Turkey and Syria agree to improve ties after talks in Moscow
Associated PressMOSCOW — Syria and Turkey agreed Wednesday to set up a “roadmap” to improve strained ties, following talks alongside Russia and Iran in Moscow. Moscow has spent years trying to help Syrian President Bashar Assad rebuild ties with Turkey and other countries that were fractured in the war, which has killed nearly 500,000 people and displaced half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million. Syrian state media quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad as saying during Wednesday’s meeting that Syria and Turkey “share goals and common interests.” He said that “despite all the negatives over the past years,” Damascus saw the talks as an opportunity “for both governments to cooperate with the help and support of our friends Russia and Iran.” Yet Mekdad added that the Syrian government’s “main goal” was to end all “illegal” military presences in the country, including that of Turkish forces. In April, Moscow hosted the defense ministers of Turkey, Syria and Iran for talks that it said focused on “practical steps to strengthen security in the Syrian Arab Republic and to normalize Syrian-Turkish relations.” ___ Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed.