ASTANA, June 20. /TASS/. Russia hopes that work on a road map on normalizing ties between Syria and Turkey will continue, Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister, told journalists.
"A meeting between four countries, Turkey, Syria, Russia and Iran, is being held at the level of deputy foreign ministers. We are working on the issue of normalizing relations between Damascus and Ankara," the diplomat said.
Bogdanov noted that this process should be built on coordinated principles of mutual respect and Syria’s territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty. "You know that on May 10 in Moscow, a meeting was held between foreign ministers of Russia, Syria, Turkey and Iran. We were instructed to prepare a road map for this process on normalizing transnational relations between Syria and Turkey. We hope that we will also move ahead in this work," the envoy explained.
An international meeting on Syria in the Astana format is being held in Astana on June 20-21. Delegations from guarantor countries, Russia, Turkey and Iran, as well as representatives from the Syrian government and opposition are participating in the talks. It is expected that representatives from the UN, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq will take part as observers.