Turkey, Russia and Iran have said they were committed to achieving a "lasting ceasefire" in Syria, in a joint statement issued following a summit in Ankara hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Russia's Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to cooperating for "the achievement of a lasting ceasefire between the conflicting parties", a joint statement on Wednesday said.

The three powers have been working together to speed up the process of finding a political solution in Syria as part of the Astana peace process which began last year.

The Ankara summit at Erdogan's presidential palace was the second such tripartite summit following one in November 2017 in the Black Sea resort of Sochi hosted by Putin.

However, they still have big differences over Syria's future. </s> The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey have met in Ankara for talks on resolving the conflict in Syria.

The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey have met in Ankara for talks on resolving the conflict in Syria.

Leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey meet for talks on Syria’s future

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani were holding their second summit to discuss Syria’s future since attending a similar meeting in Sochi, Russia, in November.

The leaders meeting in the Turkish capital are expected to reaffirm their commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity and the continuation of local ceasefires. Talks are also expected to include the issues of border security, the distribution of humanitarian aid and drawing up a constitution for the country.

Russia and Iran have provided crucial support to President Bashar Assad’s forces, while Turkey has backed the rebels seeking to overthrow him. The three nations have sponsored several rounds of talks between the Syrian government and the opposition, and brokered local truces in four areas, helping to reduce hostilities.

The leaders locked hands while posing for photos at the start of the meeting, but did not make opening remarks. Earlier, Mr Rouhani held separate bilateral meetings with Mr Putin and Mr Erdogan. Meanwhile, the Russian military said it expects a rebel evacuation from the suburbs of the Syrian capital to be completed in the coming days.

The Russian Defence Ministry and Syrian rebels struck a deal on Sunday for the Army of Islam, the biggest opposition group in the Damascus suburbs of eastern Ghouta, to leave the area for the rebel-controlled north. The rebels were still leaving the town of Douma, but the evacuation was expected to wrap up in the coming days, said Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy of the Russian General Staff.

The evacuation comes after a five-week government offensive in February and March that killed hundreds of people and caused catastrophic damage in the besieged suburbs. </s> Leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey are due to meet in Tehran on Friday, with Syria high on their agenda.

Of the three countries due to meet in Tehran, Turkey is the only one hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Ankara supports some of the armed fighters in Idlib and is worried a military solution will mean more displaced civilians.

Zein Basravi looks ahead to the talks. </s> The presidents of Iran, Turkey and Russia vowed to work for a lasting ceasefire after over seven years of civil war in Syria, following a summit aimed at boosting both peace prospects and also their influence in the country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran's Hassan Rouhani and Russia's Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to cooperating for "the achievement of a lasting ceasefire between the conflicting parties", a joint communique said.

The meeting in Ankara was the second such tripartite summit after the first hosted by Putin in November in the Black Sea city of Sochi, in a new symbol of an increasingly deep cooperation.

However there was no major breakthrough announced after the summit meeting, and comments by the trio indicated possible tensions in what analysts see as a potentially brittle alliance.

The three powers have backed peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, which they argue are a parallel process to UN-supported discussions in Geneva.

Erdogan insisted their meetings and the Astana talks were not an "alternative" to the Geneva process to find peace in Syria, at a post-summit press conference.

But the three presidents said that so far, "the Astana format had been the only effective international initiative that had helped reduce violence across Syria and had contributed to peace and stability".

- 'Something different every day' -

Experts say that Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are looking to take advantage of the waning Western influence in Syria and reluctance to commit militarily.

Hours before the summit, US President Donald Trump said he wanted to "bring our troops back home" from Syria after indicating last week the US would withdraw from the country "very soon".

But Rouhani hit back, complaining that the "Americans say something different every day."

Unlike the West, the three countries have deployed significant military resources in Syria, with Tehran having a strong ground presence and Moscow ruling the skies.

Turkey meanwhile drove out Kurdish militia from Afrin city on March 18, two months after it launched an offensive in northern Syria supporting Syrian rebels.

Ankara has indicated Turkey could extend its operation to the Kurdish-held town of Manbij and further east, as well as the northern Syrian town of Tal Rifaat.

"We are ready to work together with our Iranian and Russian friends to make Tal Rifaat region liveable for our Syrian brothers and sisters," Erdogan said.

So far the three powers -- whose imperial predecessor states spent much of the last centuries at war -- have managed to keep a lid on their differences on Syria.

While Moscow and Tehran support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad politically and militarily, Turkey has repeatedly called for his removal and supported Syrian opposition fighters.

But experts say disputes between Moscow and Ankara could come to the fore when the regime turns its attention to Idlib province.

Idlib's civilian infrastructure is largely controlled by the jihadist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Turkey is keen to prevent a Russia-backed regime assault on the province home to around 2.5 million people. But Moscow wants Ankara to also exert influence over the jihadists in control of Idlib.

Tensions may also be emerging behind the scene between Russia and Iran, with Moscow much more concerned to press for reform under Assad than Tehran.

Meanwhile, according to the Iranian presidency, Rouhani said in the closed-door session that the Afrin area taken by Turkey and its allied forces should be handed over to the Syrian regime's army.

He argued that the Syrian army "is still the symbol of this country's national sovereignty". Turkey's reaction was not made public.

Erdogan also expressed alarm over the situation in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, which has come under heavy regime bombardment over the last weeks, creating a major humanitarian crisis.

Syrian state news agency SANA said evacuations from the former rebel bastion's main town of Douma of Jaish al-Islam fighters and family members were ongoing for a third day.

