Coordination With Turkey on Syria Commended

Head of the Center for Strategic Research of the Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati hailed as a "major development" the recent coordination among Iran, Russia and Turkey in their efforts to help resolve the crisis in Syria. "In the past, Iran and Russia were on one side and Turkey on the other, but the three countries have now come together to pave the way for favorable results in Syria," Velayati told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday. His remarks follow a trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey in Moscow on Tuesday, Tasnim News Agency reported.  Velayati described diplomatic coordination among Tehran, Moscow and Ankara as a major development that would help the Syrian government and nation get rid of terrorists. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Russia's Sergey Lavrov and Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a joint statement after a meeting in Moscow, calling for continued cooperation on Syria and reiterating their respect for Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.