Iran, Russia and Turkey diplomats meet ahead of Syria summit

Top diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey met Sunday morning in Antalya to discuss the civil war in Syria ahead of a three-way summit in the Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran and in the southern Turkish city for the closed-door meeting, an official said.
In a statement afterwards, Lavrov called the meeting "very productive" and said the envoys had agreed on "all the main issues", without further details.

The meeting comes as violence is diminishing in Syria's six-year war although a political solution still seems out of reach.

Moscow, Tehran and Ankara are sponsoring the so-called Astana peace talks, named for the Kazakh capital where they are regularly held, which calls for the creation of "de-escalation" zones in key areas of Syria.

Although Turkey has supported rebels looking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad's government, it has muted its critiques of the Syrian regime, which is backed by Russia and Iran.

"Thanks to the Astana talks, we have allowed the ceasefire to take hold on the ground with the hope of 'de-escalation' zones," Çavuşoğlu told Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

He said it was now time to focus on combatting Daesh fighters while "putting more emphasis on the political process" for ending the Syrian war.

But Çavuşoğlu said Turkey still remained opposed to any talks involving the YPG militia of the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

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Çavuşoğlu also said the envoys had discussed a deployment of Russian and Iranian forces to secure the "de-escalation zone" near Syria's Idlib Province "as soon as possible".

The province is largely held by a jihadist group formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, even though Syrian forces recaptured the neighbouring city of Aleppo late last year.

Zarif, speaking on Iranian television, said he was hoping for "a good summit on Monday and to turn the black and bitter page on terrorism in Syria."

Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iran's Hassan Rouhani for the Sochi summit, where talks on reducing violence and ensuring humanitarian aid are on the agenda.

According to the Anadolu news agency, Putin and Erdoğan have already met five times this year and spoken by telephone 13 times.

Erdoğan last met Putin for talks in Sochi on November 13, agreeing on the need to boost elements for a lasting settlement.