President Erdogan said that Turkey wants more help from Russia and Iran, but can fight “terrorist” organizations without any support.
Tehran, Iran – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has continued to warn that Ankara may launch a new military operation in northern Syria, as he meets his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Tehran.
Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held a summit on Syria in the Iranian capital on Tuesday to resolve differences.
In recent years, Russia, Turkey and Iran have held talks within the framework of the so-called “Astana peace process” aimed at ending more than 11 years of conflict in the Middle Eastern country.
In recent months, Erdogan has said he will soon launch a military operation against Kurdish fighters Turkey considers “terrorists” in the cities of Tal Rifaat and Manbij. Located west of the Euphrates River, the cities are controlled by the Syrian Kurdish armed group, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara considers the YPG a “terrorist” group and says it has links to domestic armed fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey has also designated a “terrorist” organization. . The PKK has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey since 1984, and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict.
The Turkish government has accused the YPG of attacking Turkish security forces in Syria.
Turkey wants more help from Russia and Iran but has the ability to continue the fight against “terrorist” organizations in Syria without any support, Erdogan said on Tuesday, reiterating plans to establish a “safe zone” 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) long. from Turkey’s southern border with Syria.
“You said that you understand Turkey’s concerns and we thank you for this,” Erdogan said as he told Putin and Raisi. “But words alone are not enough.”
Earlier, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Warn against such an operation and the Kremlin has previously expressed opposition to a new Turkish invasion.
Both Putin and Raisi voiced support for the Astana format as effective in reducing violence and raising hopes for a diplomatic solution in Syria. They expressed opposition to foreign intervention and the theft of the country’s oil and resources – an attack on the United States.
“We emphasize that the Syrian government must have control over all areas of the country. Therefore, there is no justification for the American presence east of the Euphrates and they have to leave that area,” Raisi said at a news conference after the summit.
All three leaders said they wanted to promote efforts to solve problems in Syria through dialogue and expressed their desire to help the millions of displaced Syrian citizens, many of whom have migrated to Turkey. Turkey.
“The future of Syria must be decided by the Syrians for themselves and without any outside orders,” Putin told a news conference, also in Raisi’s words.
Joint statement
The three leaders, who also held bilateral talks on Tuesday before the summit, then issued a joint statement containing their agreements on Syria’s future.
In the statement, they “expressed their determination to continue cooperating against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.
However, they also “reject any attempt to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of fighting terrorism” and are committed to upholding Syria’s sovereignty.
They further agreed that it was necessary to maintain calm in the previously negotiated “de-escalation” zone in and around Idlib.
Coming soon after the UN Expanding cross-border humanitarian aid into Syria Over the course of six months, the leaders have called on the UN and other stakeholders to increase support for “non-discrimination, politicization and preconditions”.
The three presidents also condemned Israel’s military attacks, including civil infrastructure in Syria, calling it a “violation of international law” and destabilizing the region.
They announced that the next Astana-format trilateral meeting will take place in Russia before the end of 2022.
The summit came as Syria’s state agency SANA reported that the country’s Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, arrived in Tehran late Tuesday. Mekdad is scheduled to meet with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on Wednesday.
