Tehran 30 February _Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says people should be protected and terrorists should be eliminated in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib as tensions between Turkey and Syria have soared to a dramatic level after dozens of Turkish troops were killed in air raids in the region.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)_The situation in Idlib is very complicated, considering the presence of dangerous terrorists and [the necessity] to protect innocent people living in this region," Rouhani said in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.
He stressed the importance of cooperation among Iran, Turkey and Russia in line with the Astana peace process to solve the conflict in Syria and said, "Trilateral cooperation at different levels has special significance and as it has been already announced, Iran is ready to host the next round of this trilateral summit."
The previous trilateral meeting, the fifth in a row, between the presidents of the countries acting as guarantors of the Astana process to promote a peaceful settlement in Syria took place in Ankara in September 2019.
The trio also maintains contacts as part of the high-level meetings on Syria in Nur-Sultan (previously Astana), Kazakhstan. The last such meeting was held on December 10-11, 2019.
Elsewhere in his talks, the Iranian president lauded the Astana peace process on Syria as a great achievement for regional security, saying, "Definitely, increasing tension will not be in favor of anyone in the region and we should solve issues through dialog."
He added that Tehran, Ankara and Moscow have agreed on the importance of safeguarding Syria's territorial integrity, uprooting terrorists, protecting innocent civilians' lives and settling the conflict in Idlib as soon as possible.
Tensions surged in Idlib, the last major terrorist stronghold in the war-torn country, on Thursday after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed in an airstrike by Syrian forces.
Your Comment