Iranian, Russian, Turkish FMs to Meet in Ankara Wednesday

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Mevlut Cavusoglu, plan to exchange views about the Syria peace process in Ankara on Wednesday.

In the meeting due to be held in the Turkish capital, Zarif, Lavrov, and Cavusoglu are slated to discuss regional issues, particularly the latest developments in Syria.

Also on Wednesday, the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey, the three guarantor countries of the de-escalation zones in Syria, plan to hold a trilateral summit in Ankara about the Syrian crisis.

According to a statement from the Turkish presidency, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Erdogan will hold a bilateral meeting during the summit.

As Iran, Russia and Turkey launched Syria peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the three countries held a series of summits in Russia’s Black Sea city of Sochi to bring together the conflicting parties in Syria.

Within the framework of these efforts, they agreed in Astana to establish de-escalation zones in the northern province of Idlib and parts of neighboring Latakia, Hama and Aleppo. Under the Astana agreement, Turkey is to gradually establish 12 observation points from Idlib’s north to south to monitor and sustain the current cease-fire agreement for the de-escalation zones, deliver humanitarian aid and ensure the secure return of displaced people.

The leaders of the three countries have been stressing that the de-escalation zones deal has been successful in ending clashes in various locations, however, a countrywide cease-fire to end the armed conflicts has not been achieved so far.

Prior to the trilateral summit on Syria, President Putin will arrive in Ankara on Tuesday to attend the seventh Turkish-Russian High-Level Cooperation Council (ÜDİK) meeting with the participation of ministers from both countries. The meeting will be co-chaired by Presidents Erdogan and Putin.