The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and the Iranian, Hussein Amir Abdollahian, discussed in Ankara today, Tuesday, several regional files, especially the Syrian issue, and the two ministers announced their agreement on the territorial integrity of Syria.
In a joint press conference, the Turkish Foreign Minister said that there is no need for Western countries to intervene and dictate their desires with regard to Iraq and Syria, calling for the implementation of the Astana articles regarding the Syrian territorial integrity.
"Turkey and Iran strongly support Syria's territorial integrity and political unity," he added.
On another issue, Cavusoglu commented on the demonstrations organized by the PKK in Sweden against his country, and said, "If Sweden thinks it is distracting us by playing with words, then it is deceiving itself... Either you will fall victim to terrorism, or we will move forward with the implementation of the tripartite memorandum from Thinking of all of us."
Hosted my brother @Amirabdolahian, FM of #Iran.
Assessed our relations from trade to tourism & energy, from fighting against terrorism to consular matters.
Discussed regional developments, including #Syria, #Iraq, #Palestine & #Afghanistan.
🇹🇷🇮🇷 pic.twitter.com/HTmVEOb61c
- Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) January 17, 2023
In turn, Amir Abdollahian said, "We are very pleased to see that relations between Damascus and Ankara are changing."
He added that his country opposes the war in Ukraine, supports a political solution, and condemns Western intervention to fuel the conflict.
Regarding his country's nuclear file, the Iranian minister said that Washington's abandonment of its conflicting statements will allow us to reach understandings between the two countries.
Receiving the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Dr. Amir Abd Allahian, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pic.twitter.com/dmxn4nwnLQ
- 🇮🇷 She visited foreign affairs (@IRIMFA) January 17, 2023
And Amir Abdollahian had said from Beirut on Friday that Tehran was happy to see the rapprochement between its ally the Syrian regime and Turkey, and said, "We believe that it will reflect positively on the two countries."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on January 5 that he might meet with the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, as part of a new peace process, after the defense ministers of the two countries met in Moscow a few days earlier.