the PKK/YPG. According to the source, the Damascus regime had asked Turkish soldiers to withdraw from several locations as a “sign of goodwill.” Turkey reportedly proposed “taking joint action against all threat elements, including the PKK/YPG and DAESH.”
