Although no date or place has been decided yet, Türkiye, Syria and Russia hope to organize a meeting between their foreign ministers this month, quite possibly before the middle of next week, revealed a Turkish official on Wednesday.
Such a meeting would mark the highest-level talks between Ankara and Damascus since the Syrian war began in 2011 and signal a further thaw in ties.
Powerful NATO member Türkiye has played a major part in the conflict, backing Bashar Assad's opponents and sending troops into the north. Moscow is Assad's main ally and Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged reconciliation with Ankara.
The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the meeting could happen either before or after Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the United States on Jan. 18.
"Discussions are continuing (and) an exact date is not yet set. There are no problems with the meeting, they are just working on the timing," the official said, adding it would occur in either Moscow or another location.
The Turkish and Syrian defense ministers held landmark talks in Moscow last month to discuss border security and other issues. "We discussed what we could do to improve the situation in Syria and the region as soon as possible while ensuring peace, tranquility and stability," said Türkiye’s Hulusi Akar after the meeting.
"We reiterated our respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty rights of all our neighbors, especially Syria and Iraq, and that our sole aim is the fight against terrorism. We have no other purpose," Akar explained, referring to the counterterrorism operations Ankara is leading against terrorist organizations like the PKK and Daesh in the region.
Last week, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan too said he may meet Assad after a trilateral foreign ministers' meeting, which Çavuşoğlu confirmed as "aiming toward concrete target-oriented steps."
Pro-government Syrian newspaper Al-Watan reported on Monday there were no specific dates set for the trilateral meeting. Moscow, has made long-standing efforts to open a channel of dialogue with the sides, but has not commented on meeting plans yet.
The conflict in Syria, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and drawn in regional and world powers, has rolled into a second decade, although fighting has subsided.
With backing from Russia and Iran, Assad's regime has recovered most Syrian territory. Turkish-backed opposition fighters still control a pocket in the northwest, and YPG terrorists backed by the United States also control territory near the Turkish border.
Washington is not in favor of countries reestablishing ties with Assad. "We do not support countries upgrading their relations or expressing support to rehabilitate the brutal dictator Bashar Assad," said State Department spokesperson Ned Price when asked about the Moscow meeting.
The U.S. has mainly partnered with the terrorist YPG in fighting against Daesh in Syria. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization and Ankara strongly opposes its presence in northern Syria from where it conducts attacks on Turkish territory and terrorizes local Syrians. Multiple Turkish officials have underlined that "subcontracting" a terrorist group to fight another was "a mistake."
The meeting of top diplomats would shift talks toward political issues and away from security, and set the stage for Erdoğan and Assad to meet, the senior official said.
A second senior Turkish official told Reuters that Ankara seeks the safe return of Syrian refugees and cooperation with Damascus in targeting the YPG terrorist group.
Late in December, Defense Minister Akar also revealed Türkiye was in talks with Russia related to using Syrian airspace in a possible operation against the YPG. Ankara had also indicated that Türkiye and Syria could work on counterterrorism efforts as the YPG occupies almost one-third of the land in Syria, thereby damaging the territorial integrity of the country.
The same week, Çavuşoğlu emphasized to Blinken that Türkiye would "continue its fight against terrorism" and "will not seek anyone’s permission to protect its borders."
Any normalization between Ankara and Damascus would reshape the decadelong Syrian war. Turkish backing has been vital to sustaining moderate Syrian opposition in their last significant territorial foothold in the northwest after Assad defeated opponents across the rest of the country, aided by Russia and Iran.
Most recently, Ankara launched Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK/YPG in response to their Nov. 13 attack on Istanbul’s Istiklal Street that killed six people and left 81 injured. While terrorist targets were being hit across the region, Erdoğan also signaled a ground operation in northern Iraq and Syria to "eradicate the terrorist threat by its root" and complete the 30-mile (18.6-mile) deep security strip objective despite "strong opposition" from the U.S. and Russia.
Along with a variety of standing issues, Washington’s support for the YPG remains a source of major tension in Türkiye-U.S. ties.
Ankara has also sought to assure its allies, the Syrian opposition, amid plans to potentially normalize ties with Assad’s regime. Çavuşoğlu welcomed a group of officials and reiterated Türkiye’s support to the opposition and the Syrian people.
Separately, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın too stressed, "Our main concern is that the war does not continue, the terrorist attacks originating from Syria do not pose a threat to Türkiye, and that the humanitarian crisis does not deepen."