Syria regime demands Turkish withdrawal ahead of Moscow meet

Senior diplomats from Turkey, Russia, Syria, and Iran will meet in Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the situation in Syria with Bashar al-Assad's regime demanding the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Syria.

Turkish officials told Turkey's state news agency Anadolu on Monday that the meeting will be attended by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Susan, and senior Iranian foreign ministry advisor Ali Asghar Khaji.

Sources who spoke to pro-Syrian regime outlet Al Watan denied that any dates had been agreed upon for the deputy foreign ministers' meeting, saying it is still demanding the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Syria before the meeting.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week that the technical talks would lay the ground for a meeting between foreign ministers of the four countries.

"The Iranian side will also attend this meeting. At this meeting, preparations for the foreign ministers' meeting will be made," Cavusoglu said in a joint press conference in Ankara with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

The Moscow meeting announcement came as the Assad regime enjoys a bounce in support from some Arab states, who have moved to normalise ties with Damascus following the 6 February earthquake.

Syria became politically isolated after Assad's brutal suppression of protests in 2011, which was followed by more than a decade of war.

It has made efforts to mend ties with regional powers and used earthquake aid as an attempt at outreach and strengthening ties with the UUAE, Bahrain, and Egypt.

The US remains against any normalisation with the Syrian regime until a peace deal is reached with the opposition.

Turkey is among the foreign powers to have intervened in the war and has troops present in the north of the country, following offensives against Kurdish militants and the Islamic State group.