Zarif’s Unexpected Trip to Ankara; Iran’s Foreign Minister Meets with Turkish Prime Minister

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, met with Turkish officials during what has been described as an unexpected visit to Ankara.

Mr. Zarif traveled to Ankara on Wednesday, September 28, on his way back from New York, and after meeting with Turkey’s Foreign Minister, held talks with Binali Yildirim, the country’s Prime Minister.

Although details of the Iranian Foreign Minister’s discussions with Turkish officials have not been released, these meetings are expected to have been in line with consultations regarding the Syrian crisis.

Hours after this meeting, the IRNA news agency, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry, announced that during this visit, in addition to exchanging views on bilateral and regional issues, Iran and Turkey agreed to cooperate on halting the conflict in Syria and sending humanitarian aid to the country.

Turkey, which initially had a position completely opposed to the Islamic Republic regarding Syria, has held multiple consultations with Iranian officials in recent months about the Syrian crisis.

Turkish media described Zarif’s visit to Turkey as unexpected. This is the third meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries and the second meeting of Mr. Zarif with Turkey’s Prime Minister over the past two months. During his visit to Ankara in August, Mr. Zarif also met with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the country’s President.

Turkey-US relations regarding the Syrian crisis have cooled following American support for Syrian Kurds and the failure to extradite Fethullah Gülen, who is accused of involvement in Turkey’s recent coup attempt.

Meanwhile, Iran has sought to strengthen its relations with the Erdoğan government following Turkey’s failed coup and change Turkey’s stance on the Syrian crisis. However, following Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurds, Iran called on Ankara to immediately halt these operations.

With talks between the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia and last week’s temporary ceasefire, there was hope that the path to Syrian peace negotiations would be smoothed, but the clashes have escalated once again.

Source: Voice of America