Defense Ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria Meet in Moscow

The defense ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Syria held talks in Moscow on Wednesday, Russia announced. It is the first meeting since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war.

“Ways of resolving the Syrian crisis and the problem of refugees as well as joint efforts to combat extremist groups in Syria have been discussed,” RIA news agency reported, citing the Russian Defense Ministry, which called the meeting “constructive” and said that such meetings should “continue in the interests of further stabilizing the situation” in Syria and the region.

The meeting comes days after Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that Ankara held talks with Moscow about the details of a long-threatened operation to use Syrian airspace to conduct a cross-border raid against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. including a discussion about opening the airspace over northern Syria. Turkey considers the YPG to be the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an armed guerrilla movement based in the Kurdish-majority regions of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq that is considered to be a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU. Turkey holds the YPG responsible for the November 13 bombing in its largest city, Istanbul, that killed six people and injured 81.

Russia and Turkey are both involved in Syria, with Moscow supporting President Bashar Assad’s regime in the long-running civil war and Turkey backing the rebels.