Iran praises Syria-Turkey rapprochement
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian praised on Friday recent rapprochement between Syrian and Turkish officials saying that such talks would have positive effects on the interests of the two countries.
This came in a visit paid by the Iranian minister to the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Amir-Abdollahian said his country was glad to see a rapprochement between “its ally” Syria and Turkey, which has backed the political and armed opposition to Damascus over the last decade.
Late in December 2022, the Syrian and Turkish ministers of defense met in the Russian capital Moscow, marking the first announced official meeting between Syria and Turkey since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Both countries have been on opposing sides because Turkey has chosen to back the opposition in an attempt to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“We are happy with the dialogue taking place between Syria and Turkey, and we believe that it will reflect positively between the two countries,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
In his first comments on the rapprochement between Syria and Turkey, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said after receiving Russia’s Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev in Damascus on Thursday, said meetings with Turkey should aim at ending the latter’s “occupation and support for terrorism.”