Erdogan hosts Putin, Rouhani for summit seeking Syria solutions

Source:AFP Published: 2019/9/17 19:43:42

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (center), Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pose for a photo during the Turkey-Russia-Iran trilateral summit at Cankaya Mansion in Ankara, Turkey on Monday. Photo: VCG

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted his Russian and Iranian counterparts on Monday for their latest summit on Syria, vowing to work together to prevent further humanitarian crisis in the last rebel-held bastion of Idlib.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met Erdogan for separate  talks in the Turkish capital before they all sat down for their fifth summit on the conflict since 2017.

Iran and Russia have been supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey has called for his ouster and backed opposition fighters. But with Assad's position looking increasingly secure, Turkey's priority has shifted to preventing a mass influx of refugees from Idlib into Syria's northwest. 

The statements to the press were short on specifics, but Erdogan said the talks were "productive" and that they had taken "important decisions."

"We are in complete agreement in aiming for a lasting political solution for Syria's political unity and territorial integrity," he said as the summit began.

Turkey is concerned over the steady advance of Syrian forces, backed by Russian airpower, despite a series of cease-fires.

Turkey has 12 observation posts in Idlib to enforce a buffer zone agreement struck a year ago with Russia to prevent a full-scale Syrian offensive. 

But the posts look increasingly threatened, with one cut off from the rest of Idlib when Syrian forces advanced last month. 

Russian airstrikes have continued in the region despite the latest cease-fire agreed by Ankara and Moscow on August 31.

"A zone of de-escalation should not serve as a terrain for armed provocations," Putin said as the summit opened.

"We must take supplementary measures to completely destroy the terrorist menace that comes from the zone of Idlib."

The final summit statement said the three leaders were "alarmed about the risk of further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in and around [Idlib] as a result of continued escalation and agreed to take concrete steps to reduce violations."



Posted in: MID-EAST

blog comments powered by Disqus