Regional sources "close to Damascus" told the agency that the head of the Turkish intelligence service, Hakan Fidan, and the head of the Syrian National Security Service, Ali Mamlouk, met this week in the Syrian capital.
During the meetings, Fidan and Mamlouk assessed the possibility of the two countries' foreign ministers meeting, according to a senior Turkish official and a Turkish security source.
"Russia wants Syria and Turkey to overcome their problems and reach certain agreements that are in the interest of everyone, Turkey and Syria alike," the Turkish official said.
One of the big challenges, the official added, is Turkey's desire to include the Syrian opposition in any talks with Damascus.
The Turkish security official noted that Russia has gradually withdrawn some military resources from Syria to focus on Ukraine, and asked Turkey to normalize relations with Damascus to "accelerate the political solution" in Syria.
He pointed out that "Ankara does not want to see Iranian or Iranian-backed forces fill the gaps left by the Russian withdrawals."
The source close to Damascus said that Russia had urged Syria to enter into talks, adding that recent meetings, including Fidan's two-day visit to Damascus last August, sought to pave the way for higher-level sessions.
He added that the Turkish-Syrian contacts had made a lot of progress, without going into details.
A third regional source allied with Damascus said that "Turkish-Syrian relations have begun to improve and progress to the stage of creating an atmosphere of understanding."
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