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Further establishment of Turkey-Syria relations impossible due to events in Gaza — Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister added that several meetings have been held, including at the level of foreign ministers in the Syria-Turkey-Russia-Iran format

ANTALYA, March 2. /TASS/. Events in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories make further practical steps to establish relations between Turkey and Syria impossible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

"Now practical steps are impossible due to the fact that what is happening in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories directly affects all participants in this process. I am referring to the bombing by the Americans of certain facilities belonging to pro-Iranian forces, the bombing of Iraq, Syria and Yemen. And, of course, this can only distract attention from the normal process of building relations between Syria and Turkey. And it affects our ability to help this process with Iran," Lavrov said.

He added that several meetings have been held, including at the level of foreign ministers in the Syria-Turkey-Russia-Iran format. "It is roughly clear what approaches the sides have to find a common basis for normalizing relations. And we have been working on it and continue to work on it," the top Russian diplomat added.

Russia confirms its interest in promoting the normalization of relations between Syria and Turkey, Lavrov said.

Earlier, Haberturk TV channel observer Cetiner Cetin, on his page on the social network X, expressed the opinion that preparing a meeting in Moscow between Turkish and Syrian leaders Tayyip Erdogan and Bashar al-Assad may be among the goals of a possible visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Turkey.

"There are now many ideas floating around in the media space. We confirm our interest in promoting normalization of relations between Syria and Turkey," Lavrov said.

He added that such a process began about a year and a half ago at the level of security services and military agencies.

Contacts between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister of the republic, ceased in 2011 due to critical differences over ways of resolving the Syrian crisis. Diplomatic ties between the two countries were severed.

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