TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday called on Turkey to rectify its policies towards Syria, hoping that rebuilding relations between Ankara and Damascus would benefit of the region.
Iran has always maintained that the Turkish government had better correct its view on the developments in Syria, Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said dialogue and diplomacy with the Syrian government cannot be ruled out, the latest sign that Ankara may be willing to mend ties with its southern neighbor.
Seeking to allay some of the Syrian government’s fears, Erdogan said his country was not looking to seize any Syrian territory, despite the increase in fighting with Kurdish forces in the north.
Erdogan’s comments came days after the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said a Turkish air attack on a Syrian border post run by government forces killed 17 fighters. The Syrian state news agency SANA acknowledged the deaths of three soldiers.
Kanaani on Monday said Iran has held good negotiations with Turkey about Syria both in bilateral meetings with Turkish officials and within the framework of the Astana format.
“What the Turkish officials have said are encouraging. We hope to see the rebuilding of relations between Turkey and Syria, which will be in their own interest and to the benefit of the region as well,” the spokesman added.
Pointing to the realistic approach that the regional and non-regional governments have begun to adopt to the developments in Syria, Kanaani said the crisis in the Arab country was the result of the illogical behavior of certain countries.
“We are witnessing the formation of new conditions in Syria, meaning the Syrian government has weathered the critical situation and achieved great success in the fight against terrorism,” he said.
The countries that had wrongly left Syria are gradually returning to the Arab country, the spokesman added.