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Turkey, Russia, Syria, Iran may meet in Moscow on May 10 — top Turkish diplomat

Mevlut Cavusoglu recalled that earlier "technical meetings at the level of defense and intelligence chiefs" took place

ANKARA, May 3. /TASS/. The top diplomats of Turkey, Russia, Syria and Iran may meet in Moscow on May 10 to discuss the Syrian issue, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

"We have already received an invitation from the Russian side regarding the meeting [on Syria]. As of today, we see that it can take place on May 10 at the [foreign] ministers’ level. The venue is Moscow," he told the NTV channel.

Cavusoglu recalled that earlier "technical meetings at the level of defense and intelligence chiefs" took place. "We discuss in detail the issue of strengthening security in Syria, as well as combatting terrorism [in that country]. In this regard, there have been historic proposals from Russia," he said.

The top Turkish diplomat also said that the issue of the participation of the Iranian foreign minister has not yet been resolved. This is due to the fact that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is starting his African tour and it is unclear who will represent Iran at the meeting.

Normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus started in Moscow on December 28, 2022, when the defense ministers of Russia, Syria and Turkey met for consultations. At the meeting, the sides reached an agreement to establish a joint trilateral commission. These consultations are to be followed by a meeting at the level of foreign ministers, with talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on the agenda. It was later reported that Iran would participate in the consultations at the foreign ministers' level.