The Kremlin: Putin and Erdogan discussed by phone the normalization of Turkish relations with the Assad regime

ARK News… The Russian presidency announced on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which they discussed relations with the Assad regime.

The Kremlin stated that the two sides discussed the normalization of Turkish relations with the Assad regime, in the context of a Russian initiative to launch tripartite consultations, but the statement did not mention more details on the subject.

It is worth noting that the Russian Ministry of Defense had announced, last month, that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, and Assad's Foreign Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas held tripartite talks in Moscow to discuss ways to resolve the Syrian crisis, and the need to continue dialogue to achieve stability in Damascus.

It stated in a statement that tripartite talks between the defense ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey were held in Moscow on December 28, during which they discussed ways to solve the Syrian crisis and the refugee problem, and joint efforts to combat extremist groups in Syria.

Recently, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that he might meet with his counterparts, the Foreign Minister of Assad, Faisal al-Miqdad, and the Russian Sergey Lavrov, in early February. It seems that there are obstacles that necessitated the postponement of the meeting scheduled for the middle of this month.

The minister said in a statement to reporters that "the meeting between the foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, and the Syrian regime may take place in early February." The exact date of the meeting is yet to come.

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