Turkey hopes Iran will play constructive role in Syria thaw
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu acknowledged difficulties so far but called on Iran to make a constructive contribution to the high-level talks between Turkey, Syria and Russia.
ANKARA — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday tacitly acknowledged the difficulty of including Iran in high-level talks between the Turkish and Syrian governments.
Asked whether Iran played a destructive or constructive role, Cavusoglu chuckled and said he couldn’t describe Tehran’s role as destructive so far. “But of course it has been a Russian initiative. From now on, the contribution that Iran will make will be important,” he told Turkey’s private HaberTurk television in an exclusive interview.
Cavusoglu added that the Iranian demand to join the talks between Ankara, Damascus and Moscow was one reason a landmark meeting between the three countries’ top diplomats was canceled in mid-January.
Following a Moscow-mediated meeting between the Turkish, Russian and Syrian defense and intelligence chiefs late last year, the chief diplomats of the three countries were expected to gather as part of the Kremlin’s efforts to reconcile Ankara and Damascus.
