Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Istanbul on April 17, but on the same day also took advantage of a photo opportunity with Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces of Syria. Only a tiny segment of the Turkish media noticed the significance of these meetings. Although the meeting with Lavrov was covered by the media, television coverage of Davutoglu meeting al-Khatib was but a minor news item that one saw only by chance.
The Syrian issue is now at the center of intensive diplomatic traffic in Istanbul. Lavrov made a quick visit to there and, as discerned from his statements, departed without agreeing with Turkey on the Syria issue. In other words, the two neighboring countries agreed to disagree.