Erdogan offers Syria-Türkiye-Russia trilateral meeting, security steps as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi dials Putin…reports Asian Lite News
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he has suggested to Russian President Vladimir Putin for a trilateral meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and trilateral steps on security issues.
“As of now, we want to take a step as Syria-Türkiye-Russia trio,” Erdogan told reporters during his flight back from Turkmenistan when asked about Türkiye’s security concerns in northern Syria.
“For the discussions on this issue, first the intelligence organizations, then the defense ministers, and then foreign ministers of the parties should meet,” the state-run TRT broadcaster quoted the president as saying.
“Let’s meet as leaders after their talks. I offered this to Mr. Putin. He viewed it positively,” Erdogan added.
Erdogan and Assad have not met since the outbreak of a civil war in Syria in 2011, as Türkiye has backed Syrian rebels politically and militarily during the 11-year crisis.
In the past few months, however, the Turkish president has said he does not rule out a meeting with the Syrian president after more than a decade of severed ties between the two countries.
On the flight back to Türkiye, Erdogan also urged a quick solution to what he called “a terror threat” posed by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from Syrian territory to Türkiye.
The 2019 Sochi deal with Russia envisages the withdrawal of YPG fighters to 30 km south of Türkiye’s border with Syria, he said, adding his country will “take every step” to establish the “safety corridor.”
Türkiye carried out an aerial operation against the YPG in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Nov. 20, a week after a bomb explosion in Türkiye’s largest city Istanbul killed six and injured 81. Türkiye will launch a ground operation into northern Syria “at the most convenient time” to build a security strip, Erdogan has vowed several times in the past weeks.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades
Modi Dials Putin
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy is the only way forward to resolve the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
The conversation between the two leaders was a follow-up to their meeting in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, in September this year.
Both the leaders reviewed several areas of bilateral cooperation like energy cooperation, trade and investments, defence and security cooperation. Modi also briefed Putin about the key focus areas of India’s ongoing G20 presidency, sources said.
The Prime Minister also looked forward to both countries working together during India’s chairship of the SCO.
Iran, Russia Deal
Iran and Russia on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to expand space industry cooperation, official news agency IRNA reported.
The MoU was signed between the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) and Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos on the sidelines of the 11th Iran International Airshow and Aerospace Exhibition in the southern island of Kish.
In an address at the signing ceremony, ISA President Hassan Salarieh said the MoU covers a broad spectrum of collaborations between the two sides, including manufacturing remote-sensing and telecommunication satellites and developing related infrastructures.
He expressed hope that the MoU would help Iran accelerate the development of its space industry.
For his part, Roscosmos Director Yuriy Borisov said Iran is not a new partner for Russia as their space cooperation started in 2002.
In August, Iran’s Khayyam satellite was successfully launched into space from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan by Russia’s Soyuz satellite carrier rocket.