Erdogan and Putin hold first bilateral meeting after Ukraine war in Tehran
While the trilateral meeting of the presidents of Russia, Turkey, and Iran will be held in Tehran on Tuesday, the simultaneous presence of Putin and Erdogan in the Iranian capital has also provided the opportunity for the two to meet in person for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war on the same day.
The Turkish presidency announced on Monday, July 17, that "recent developments in Syria, the fight against terrorist organizations, especially the PKK/YPG, efforts for a political settlement, the humanitarian situation, and the voluntary return of Syrians to their country" are on the agenda of the seventh summit of the "Astana Process Leaders."
The first round of this summit, attended by representatives of Iran, Russia, and Turkey, was held in Sochi, Russia, on December 1, 2017, with the aim of establishing a ceasefire in Syria after preliminary meetings in Astana (Nur-Sultan), the capital of Kazakhstan.
Putin and Erdogan's last visit to Tehran dates back to September 2018, when this trip was made within the framework of another round of the same summit.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrives in Tehran on Monday, has repeatedly requested a face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"The timing of this [bilateral] meeting was not chosen by chance," Vladimir Sotnikov, a Russian political analyst, told AFP.
He added: "While Russia is conducting its 'special operations' in Ukraine, Turkey also wants to conduct its military 'special operations' in Syria. This will be the main topic of this meeting."
In recent months, Erdogan has repeatedly announced Turkey's readiness to launch a military attack on northern Syria to complete his desired buffer zone on the country's territory and along the Turkish border.
While Russia and the United States have opposed such an attack, Erdogan reminded Putin at the end of May that an agreement three years ago between Ankara and Moscow envisaged the creation of a "terror-free" zone along the Turkish-Syrian border.
The face-to-face talks between Putin and Erdogan in this regard in Tehran come at a time when the Islamic Republic has attempted in recent weeks to mediate, according to the country's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, to prevent "a new crisis in the region."
The bilateral meeting between Putin and Erdogan also comes at a time when a quadrilateral meeting was held in Istanbul in recent days with the participation of experts from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations to resume Ukrainian grain exports to various countries around the world.
The Turkish presidency announced on Monday that Erdogan will also attend the seventh meeting of the Türkiye-Iran Cooperation Council on Tuesday.
But in addition to participating in the trilateral meeting of the "Astana Process Leaders" and a bilateral meeting with Erdogan, Putin will also meet separately with officials of the Islamic Republic.
Putin's visit to Tehran, his second foreign trip since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, comes at a time when the White House has announced Russia's request from Iran to purchase "hundreds of drones" so that Russia can use them in its military invasion of Ukraine.
Also on Saturday, CNN reported, citing the US National Security Advisor and based on satellite images obtained exclusively by the news network, that members of a Russian delegation visited the Kashan air base at least twice over the past month to inspect drones capable of carrying weapons.
However, the head of the Economic Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has previously announced that the most important topics of the Russian President's talks with Tehran officials will be "planning to develop economic cooperation between Iran and Russia."
The seventh Astana Process Leaders' Meeting will be held in Tehran a few days after Joe Biden's trip to the Middle East and meeting with Israeli and Saudi officials.
Source: Radio Farda
