Sputnik comes to you live from Moscow, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is meeting with his Middle Eastern colleagues: Iranian FM Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, and Turkiye's top diplomat Mevlut Cavusoglu. Separate talks between Lavrov and Cavusoglu are also expected to take place later in the day.
Allegedly, the key topic of the talks is going to be about normalizing relations between Turkiye and Syria, neighboring countries that currently do not have any established diplomatic ties.
Historically, there has been discord between Ankara and Damascus, but generally all contradictions were manageable. Tensions heated up after the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, instigated by Western-backed jihadists and the influx of refugees to Turkiye. However, political scientists stress that Russia has a reputation as a peace broker among Middle East politicians and can seriously facilitate rapprochement between Turkiye and Syria.
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