Turkish president Recep Tayyib Erdogan said Friday it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups that posed a threat to Syria's survival, in reference to Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish fighters.
"Daesh, the PKK and their affiliates -- which threaten the survival of Syria -- must be eradicated," he told journalists while returning from a Cairo summit, using an Arabic acronym for IS. "It's time to neutralise the existing terrorist organisations in Syria."
The leaders of Turkey and Iran met in Cairo at a summit of eight Muslim-majority countries, in their first sit-down since the fall of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The two countries were on opposite sides of Syria's long-running civil war, with Turkey historically backing Assad's opponents and Iran supporting his rule.
During their meeting, Turkey's Erdogan said that his country "wants to see a Syria where stability and security prevail" and "terrorism is eradicated", according to a statement by the Turkish presidency issued Thursday night. He also stressed the importance of protecting "Syria's territorial integrity and unity".
A statement from the office of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said that the "slightest damage to the territorial integrity of Syria is in no way acceptable". It added that Muslim countries "must act responsibly" against Israel's "crimes" in the region.
The gathering in Cairo of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, also known as the Developing-8, was being held against a backdrop of regional turmoil, including the war in Gaza, a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon and unrest in Syria.
In his speech at the summit, Pezeshkian said that "it is our religious, legal and human duty to prevent further harm" to those suffering in these conflict zones.
Pezeshkian is the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have been strained for decades, but diplomatic contacts have intensified since Cairo became a mediator in the war in Gaza.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Egypt in October, while his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty travelled to Tehran in July to attend Pezeshkian's inauguration.
Erdogan is visiting Egypt for the second time this year. His February trip marked his first visit to Egypt as president after last visiting in 2012, when he served as Turkey's prime minister.
Germany FM Warns of Syria Violence Ahead of Turkey Visit
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against the threat of "new violence" in Kurdish-held northern areas of Syria as she left for a visit to neighbouring Turkey on Friday.
Her trip to Ankara comes almost two weeks after Islamist-led rebels overthrew Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, sparking popular jubilation but also concern about new turmoil.
"Those who want peace in the region must not undermine the territorial integrity of Syria," she said in a statement.
Syria's future is "hanging by a thread", said Baerbock, who was set to meet her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan as well as members of the large Syrian refugee community on her one-day visit.
Before leaving Berlin, Baerbock said that people in the Kurdish-held northern Syrian border town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, were "holding their breath again" in fear of "new violence".
Baerbock said that Syria's reconstruction and the return of refugees "can only work if people have no more fear of persecution".
"This should also be in the interest of the Turkish government, as more than three million Syrian refugees live in Turkey."
She warned that Syria must not become "the plaything of foreign powers or an experiment for radical forces".
Germany has also urged Israel to abandon plans to step up settlement in the occupied and annexed Golan Heights at the southwestern edge of Syria.
Israel seized the demilitarised zone there after Assad fell and launched hundreds of strikes on Syria to destroy the former government's military assets.
With AFP
Comments