MOSCOW — Russia‘s defense minister hosted his counterparts from Iran, Syria and Turkey on Tuesday for talks that were part of the Kremlin’s efforts to assist dealer a rapprochement between the Turkish and Syrian governments.

The Russian Defense Ministry mentioned the talks centered on “practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and to normalize Syrian-Turkish relations.”

Moscow has waged a army marketing campaign in Syria since September 2015, teaming up with Iran to permit Syrian President Bashar Assad’s authorities to reclaim management over a lot of the nation. Turkey has backed armed opposition to Assad all through the 12-year Syrian civil battle.

While the majority of Russia‘s armed forces have been busy fighting in Ukraine, Moscow has maintained its military presence in Syria and has also made persistent efforts to help Assad rebuild fractured ties with Turkey and other countries in the region following the civil war that has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of the country’s prewar inhabitants.

In December, Moscow hosted a shock assembly of the Turkish and Syrian protection ministers, the primary such encounter since Syria’s uprising-turned-civil-war started in 2011. And earlier this month, senior diplomats from Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran met in Moscow for 2 days of talks meant to set the stage for a gathering of the 4 international locations’ international ministers.

The efforts towards a Turkish-Syrian reconciliation come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is beneath intense stress at house to ship Syrian refugees again amid a steep financial downturn and an rising anti-refugee sentiment. He faces presidential and parliamentary elections in May.

The Russian Defense Ministry mentioned in its readout of Tuesday’s talks that the events “reaffirmed their adherence to the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity and the need to step up efforts to allow a speedy return of Syrian refugees.”

The Turkish Defense Ministry issued a equally worded assertion, noting that the 4 ministers mentioned the problem of strengthening safety in Syria, the concrete steps that may be taken to normalize ties between Turkey and Syria, the struggle in opposition to terrorist and extremist teams on the Syrian territory and efforts for the return of Syrian refugees.

The assertion mentioned the perimeters additionally emphasised the significance of the continuation of the four-party conferences “to ensure and maintain stability in Syria and the region as a whole.”

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu additionally hosted Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his counterparts from Syria and Iran for separate bilateral talks.

Turkey has de facto management over massive swathes of northwestern Syria, and Assad’s authorities has described the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syrian territory is a prerequisite for a normalization of ties.

Syria’s Defense Ministry mentioned that Tuesday’s talks in Moscow centered on the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria in addition to the reopening of the M4 freeway. The west-east freeway cuts via government-controlled coastal areas and passes via the rebel-held northwest all the way in which to Kurdish-controlled areas within the northeast.

Russian and Turkish troops have performed joint patrols over the previous years on the freeway, which hyperlinks the Mediterranean with the Iraqi border, however repeated protests in rebel-held areas have prevented the return of site visitors to regular.

The very important freeway has been partially closed since 2012. The determination to reopen it was a part of a truce reached in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey that ended a monthslong Russian-backed authorities offensive on the rebel-held northeast.

But at the same time as Turkey has supported Syrian opposition fighters within the north, Ankara and Damascus are equally dismayed over the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria’s northeast. Turkey-backed opposition fighters have clashed with the SDF previously, accusing them of being an arm of Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The PKK has for many years waged an insurgency inside Turkey.

Assad’s authorities has solid the SDF as a secessionist power that has been pilfering the nation’s wealth whereas controlling Syria’s main oil fields.

The Russian Defense Ministry famous that in Tuesday’s talks “special attention was given to countering terror threats and fighting all groups of extremists on Syrian territory.”

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Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

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