Turkey proposes regional talks with Iran on Syria

TEHRAN,Oct.18(MNA) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed on Tuesday three-way regional talks to help resolve the crisis in Syria. Speaking to reporters on his return to Ankara from Baku, where he held talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at an Economic Cooperation Organization summit, Erdogan offered various options for countries to get involved in future Syria talks, Reuters reported. “We proposed a three-way system here. This system could be a trio of Turkey-Egypt-Iran,” he stated, adding, “A second system could be Turkey-Russia-Iran. A third system could be Turkey-Egypt-Saudi Arabia.” Egypt had formed a group with Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia on Syria, but the kingdom stayed away from a meeting hosted by Cairo on September 17. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi subsequently canceled a meeting of the four regional powers on September 26 because of the absence of Erdogan from the UN General Assembly, according to Cairo’s presidential spokesman. Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi, who is the chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Wednesday that Erdogan’s proposal illustrates that Ankara has revised its attitude toward the developments in Syria.