Erdogan Will Discuss Syria’s Idlib With Rouhani, Putin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country was engaged in talks with Iran and Russia to avoid what he described as a “humanitarian disaster” in Syria’s rebel-held region of Idlib. “We are carrying out work together with the Russians and the Iranians to prevent the catastrophe which took place in Aleppo from repeating in Idlib,” Erdogan told a  ceremony Thursday in Ankara, referring to the Syrian army’s 2016 retaking of Aleppo from militants supported by several foreign countries, including Turkey, Turkish-based Hurriyet Daily reported. Erdogan spoke a day after meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and ahead of a planned meeting between the Iranian, Russian and Turkish leaders. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a three-way summit in Tehran on Sept. 7 with the leaders of Turkey and Iran, Reuters reported.  The Russian presidential spokesman also confirmed Turkey’s statements that Putin and Erdogan would hold a separate meeting on the sidelines of the summit. When asked what issues Putin and Erdogan would discuss, Peskov said they would be the “usual” ones. The Russian leader last met with President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the Caspian summit in the Kazakh city of Aktau on August 12.

The Tehran summit will mark the third trilateral meeting on resolving the Syrian crisis. On November 22, 2017, the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey held their first meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. They adopted a joint statement, expressing determination to continue their efforts to figure out a solution to the Syria issue.