UPDATE - Turkish Defense Minister Announces Plans To Establish Coordination Center In Syria

ISTANBUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2023) Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said an agreement has been reached to establish a coordination center of Turkey, Russia, Iran and Syria on security issues in Syria.

He recalled the four-party talks held in Moscow on April 25 between the defense ministers of Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria.

"At the end of the meeting, we raised the topic of creating a security coordination center in Syria... to promptly discuss the development of events. We reached an agreement on this issue," Akar told TV100.

He said Turkey is no longer able to withstand the new flow of Syrian refugees, adding that Ankara "does not consider itself an invader in Syria", which it said at the April 25 meeting.

The Turkish, Russian, Iranian and Syrian foreign ministers will meet in Moscow on May 10 to discuss a road map for normalizing relations between Ankara and Damascus and the situation in Syria in general.

In December 2022, the Turkish and Syrian defense ministers held their first meeting in Moscow since a civil war broke out in Syria in 2011. Turkey then supported Syrian president Bashar Assad's opponents, which led to a deterioration of diplomatic relations between Ankara and Damascus.