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TURKEY-SYRIA-CONFLICT-IRAN-DIPLOMACY
Turkey, Iran hold talks after US Syria announcement
ANKARA, Dec 20, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on
Thursday held talks with Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, with Syria
likely to dominate the agenda after the surprise US decision to withdraw
troops from that country.
The two leaders sat down for the meeting in Ankara, which was arranged
before US President Donald Trump’s announcement.
Trump stunned allies and American officials on Wednesday with an order to
pull ground forces from the war-ravaged nation.
The US presence has been seen by analysts as key to pushing against Iranian
influence.
Ankara has repeatedly called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster
and supported Syrian opposition fighters. Tehran and Moscow are Damascus’s
strongest allies and have helped to turn the war in Assad’s favour.
Despite their differences, Turkey has been working closely with Iran and
Russia to find a political solution to the war through the Astana process
launched last year.
As part of the peace talks which began in the Kazakh capital, the three
countries agreed four “de-escalation” zones in Syria. All of those except the
northwestern province of Idlib have been retaken by Damascus.
The Turkish, Iranian and Russian foreign ministers met on Tuesday in Geneva
for talks with UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura. Afterwards they voiced hope
that a committee tasked with writing a new Syrian constitution would begin
early next year.
Turkey and Iran, regional rivals for centuries, have in recent times
focused on developing a pragmatic relationship and boosting trade.
Erdogan threatened last week to launch a new operation east of the
Euphrates in northern Syria against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units
(YPG).
This US-backed Kurdish militia is viewed by Ankara as a “terrorist
offshoot” of Kurdish insurgents inside Turkey.
There are around 2,000 US forces in Syria, most of them on a train-and-
advise mission helping the YPG under the banner of the Kurdish-led Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance fighting against the Islamic State extremist
group.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar earlier on Thursday said that Ankara
was “working intensely” on the subject of the east of the Euphrates and the
flashpoint city of Manbij held by the YPG.
“When the time and place comes, they (the YPG) will be buried in the pits
they dig,” Akar vowed during his visit to Doha, according to state news
agency Anadolu.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1735 hrs