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Any Turkish Military Action in North Syria Detrimental to Region

The Syrian crisis must be addressed through negotiation and dialogue, the Leader said 
Any Turkish Military Action in North Syria Detrimental to Region
Any Turkish Military Action in North Syria Detrimental to Region

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said any military offensive by Turkey in northern Syria would be detrimental not only to the two countries, but also to the entire region. 
“Such military action in Syria will be in the interest of terrorists, who are not limited to one particular group,” he said in a meeting with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Leader.ir reported.
Erdogan has threatened to launch a new offensive in northern Syria against Kurdish fighters which Ankara regards as “terrorists”. 
The potential operation is aimed at extending the 30-kilometer-deep “safe zone” along its border with Syria. 
Ankara fears that a strong Kurdish presence along its border with Syria will embolden the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which for decades has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state. 
Erdogan has said that since the United States and Russia have failed to live up to their commitments to provide a safe zone along the border region, Turkey is ready to mount an operation to protect the nation and locals in northern Syria from the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units).
Highlighting the importance of Syria’s territorial integrity, the Leader said such an operation would not produce the expected political reaction from the Syrian government.
He called on Erdogan to see Syria’s security as its own, just as Iran sees the security of Turkey and its borders as its own. 
“Issues in Syria must be addressed through negotiation,” he said, urging Iran, Turkey, Syria and Russia to conclude the problems through dialogue. 
Tehran, Ankara and Moscow have already been engaged in a series of discussions on Syria as part of a so-called “Astana peace process” to end more than 11 years of conflict in the Arab country.
Iran had already warned that any Turkish military action in Syria could “destabilize the region,” while also acknowledging that Turkey’s security concerns must be tackled fully and permanently.
Russia has also already expressed hope that Turkey would “refrain” from launching an attack on Syria.

 

 

Astana Process 

The Turkish president was in Tehran to co-chair the seventh meeting of the Turkey-Iran High-Level Cooperation Council with Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday, according to a statement by the Turkish Presidency.
“All aspects of the Turkey-Iran relations and potential steps that would enhance the bilateral cooperation will be discussed during the Council Meeting, which will be held with the participation of relevant ministers,” it added.
The two presidents, along with their Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, also gathered on Tuesday to hold the seventh round of discussions on the ongoing civil war in Syria and the fight against terrorism within the Astana format. 
The Astana peace process was launched in January 2017 at the initiative of the three countries and continues to be used as a platform where political and humanitarian issues are discussed.
All three are involved in Syria, with Russia and Iran supporting the Damascus government against its opponents, and Turkey backing the opposition.

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