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31 Jan. () –
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced on Tuesday an agreement to incorporate Iran into the process of normalization of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Syria, which is mired in a civil war that began almost twelve years ago, in 2011.
“Both Russia, Iran and Turkey are part of the Astana trio, which is engaged in the Syrian settlement. Therefore, I consider it absolutely logical that additional contacts dedicated to promoting the normalization of Turkish-Syrian relations are accompanied by Russia and Iran. “, he indicated in a press conference collected by the Interfax news agency.
Lavrov has added, however, that both the format of the trilateral contacts and their possible date are being negotiated. “We have a mutual understanding that we must go step by step, so that each next step brings at least some concrete results,” he added.
A week ago, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Hussein Salami, in statements collected by the Tasnim news agency, stated that Tehran would send military aid to the Syrian Armed Forces.
Iran is, along with Russia, the main ally of Syrian President Bashar al Assad in the armed conflict, although Tehran had previously indicated that it would only help the country through military advisers and not through military equipment.
For its part, Russia is one of the main international supporters of Al Assad, and its military intervention in 2015 allowed government forces to repel rebel advances and once again take the initiative on the battlefield.
The negotiation process between Damascus and Ankara seems to be clearly outlined after the meeting that took place at the end of December between the Syrian Defense Minister, Ali Mahmud Abbas, his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, and the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, in Moscow.
The meeting, the first of its kind since the war in Syria broke out in 2011, took place after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in mid-December to hold a trilateral meeting with the Syrian President, Bashar al Assad, and thus open a negotiation process to normalize bilateral ties.
