The foreign ministers of Turkey, Russia, Iran and Syria may hold talks early next month as part of Moscow's attempt to help broker a rapprochement between Ankara and Damascus.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments to a broadcaster on Monday.
Nato alliance member Turkey has been a major backer of the political and armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad during a 12-year civil war, and has sent its own troops into swathes of the country's north.
“The meeting will most probably take place in early May, in Moscow,” Mr Cavusoglu told broadcaster A Haber, saying it could lead to a leaders' meeting.
Syrian and Turkish defence ministers held talks in Moscow in December, in the highest-level encounter since the war began.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said last month during a meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Al Assad that a Turkey-Syria rapprochement would be on the agenda.
“Turkey-Syria relations will certainly be touched upon in one way or another,” Mr Peskov said.
Moscow is Mr Al Assad's main ally and Russia has encouraged a reconciliation with Ankara, but Damascus has demanded a full withdrawal of Turkish troops for relations to be restored.
Before the 2011 conflict, Syria was one of Turkey’s largest trading partners in the Middle East, with bilateral trade in 2010 worth around $2.5 billion. At the time, Mr Erdogan pursued a foreign policy called “zero problems with neighbours.”
Relations between the two countries soured bitterly amid accusations that Turkey was harbouring militant groups, including organisations linked to Al Qaeda and ISIS, in a bid to topple the government in Damascus.
Trade has picked up again in recent years, but mainly between Turkey and areas under rebel control, where militias backed and funded by Ankara hold sway in strips of land along Syria’s northern border.
Much of this trade has been disrupted by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6, shattering an already fragile economy in Syria after 12 years of war.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Brief scoreline
Switzerland 0
England 0
Result: England win 6-5 on penalties
Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold (England)
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
