SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Both Iranian and Turkish Foreign Ministers Tuesday discussed Turkey’s signals over new possible military incursion into northern Syria, the Semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency said.
“Iran understands Turkey’s concerns about the security threats arising from Syria,” Iran’s FM Hossein Amirabdollahian said, reminding Ankara that “resorting to military operations would not resolve the problems but complicate the situation.”
Amirabdollahian and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu held discussions regarding the escalation of tensions and military clashes along Turkey’s southern borders with Syria via a phone call, Tasnim reported.
“Iran understands Turkey’s security concerns and the need to address them, noting that the resolution of problems requires continued security negotiations between Ankara and Damascus,” Amirabdollahian added.
He also told Ankara that Turkey’s resort to ground military operation in Syria “would not only not help settle the problems, but would cause harms and further complicate the situation.”
The minister’s phone call was made after Turkish recent renewed strikes in the region and ahead of a feared new ground invasion by Ankara.
Turkish officials said the army needed just a few days to be ready for a ground incursion into northern Syria, which has been repeatedly attacked with howitzer long-range weapons and warplanes by the Turks for days.
The bombardments come after months of threats by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan of a new ground invasion against Kurdish forces, which he considers to be terrorists.
Since 2016 Ankara has mounted three military incursions against the Kurdish militants whom it considered as “threatening” its national security from its southern borders.
