ISTANBUL, 3 Jan. Damascus has expressed a desire to cooperate with Ankara on the issue of the return of refugees, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.
According to the minister, it is extremely important to ensure the safe return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, this requires contacts with the Syrian authorities.
>»Important issues are education, healthcare, what projects will be implemented to create suitable conditions for life. In this regard, international contacts with the Syrian authorities have gained importance. Damascus expressed a desire to establish cooperation on the issue of the return of refugees,» the TRT TV channel quoted the minister.
Earlier, Cavusoglu said that Ankara proposed a meeting of the Turkish and Syrian Foreign Ministers in the second half of January, which, according to him, is possible in a third country, including Russia.
Earlier in December in the Russian Federation The first talks between the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers in 11 years took place. In 2011, a civil war broke out in Syria. Turkey, which before this conflict maintained close relations with Damascus, took the side of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Since then, Turkey's relations with Syria have remained difficult. However, in recent weeks, both sides, as well as some media outlets, have been talking about the possibility of a gradual normalization.