Call for Multilateral Talks to Address North Syria Conflict

EghtesadOnline: Tehran opposes Turkey's military offensive in north Syria and believes that the dispute can be addressed through dialogue in multilateral meetings with the participation of mediating countries, the spokesman for Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said.

News ID: ۷۴۸۷۰۲

13 October 2019

"Countries like Iran, Turkey and Russia, which defeated the IS [self-styled Islamic State terrorist group] in Syria with their cooperation, can resolve differences by making a positive contribution and holding meetings and negotiations," Hossein Naqavi also told ISNA.

He added that military invasion can only escalate tensions and add to the region’s problems, especially for a country like Syria that has only recently found relief from IS.

Turkey launched an incursion against the Kurdish YPG militia on Wednesday after a withdrawal by the American forces with whom they were allied, Financial Tribune reported.

Ankara regards YPG as a terrorist group with links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant and political group that has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for decades.

Naqavi stressed that Iran's strategy involves supporting all countries' territorial integrity and preventing any intervention and aggression against other countries.

"We believe that the integrity of a country that has been invaded without legal grounds needs to be defended," he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also called attention to the Adana Agreement between Turkey and Ankara, saying in a tweet that it is still valid and can be "the better path to achieve security".

The Adana accord was signed in 1998 and compelled Damascus to stop harboring the outlawed PKK.

Ankara has said the pact was never implemented. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that implementing the Adana pact would require the Syrian government to be in control of northeastern Syria, which it is not, according to Reuters.

In his tweet, Zarif also announced Iran's readiness to broker dialogue between the opposing sides to end the conflict.

"#Iran can help bring together the Syrian Kurds, the Syrian Govt and Turkey so that the Syrian Army together with Turkey can guard the border."

Tehran has called on Kurdish forces in Syria to join the Syrian Army to protect their country.