Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu were set to hold talks in Turkey on Sunday to discuss what media reports described as regional issues, most likely meaning Syria and Libya. Both Russia and Turkey are involved in conflicts in those countries – and on opposite sides. In addition, Iran’s Foreign Ministry says that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is also due in Turkey on Sunday, although without mentioning the objective of the visit or whether it is connected to the presence of Lavrov and Shoigu. Iran and Russia are the two biggest backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his more-than nine-year civil war with rebels, some of whom are supported by Turkey. While fighting in Syria appears to have tapered off in recent weeks despite a government offensive in the northwest against some of the country’s last active rebel forces, the situation in Libya is on the front burner. Troops loyal to the UN-backed (and Turkey-supported) government have begun to push back forces led by renegade general Khalifa Haftar, who has been on a yearlong offensive of his own to overrun the capital Tripoli with assistance from Russia as well as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
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