Turkish military officials held a meeting with their Syrian counterparts at the Russian Hmeimim airbase, in Latakia province on the Syrian coast, following a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, and Russian President, Vladimir Putin, a few days ago.

The Turkish newspaper Aydınlık reported on June 15 that the meeting took place at Hmeimim base on June 11, under Russian mediation.

The newspaper cited sources described as “close to the Syrian government,” stating that the talks between the two sides resumed after being frozen for some time.

The meeting focused on the latest developments in Idlib and its surroundings and came after the Fidan-Putin meeting in the Russian capital, Moscow.

According to the newspaper, this is the first security meeting of its kind on Syrian soil.

The Russian president proposed that Turkey continue working within the Astana framework for what he called the “joint war against terrorism” in Syria and the normalization of Turkish-Syrian relations, following about two weeks of Iraq’s mediation between Damascus and Ankara.

During his meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister, Putin said, “We played a very important role together in resolving the Syrian crisis.”

He continued, “I think it would be appropriate to continue the (Astana) framework, fight against terrorism, and do everything we can until the situation returns to normal in this regard, which is most important for us.”

The Turkish newspaper also reported that its source close to the regime confirmed a forthcoming meeting between the two sides in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, without setting an approximate date for the meeting.

On June 5, an Iraqi government source mentioned that a meeting would soon take place between officials from the Syrian regime and Turkey in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi Shafaq News agency, citing an informed government source, Iraq’s efforts to resolve the disputes between Syria and Turkey and attempt to restore relations between the two countries to their previous state, have led to a meeting between officials from Damascus and Ankara in Baghdad in the near future.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, said on May 31 that Iraq played a major role in establishing a relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which was not an easy task, but Iraq succeeded in that.

Ankara consistently stresses its demands and conditions for proceeding in normal political relations with Damascus, which was reaffirmed by Defense Minister Yaşar Güler on June 1, expressing his country’s readiness for military withdrawal from Syria, within certain frameworks and conditions that are not new to Ankara.

He said that negotiations with the Syrian regime are conducted between four parties: Iran, Turkey, the Syrian regime, and Russia, aiming to reach a political solution in Syria based on a Security Council resolution (referring to resolution 2254).