Russia will actively encourage Türkiye and Syria to swiftly restart negotiations to normalize their long-strained ties since there is serious interest from both sides for dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a Turkish newspaper.

"Normalization of Turkish-Syrian relations is very important for sustainable stability in Syria and regional security in the Middle East," Lavrov said in an interview with Hürriyet published on Friday.

"Russia is making a consistent effort to eliminate disputes between Ankara and Damascus," he said, noting the issue was taken up with Turkish and Iranian counterparts during the Astana Process meeting in New York in September.

Türkiye and Syria have made a push in recent years to mend ties severed in 2011 after Syria’s civil war began and Ankara deployed troops to back opposition forces and stave off PKK/YPG terrorists in the north.

Syria's war began after the repression of anti-regime protests in 2011 and has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions. Assad views the Syrian opposition as terrorists.

Türkiye hosts some 3.2 million Syrian refugees out of a population of 85 million, according to United Nations data.

Since 2022, top Syrian and Turkish officials, defense and foreign ministers, as well as intelligence chiefs have met for Russia-mediated talks, with Moscow pushing for a detente.

The last talks in Moscow, including Tehran, fell apart in May 2023.

Russia is still trying to facilitate a meeting between the two countries’ leaders to mend ties. Iraq also said in July that it may seek to try to bring the two leaders together.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, over the summer, voiced a plan to invite his estranged Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad for talks.

Assad initially said Damascus was open to all initiatives to revive Turkish-Syrian relations "as long as they are based on respecting the sovereignty of the Syrian state over all its territory and fighting all forms of terrorism."

Later in July, he made clear that while he wanted Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, that was not a precondition for talks.

Since then, however, the process has been essentially frozen.

After attending the BRICS Summit in Kazan last week, Erdoğan expressed hope to see "constructive steps soon" on the matter. He also confirmed he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for assistance ensuring the Syrian government engages with Ankara to normalize ties.

"Russia's influence over the Syrian government is known ... We requested Mr. Putin to ensure the response of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad to our call. Will Mr. Putin make a call for Assad to take this step? We leave that to time," Erdoğan said.

Referring to Moscow talks that addressed the return of Syrian refugees, the war on terrorism, and border security, Lavrov lamented that differences of opinion in the positions of Damascus and Ankara on several of these issues had halted the negotiation process.

According to Lavrov, the Syrian regime insists the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Syria must first be clarified, while Türkiye reaffirms its commitment to Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity in principle but proposes to address the issue of troop withdrawal later.

Türkiye says having the PKK/YPG immediately across its border is a grave concern for Turkish border towns that suffered from PKK/YPG attacks in the past.

The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, a terrorist group responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in its decadeslong terror campaign to achieve so-called Kurdish self-rule in southeast Türkiye and some parts of northern Syria and Iraq.

The YPG exploited the power vacuum during civil unrest to occupy swathes of land and create a self-styled entity in northeastern Syria. The terrorist group has also found a major ally in the U.S. against Daesh, a strain on Turkish-U.S. relations.

Turkish mediation

On prospects for Türkiye’s mediation in Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, Lavrov argued Western countries and the Kyiv government "are not seeking peace in Ukraine, and, therefore, peace efforts by any country, including Türkiye, are unlikely to succeed."

However, Türkiye’s military cooperation with Ukraine raises eyebrows against the backdrop of Ankara’s efforts to mediate the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Lavrov continued.

He said Ankara’s military-technical cooperation with Kyiv was "regrettable," since it’s a security concern for Moscow that the Ukrainian military is using Turkish weapons in strikes against Russia.

"This is perplexing in light of the Turkish leadership’s statements of readiness to offer mediation services," he said.

At the same time, he noted that Russia appreciated Türkiye’s mediation efforts.

"The Turkish government played a crucial role by offering the Istanbul platform for consultations with representatives from Kyiv in the spring of 2022 and facilitating the grain deal," Lavrov said.

"However, the Istanbul negotiations were ultimately undermined by the Anglo-Saxons, who prevented Vladimir Zelenskyy from reaching agreements that could have stopped hostilities and ensured the balance of interests of all parties involved."

BRICS accession

Turning to Türkiye’s potential accession to BRICS, Lavrov said Russia welcomes Ankara’s interest, which he argued confirmed the group’s attractiveness "which is based on respect, pragmatism and not targeting third parties."

If admitted, it would be the first NATO member to join the alliance, which sees itself as a counterweight to Western powers and whose members are sharply at odds with the West over several issues, notably the ongoing Mideast conflict.

Ankara sees BRICS as an opportunity for more economic cooperation with member states rather than an alternative to its Western ties and NATO membership.

The BRICS nations represent just under half of the world's population and around a third of the global gross domestic product. As a "platform," it does not impose binding economic obligations on members like the European Union, at whose door Ankara has been knocking since 1999.

BRICS is an acronym for its five founding members, although the alliance added four nations this year, three of which are from the Middle East, including Iran.

Lavrov said he believes Türkiye will make significant contributions to the further expansion of BRICS and assured the decision on Türkiye’s accession will be made with unanimous consent and respect to the sovereign preferences of BRICS members and Türkiye.