Iran, Russia and Turkey plan Syria summit to end conflict
PRESIDENTS OF THREE NATIONS TO MEET IN TEHRAN ON SEPTEMBER 7 TO IRON OUT DIFFERENCES
The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey will meet on September 7 in Iran for their third tripartite summit on seeking to end the conflict in Syria, Turkish state television said yesterday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to Iran to meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani, state-run TRT Haber television said. Private NTV television added the summit would be held in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz.
A Turkish presidential official contacted by AFP could not immediately confirm the reports.
However, the presidency has invited Turkish journalists to cover a trip by Erdogan to Iran on September 7.
Erdogan had previously indicated that he planned to host a summit on September 7 in Istanbul on Syria with Putin and also French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Major agenda
But press reports over the last weeks have suggested that such a meeting was increasingly unlikely and was set to be replaced by the latest three-way summit between Iran, Russia and Turkey.
The three leaders have previously held summits in the Russian resort city of Sochi and the Turkish capital Ankara.
Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are backing peace talks based in the Kazakh capital Astana which they insist are aimed at reinforcing, rather than undermining, a UN peace process in Geneva.
A major item on the agenda at the summit is expected to be the rebel-held northwestern Syrian province of Idlib which Al Assad wants to re-capture, to crown a string of military successes.
But Turkey has said a military operation to take Idlib risks provoking a humanitarian “catastrophe”, warning that 3.5 million people are crammed into the region.
The US and Russia exchanged warnings over the weekend concerning developments in Idlib. US National Security Adviser John Bolton said Washington was willing to intervene militarily if Al Assad uses chemical weapons to recapture the province. Russia accused the US of looking for a pretext to attack Al Assad’s regime.
Defence deals with Syria
Meanwhile, Iran’s defence minister has said his country has signed a deal with Syria to rebuild the Syrian armed forces that have been battered by years of war.
Amir Hatami, who is on a two-day visit to Syria, told the Beirut-based Al Mayadeen TV station in an interview aired yesterday that the agreement is to also develop Syria’s military industry.
Iran has been an essential backer of Syria’s regime in the civil war now in its seventh year, providing advisers, military supplies, training and thousands of militiamen to fight alongside the Syrian army.
Israel has been critical of Iran’s expanding role in Syria, saying it won’t tolerate an Iranian permanent military presence near its frontiers.
Hatami said Iran is in Syria at the invitation of its government.