Spotlight: Turkey, Iran, Russia strive for Syria political settlement
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E-mail Xinhua, November 20, 2017
ANKARA, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkey, Iran and Russia have strived for political settlement in Syria ahead of the next round of talks between Syria's government and the opposition held in Geneva on Nov. 28.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani, on Nov. 22 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi for discussions on Syria as they spearheaded a ceasefire initiative in the war-torn country through Astana process.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met in Turkey's southern province of Antalya on Sunday for preparatory talks of trilateral summit.
The framework of Sunday's meeting was to present a summary of what has been done so far and exchange ideas about the joint steps the three countries will take, Cavusoglu told reporters after the meeting.
Astana process yielded positive results in Syria regarding efforts for declaring ceasefire, establishing de-escalation zones and decreasing tension in the war-torn country, and situation on the ground is far better compared to last year, the minister said.
But the progress on the ground will not sustain unless a political solution is achieved, Cavusoglu pointed out.
"We have to concentrate on political process, while continuing to fight terrorist organizations such as Deash (the Islamic State)," the minister said.
Last week, Erdogan had the fifth face-to-face talk with Putin of this year in Sochi. "There is now a base that allows us to focus on the political process," the Turkish president said.
Having significant leverage on the Sunni Arab opposition groups in Syria as it has backed rebels seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, Turkey plays a crucial role in mediating between some of these groups to cement the ceasefire agreement.
Turkish Armed Forces deployed troops in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib as part of the de-escalation zone agreement brokered by Russia and Iran in Astana earlier this year and have already established two observer posts on the northern border of Idlib.
The rebel-stronghold province is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate, which has ousted more moderate rebels in recent months.
Turkey's coordination with Russia and Iran comes amid Turkey's rising tensions with the United States, exacerbated by the latter's support to the Syrian Kurds with thousands of arms delivered to clear Raqqa of Islamic State (IS) fighters.
Frustrated by U.S. policies in Syria, Ankara regards Moscow as a partner who can help Turkey achieve its priority in the Syrian conflict - preventing a Kurdish corridor between Afrin canton in the west and the cantons of Jazeera and Kobani in the east.
Turkish deployment in Idlib is also providing military reinforcement for Turkey near the Kurdish stronghold of Afrin in northern Syria.
"We could arrive suddenly one night" is a recent motto of the Turkish leadership who wants to contain advance of Syrian Kurds and threaten to launch a military operation against the People's Protection Units (YPG) forces in the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin as it regards the group as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Turkey has been seeking the support of Russia for a limited military action against the Kurds in northwest Syria and expand its military deployment from the Azaz region to the southwestern area of Daret Izza, Deir Ballut and Tel Rifaat town, in order to block any possible attempts of Syrian Kurds to connect three cantons they have declared as autonomous administration.
The issue about the YPG and PYD is the "primary sensitivity" of Turkey, said Cavusoglu after the meeting in Antalya.
Ankara objects the participation of these groups at "any meetings" including Astana and Geneva processes, he said, noting that both Russia and Iran were informed about this.
Moscow has recently postponed a dialogue conference with the participation of Syrian opposition groups that was due to take place in Russia on Nov. 18, after Ankara expressed strong objections against an invitation issued for the PYD and YPG.
Meanwhile, Ankara indicates it prioritizes measures against "Kurdish threat" across its borders, and eases its policy to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"A totally political solution would mean that the Turkish government would have to accept the al-Assad government as a counterpart in the Geneva talks. Perhaps it would also mean that Turkey would not be able to rule out the presence of al-Assad in any transition phase," said Murat Yetkin, Hurriyet Daily News columnist. Enditem
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