Turkish PM Urges New Push for Settlement of Syria Crisis
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called on Iran, Russia and the US to open a “new chapter” in the struggle for settling the ongoing Syrian crisis.
“It is vitally important for Turkey, Iran, Russia and the United States to open a new chapter in Syria without marking time,” Turkey’s T24 quoted Yildirim as saying on Monday.
Earlier, he had said that countries like Iran, Russia, and the US can help resolve the crisis through concerted action.
Turkey, along with the US and the Arab dictatorships of the Persian Gulf, has been supporting the militants fighting the elected Syrian government. Recently, however, and amid newly emerged differences with the West, Turkey has been gravitating toward Russia, which supports the Damascus government.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and called for a “clean slate” in the bilateral ties, which had been soured by Turkish military’s downing of a Russian jet over Syria last year.
Ankara has also enhanced its ties with Iran following a failed coup in Turkey, which Iran became the first country to condemn.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.
Meanwhile, Russia’s aerial support for the Syrian forces since September 2015 has given fresh impetus to the fight against the foreign-backed terrorists.
Iran has also remained a close ally of Syria and supports its legitimate government in the face of militancy, consistently emphasizing that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is the sole legitimate entity to run the Arab country.