Politics

With U.S. absent on Syria, Turkey finds common ground with Russia and Iran


As Russia’s war in Ukraine continued to grab the attention of President Joe Biden’s administration, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sat down with his Iranian and Russian counterparts to discuss the ongoing conflict in Syria, where U.S. troops and sanctions remain in place.

While Moscow and Tehran support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country’s civil war, Turkey’s capital Ankara has continued to back an embattled yet entrenched insurgency. Despite their differences, the trio of leaders has met since 2017 as part of the trilateral Astana process and Tuesday’s meeting marked the first such session since Russia’s incursion into Ukraine nearly five months ago.

The three leaders appeared to find some common ground as well, especially as it related to opposing U.S. policy in Syria.

In addition to affirming that there was “no military solution” to the conflict in Syria, agreeing on the need to eliminate terrorism and opposing any attempts to divide Syria, the heads of Iran, Russia and Turkey “expressed grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Syria and rejectedall unilateral sanctions” against the country in a joint statement.

Such sanctions, on which the U.S. has doubled down in recent years over allegations of human rights abuses by Assad’s government, were described as being “in contravention of international law, international humanitarian law and the UN Charter including, among other things, any discriminatory measures through waivers for certain regions which could lead to this country’s disintegration by assisting separatist agendas.”

Following the talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also said the trio agreed on the need for a U.S. military withdrawal from Syria.

“We have certain differences concerning what is happening on the Euphrates eastern bank. But we have a shared position that American troops must leave this territory,” Putin said, according to the state-run TASS news agency. “They must stop robbing the Syrian state, Syrian people, illegal export oil from there.”

Raisi offered a similar account, saying “the sides agreed that … U.S. forces must leave the area near the Euphrates,” TASS reported.

Russia, Iran and Turkey Statement
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has found common ground with the leaders of Russia and Iran over U.S. sanctions in Syria. Above, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, center, and Erdogan, right, pose for a photo before a trilateral meeting on Syria in Tehran, Iran, on July 19, 2022.
Photo by SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Hundreds of U.S. troops remain deployed to Syria with the stated mission of supporting partners on the ground defeat the Islamic State militant group (ISIS). Most of these soldiers are deployed in Syria’s northeast, where they back the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led faction opposed by Turkey due to what Ankara considers direct ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Damascus considers both the U.S. and Turkish military presence in the country illegal because it operates outside the auspices of Assad’s government, which coordinates directly with Moscow and Tehran.

This is a developing news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.



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