Erdogan said that the bloodshed in Ghouta had been "ruthless" but avoided any direct criticism of Russia and Putin as the backers of the Syrian regime.

More than 350,000 people have been killed since the war began following anti-government protests in 2011, while millions have been internally displaced or forced to flee. </s> MOSCOW (Reuters) - Iran’s speaker of parliament said on Thursday he hoped the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran would reach a final agreement on Syria’s rebel-held enclave of Idlib at a summit in Tehran on Friday, Russian news agencies reported.

“I really hope that at the summit tomorrow in Tehran, in which (President Vladimir) Putin is going to take part, he will be able to reach a certain final agreement with his colleagues on the events happening in Idlib,” Iranian speaker Ali Larijani was quoted as saying by RIA during a trip to Russia. </s> TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey begin summit on Syria as bloody Idlib offensive looms. </s> MOSCOW, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Iran’s speaker of parliament said on Thursday he hoped the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran would reach a final agreement on Syria’s rebel-held enclave of Idlib at a summit in Tehran on Friday, Russian news agencies reported.

“I really hope that at the summit tomorrow in Tehran, in which (President Vladimir) Putin is going to take part, he will be able to reach a certain final agreement with his colleagues on the events happening in Idlib,” Iranian speaker Ali Larijani was quoted as saying by RIA during a trip to Russia. (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova Writing by Tom Balmforth) </s> TEHRAN (Reuters) - The presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia on Friday failed to agree on a ceasefire that would forestall a Syrian government offensive in rebel-held Idlib province which the United Nations fears could cause a humanitarian catastrophe involving tens of thousands of civilians.

Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani, meeting in Tehran for a summit of key foreign players in Syria’s war, agreed in a final statement that there could be no military solution to the conflict and it could only end through a negotiated political process.

But as Syrian government and Russian warplanes mounted air strikes in Idlib on Friday morning in a possible prelude to a full-scale offensive, Putin and Rouhani pushed back against Erdogan’s call for a truce.

The Turkish leader said he feared a massacre and Turkey could not accommodate any more refugees flooding over its border.

Putin said a ceasefire would be pointless as it would not involve Islamist militant groups it deems terrorists. Rouhani said Syria must regain control over all its territory.

Idlib is the insurgents’ only remaining major stronghold and a government offensive could be the war’s last decisive battle.

Tehran and Moscow have helped Assad turn the course of the war against an array of opponents ranging from Western-backed rebels to the Islamist militants, while Turkey is a leading opposition supporter and has troops in the country.

Their discussions in Tehran mark a crucial point in a seven-year-old war which has killed more than half a million people and forced 11 million to flee their homes.

Erdogan, in his opening remarks, said a ceasefire in Idlib would be a victory for their summit.

Putin responded: “The fact is that there are no representatives of the armed opposition here around this table. And more still, there are no representatives of Jabhat al-Nusra or ISIS or the Syrian army.”.

“I think in general the Turkish president is right. It would be good. But I can’t speak for them, and even more so can’t talk for terrorists from Jabhat al-Nusra or ISIS that they will stop shooting or stop using drones with bombs.”

In the final statement, the three agreed on the need to eliminate Islamic State, the Nusra Front, and other groups linked to al Qaeda and designated as terrorists. But there were other armed opposition groups who could join any ceasefire agreement, they said.

The communique also called on the United Nations and the international community to step up humanitarian aid to Syria and help in restoring basic infrastructure assets.

Efforts must be made to protect and to create conditions for the safe return of refugees, it added.

Iran’s Rouhani said the battle in Syria would continue until rebels were pushed out of the whole country, especially in Idlib, but he added that any military operations should avoid hurting civilians.

He called on all rebels in Syria to disarm and seek a peaceful end to the conflict.

“The fight against terrorism in Idlib is an indispensable part of the mission to return peace and stability to Syria, but this fight should not harm civilians and lead to a “scorched-earth” policy,” Rouhani said.

Erdogan said Turkey no longer had the capacity to take in any more refugees from Syria should the government offensive in Idlib go ahead. Turkey has accepted 3.5 million refugees from Syria since the start of the war in 2011.

“Whatever reason there is an attack that has been made or will be made will result in disaster, massacre and humanitarian drama,” he said. “Millions will be coming to Turkey’s borders because they have nowhere to go. Turkey has filled its capacity to host refugees.”

The Assad government was not directly represented at the summit, nor were the United States and other Western powers.

The United States came in for criticism from all sides, however, higlighting to complex nature of a conflict involving a myriad of factions.

Rouhani said the United States should end its presence in Syria, while Erdogan said Turkey was “extremely annoyed” by Washington’s support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, whom Ankara considers as terrorists linked to Kurdish separatists in Turkey.

Widely abhorred internationality for the brutal conduct of the war, Assad has largely reclaimed most of Syrian territory though much of it is ravaged. Although the West has long said he must stand down or be removed, that looks unlikely at this point.

Meanwhile, the fate of Idlib hung in the balance.

The United Nations Security Council met to discuss Idlib on Friday at the request of the United States, and U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said there were “all the ingredients for a perfect storm”.

“The dangers are profound that any battle for Idlib could be, would be a horrific and bloody battle,” de Mistura said. </s> The presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey on Thursday agreed that the upcoming withdrawal of United States troops from the Syrian conflict would be positive for the Arab nation.

Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the Russian Black Sea port of Sochi to discuss the military aspects of the long-lasting civil war with an eye toward future joint measures to be taken in order to help normalize the situation in Syria over the long term.
The leaders of Iran, Turkey and Russia meet in Ankara. They declare their commitment to achieving a "lasting ceasefire" in Syria.