Iran is leading mediation efforts between Syria and Turkey to prevent the outbreak of any conflict between the two countries against the backdrop of Turkish threats to invade areas in northern Syria.
To this end, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian is visiting the Syrian capital, Damascus, after a similar visit to Ankara several days ago.
Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian stressed that the goal of his visit to Syria is “to bring peace and security to the region.”
The purpose of the visit
Before heading to Damascus, Abdullahian said: “In continuation of my visit to Turkey 4 days ago, it was necessary to hold consultations with the Syrian authorities.”
“There are developments in the region, and we must strive to ensure a constructive role for the Islamic Republic in the region and prevent a new crisis in it,” he added.
“Part of my visit to Syria aims to bring peace and security to the region between Syria and Turkey, as they are two countries that have important relations with Iran,” he added.
Iranian understanding of the Turkish position
On Monday, Abdullahian expressed, during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, during his visit to Ankara, his country’s “understanding” of the need for Turkish forces to carry out an operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
“We fully understand Turkey’s security concerns, and the need for Turkey to implement a new military operation against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria,” Abdullahian said.
Turkey’s constant threat
Since the end of May, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to launch a new attack on areas in northern Syria targeting Kurdish fighters.
Ankara classifies the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as “terrorists”, and considers them an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been waging an insurgency against it for decades.
“We will launch a new operation in Syria as soon as we complete our preparations,” the Turkish president confirmed Monday. Washington and Moscow expressed their opposition to such an attack.
Since 2016, Ankara has carried out three military operations in northern Syria against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.
At the end of 2019, Iran called on Ankara to end the Turkish military operation launched in northern Syria as soon as possible.
Damascus will resist any Turkish invasion
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that Syria would resist any Turkish invasion of its lands at the official and popular levels, noting that the Syrian army had inflicted losses on its Turkish counterpart during the confrontation between them two years ago.
Al-Assad confirmed in an interview with RT that his country will not allow any Turkish invasion of Syrian territory.
“If there is an invasion, there will be popular resistance in the first stage, of course in the places where the Syrian army is present, and it is not present in all areas in Syria,” he said.
“When military conditions allow for direct confrontation, we will do this thing,” he added.
Al-Assad pointed out that this scenario happened two and a half years ago, “a clash occurred between the Syrian and Turkish armies, and the Syrian army was able to destroy some Turkish targets that entered Syrian territory.”
He stressed: “The situation will be the same as the military capabilities allow, except that there will be popular resistance.”
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