Turkey’s defense minister and the head of its national intelligence agency met with their Syrian counterparts in Moscow on Wednesday, in a clear sign of normalization of relations between Ankara and Damascus in Syria’s decade-long war, Reuters reported.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and the head of the National Intelligence Organization (NIS) Hakan Fidan met in Moscow with Syrian Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas and Syrian Intelligence Chief Ali Mamlouk, as well as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

“During the constructive meeting, the Syrian crisis, the issue of refugees and efforts to jointly fight against all terrorist organizations on the territory of Syria were discussed,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Turkish, Russian and Syrian sides agreed to continue the tripartite meetings, the report said.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced this month that he had proposed to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to create a tripartite mechanism with Russia and Syria to speed up diplomacy between Ankara and Damascus. He also said that he wants to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

After last month’s deadly explosion in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey would launch a ground operation in northern Syria against targets linked to the YPG militia, which Ankara says is a wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).