Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani to debate Syrian crisis in Ankara

Turkey will host a trilateral assembly on the Syrian crisis with the attendance of presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran on Wednesday amid predominant inclinations going down on the bottom in the seven-year civil war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Ankara on Tuesday, followed by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the evening, as the leaders meet for the 2nd time since November to talk in regards to the Syrian inform.

Iran and Russia, which toughen the Syrian authorities in the crisis, and Turkey, which backs the moderate opposition, possess been in shut cooperation by a series of talks since final year, aiming at discovering a resolution to the Syrian battle.

Somewhat a few so-called de-escalation zones possess been agreed amongst the three powers in Syria on account of a pair of rounds of talks all the design in which by 2017.

The talks in ask took inform in the Russian city of Sochi and Astana, the Kazakh capital.

Separately, Turkish-Russian members of the family possess been extra and further well. The perimeters closed in December 2017 a deal for Ankara to possess interaction S-four hundred air missile defence programs – no topic NATO’s concerns – and Russia has been building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.

‘Influential actors’

In accordance to Mensur Akgun, who leads the diplomacy department at Istanbul’s Kultur College, the three countries possess step by step obtained nearer over the Syrian inform on account of their will to clear up the crisis.

« As the influential actors on Syria, no longer undoubtedly some of the three has interest in the continuation of the crisis and the US presence and influence on the war-torn nation, » Akgun told Al Jazeera.

« They are making an are trying for a means out no topic their variations, and grab the nation’s territorial integrity while doing that. »

Tewfik Shuman, a Lebanese political analyst, said that the fresh efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis can possess to snatch in thoughts the fresh realities on the topic.

« That’s the opposition’s most new losses and Turkey’s role in northern Syria. This followed a deal that fervent exchanging Jap Ghouta for Turkey entering Afrin, » he told Al Jazeera.

Syrian authorities forces are reportedly shut to taking beefy grab watch over of the opposition stronghold of Jap Ghouta as inform media experiences that warring parties possess been evacuating from inform shut to the capital Damascus.

The seizure of the Damascus suburb will heed a predominant progress in President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts reclaim the misplaced territories in the seven-year civil war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned the humanitarian crisis came about in Jap Ghouta in on account of the siege imposed by Iran and Russia-backed Assad authorities on Jap Ghouta varied cases.

The Afrin operation

Meanwhile, Turkish forces and Free Syrian Military (FSA) possess reportedly taken beefy grab watch over of northwestern Syrian inform of Afrin in gradual March from the US-backed Kurdish Folks’s Security Unit (YPG) warring parties on account of an operation launched in February.

Russia eradicated its militia observers from the inform and opened the airspace of Afrin to Turkey for the operation that started in February to proceed.

Turkey considers the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria and its armed skim YPG to be « terrorist groups » with ties to the banned Kurdistan Staff’ Party (PKK).

The YPG has advance to manipulate enormous swaths of northern Syria, including Afrin, all the design in which by the Syrian war, namely by combating in opposition to the Islamic Speak of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, additionally identified as ISIS) community in an US-backed umbrella organisation named Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The US has logistically backed and professional the YPG forces on this direction of.

Turkey seeks to elongate its militia operation to totally different areas in northern Syria, which has been rising the tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the US as there are US forces alongside with YPG ones in the areas Turkey seeks to accommodate.

Akgun said that the pursuits of the three countries seem to overlap now over their views on the YPG presence in Syria.

« Although Russia has been slightly reluctant to grant the trump card [of YPG support] to the US, it looks to possess picked Turkey over the YPG as we detect in the consequence of the operation in Afrin, » Akgun told Al Jazeera.

« Opponents linked to the PKK possess been active in Iran besides, even though no longer as mighty as Turkey. Therefore, Iran, respect Turkey, does no longer desire a dauntless YPG existence that also can lead to an self reliant inform there. »

Bellow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_Uras