Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei speaks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who is accompanied by Iranian President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi. Photo: Presidency of Iran.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged the President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to renounce his plans of launching a military operation in Syria, as this could harm the entire Middle East.
Khamenei received Erdoğan in Tehran on Tuesday, July 18, where they held a meeting in which Iranian President Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi also participated.
During this meeting, the supreme leader of Iran pointed out that the idea of launching a new offensive “is detrimental to Syria, Türkiye and the whole region.” Such an operation would only benefit terrorist groups.
“It is very important to maintain the territorial integrity of Syria,” he stressed.
Khamenei also assured the Turkish president that Tehran will cooperate with Ankara in the fight against terrorism.
He added that terrorists are not limited to any specific group. He pointed to Israel as one of the main causes of discord among Islamic countries.
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He further stated that Iran considers the security and integrity of Türkiye as its own security, so he urged Ankara to “consider Syria’s security as its own” in the same way.
“The problems in Syria must be solved through negotiations, and Iran, Türkiye, Syria and Russia should solve this problem through dialogue,” Khamenei commented.
This request from the part of Iran comes after Türkiye announced in early June that it would launch a military operation in northern Syria, with the aim of creating “a 30 km wide safe zone.”
İran ile 30 milyar dolarlık ticari hacme ulaşma hedefimiz var. Maalesef COVID-19 sebebiyle bir gerileme yaşasak da iki ülkenin kararlı yürüyüşüyle 30 milyar dolara ulaşacağımıza inanıyoruz. pic.twitter.com/7rsS3I76Mj
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) July 19, 2022
The Turkish president arrived in Tehran to participate in the trilateral summit between Iran, Turkey and Russia, under the Astana format, on the conflict in Syria.
As part of this visit Erodğan met with his Iranian counterpart, Raisi, and signed eight bilateral cooperation agreements in areas such as trade, social security, and sports.
There are also upcoming deals in the fields of scientific exchanges, energy, agriculture, and others.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/JRE
