UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. Representatives of Turkey and Syria are putting forward ideas for the dialogue on normalization of relations, including those related to the Kurdish issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference to sum up the results of his participation in the High-Level Week of the 79th UN General Assembly.
"I talked to my Turkish counterpart a short while ago here, and we discussed this. I also discussed this with the newly appointed foreign minister of the Syria Arab Republic. Both sides came up with ideas, which, in my opinion, may allow to resume the process [of normalization]. And, of course, the Kurdish issue will be in the spotlight of these talks, along with anti-terrorism and border security matters," Lavrov said.
"We had meetings on Syrian-Turkish normalization last year. The military and foreign ministers met in the Russia-Iran-Turkey-Syria format," he said. "The meetings were positive."
Lavrov also noted that Kurdish organizations need to strongly reject terrorism and engage in dialogue with Damascus.
"I am convinced that Kurdish organizations should strongly reject terrorism and realize, at last, that they have no other choice but to remain a part of the Syrian republic," he said.
"They need to come to terms with Damascus and, as I understand, their Turkish neighbors are ready to help them," Lavrov added.
On June 28, the Turkish president announced his willingness to restore diplomatic relations with Damascus, which had been severed in 2012. On July 12, he instructed Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet with his counterparts and develop a roadmap for the normalization process. According to Erdogan, Syria's territorial integrity is a key interest for Turkey.
Russia will work to prevent the Middle East conflict from spilling into other countries, Lavrov added.
"As to how to prevent the conflict from spilling into other countries <...> this is what we can do and will keep doing. We have a military force in the Syrian Arab Republic, which helps to maintain security, and it will continue to perform its duties," he said.
"But, again, I have a feeling that some players are willing to provoke Iran in order to then provoke the United States and unleash a huge all-out war in the entire region," Lavrov added.