Parallel Turkey-Russia and Turkey-U.S. Talks on U.S. Pullout from Syria To Take Place

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Parallel Turkey-Russia and Turkey-U.S. Talks on U.S. Pullout from Syria To Take Place

Dec. 27, 2018 (EIRNS)—Parallel talks between Russia and Turkey, and the U.S. and Turkey, will take place to coordinate U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria. A very high-level Turkish government delegation will visit Russia on Dec. 29 to discuss and coordinate cooperation in the context of U.S. withdrawal from Syria. At the same time there will be Ankara-Washington contacts, according to ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Ãáelik, reported Hurriyet Daily News.

Turkish government officials going to Russia include Foreign Minister Mevlüt Ãáavusoglu, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, and presidential advisor Ibrahim Kalin.

“The delegation will travel to Russia on Saturday [Dec. 29]. It will hold talks on Syria. In line with the results of these talks, a phone conversation [between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin] may be held. Another program for a face-to-face meeting with Putin will also be planned,”

Ãáelik told reporters late Dec. 26.

Discussions will focus on who will control the areas from which U.S. troops are withdrawing.

“An essential question arises: Who will inherit control over the territories vacated by the Americans? Obviously, that should be the Syrian government, in accordance with international law and considering the path that Syria and the Syrian people have traveled down,”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told her Dec. 26 press conference. “We closely coordinate our views and the implementation of a concrete policy in Syria with our Turkish colleagues.”

Meanwhile, a U.S. military delegation is expected to be in Turkey in the coming days, while U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton will arrive in Ankara after the New Year. Turkey-U.S. working groups will then meet in Washington on Jan. 8, to discuss all aspects of bilateral ties, as well as Syria.