Russia calls for presence of Iran, S. Arabia, and Turkey in Syrian talks

TEHRAN,July 9(MNA) – Russia said that Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and a number of other states should engage in the Syrian reconciliation effort. “An idea to create a parallel track” to the Geneva talks has been voiced in order to boost the negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Monday. “It is an auxiliary course [of negotiations], not an alternative [to the Geneva reconciliation process]. In the past, we discussed engaging countries that might have a positive influence on Syrians… add Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, maybe Qatar, and bring in the United Nations,” Bogdanov added.