PHOTO: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday


UPDATE 1800 GMT: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Saturday that Ankara will step up its political activity in Syria to ensure that there is no federal system, checking any Kurdish aspirations for autonomy.

Yıldırım also told reporters in Istanbul that while Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could have a role in a transition, he can’t have a role in Syria’s future”.

Cross-posted from Syria Daily: Regime Fighting With Kurds Continues in Hasakah


ORIGINAL ENTRY: Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has paid a sudden visit to Iran to continue discussions about the Syrian crisis.

Cavusoglu saw Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad ZarifZARIF CAVUSOGLU in the unscheduled trip on Thursday “to follow up on the agreements and consultations held between the two countries during Zarif’s visit to Ankara last week”, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Friday.

He added that the talks lasted for five hours, and said senior officials will hold further meetings at different levels in the near-future.

Iran and Russia have been trying to exploit an opening, spurred by a failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 15, to separate Ankara from support of the Syrian opposition and rebels.

Tehran expressed support for Erdoğan as soon as the short-lived uprising collapsed, and it has continued to hail Iran’s support of ties with Turkey, contrasting this with a supposedly lukewarm response by Western countries.

Meanwhile, Moscow followed up a reconciliation with Ankara, fostered by Erdoğan’s apology in late June for the downing of a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border nine months ago. The Turkish President was invited to Moscow for talks, and both sides said senior officials would establish a committee to discuss the approach to Syria.

However, Turkey has continued to set the talks against continued backing of the Syrian rebellion. Turkish officials have said that Erdoğan is still committed to the departure of President Assad. Perhaps more importantly, Ankara is continuing to supply weapons to the Syrian rebels, as they pursue an important offensive near the country’s largest city Aleppo.