Turkish position weaker than past – researcher on Iran
ERBIL, KRI, Iraq ( north Press) – Position of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, though he continues threating to launch a military operation against Syrian territory, has become weaker than it was in the previous years, research on Iran and Iranian affairs Saeed Shawerdi said on Tuesday.
Erdogan will listen to stances by Iranian leaders during a trilateral summit in Tehran, Shawerdi added.
Late on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Turkish president arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran for the trilateral meeting.
On Tuesday, Tehran is holding the trilateral meeting that brings presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey together. It will also include bilateral meetings.
Syrian issue tops agendas of the summit in addition to other issues of concern to the three countries.
Rejecting Turkish proposal
Erdogan is likely to present, in Tehran, his intention to launch a new operation against Syria’s north, seeking a Russian-Iranian green light.
Shawerdi told North Press that though Iranian official position regarding the Turkish intervention in Syria is clear, “Erdogan will not risk waging a military operation on Syrian territory that Iran considers a violation of sovereignty.”
He suggests that the Turkish-Syrian tensions are likely to ease mediated by Iran and Russia “because conditions in Syria have ripened for a political solution, as the country is almost free of hardline radical groups,
“and also the Syrian government is open to accept the other part.”
The researcher, who maintains close ties with Iran, went further, saying that the Iranian official position is clear, “it opposes any Turkish intervention in the Syrian territory though it [Iran] declared that it understood Turkey’s fears.”
Coordination with Syrian government
However, “Understanding Turkey’s fears does not give the latter the right to intervene in the Syrian territory without coordination with the Syrian government,” Shawerdi noted.
He added that Iran’s position stresses that if there are areas in Syria’s north that threaten the Turkish national security, then “Turkey has to engage in discussions with the Syrian government and assign the task of dealing with this risk to the Syrian army.”
He believes that Iran wants to push Turkey to “officially support and coordinate with the Syrian government to counter this risk that Turkey claims it threatens its security, and to stop supporting any group inside Syria that affects security and destabilizes the country.”
“Turkey has to understand this issue because any intervention in Syria will affect the entire region and Syrian-Turkish common border,” he noted.
The trilateral summit, according to Shawerdi, indicates that these countries [Iran, Russia and Turkey] “have common interests and there should be constant coordination between them regarding issues of the region and the Syrian issue.”
Turkey, contrary to the Russian and Iranian positions, have taken an opposing stance against the Syrian government since 2011 when the Syrian war started, supporting the armed opposition factions.
Shawerdi believes that the Turkish position at this time “is weaker than it was in previous years due to the stifling crisis that affects Turkey and its currency.”
The Turkish lira weakened to beyond 17.5730 against the US dollar on Tuesday.