MOSCOW (Dispatches) –
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has hoped for the restoration of Syria’s membership in the Arab League, saying Arab nations would be able to reunify their positions and resolve their differences if Damascus is readmitted to the organization.
Lavrov made the remarks during a press conference with the foreign ministers of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Sudan — members of the Arab Contact Group on Ukraine — in the Russian capital city of Moscow on Monday.
“We expressed our hope for Syria’s return to the Arab League. The issue will be resolved as soon as possible as it will help Arabs unify their positions in the region and the whole world,” the top Russian diplomat said.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in November 2011, citing an alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests. Syria has denounced the move as “illegal and a violation of the organization’s charter.”
Syria was one of the six founding members of the Arab League in 1945. In recent months, an increasing number of countries and political parties have called for the reversal of its suspension from the Arab League.
Meanwhile, Turkish media say Ankara is evaluating the possibility of starting talks with the Syrian government and that discussions are underway for new relations to be built between the two neighbors.
Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, citing informed sources, said on Monday that discussions were taking place in the Turkish capital of Ankara on restoring normal relations.
Citing the sources, the paper said the already existing relations between Damascus and Ankara can be improved and that the current situation may open a new door of opportunities for Turkey, especially for resolving the Syrian issue and the question of the militants of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Hurriyet said Ankara was insistent on three topics: maintaining the unified structure and territorial integrity of Syria, ensuring the security of refugees returning to their country and the PKK’s activities.
The paper said Ankara believes that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month indicated that he needed to take new initiatives and rally new support to be able to further stabilize his country.
Citing the sources, the Turkish newspaper said Ankara could turn this process in its favor if the “new phase” of relations with the UAE was considered, and that the success of this effort would lead to the return of at least half of the refugees residing in Turkey to their country.