Tehran, Damascus Warn Against Turkish Military Incursion Into Syria

Iran’s foreign minister has called for maintaining the territorial integrity and respecting sovereignty of Syria, expressing concern about a possible Turkish military incursion into Syrian territory. 

In a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in Tehran on Wednesday, Hossein Amir-Abdolahian said that the trilateral meeting in Tehran on Tuesday sought to prevent war and militarism between Syria and Turkey and solve the issues in a political way. 

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin were in Tehran July 19 for talks within the Astana mechanism, focused on the constitutional system, political transition, security and resettlement in Syria.

The Iranian FM said during the meeting with Turkey and Russia, the withdrawal and cleansing of terrorist groups from Syria was emphasized. 

Describing the Astana format summit in Tehran as successful, Mekdad said "Syria is positive about the results of the trilateral summit in Tehran," thanking Iran for preparing "a balanced statement on results of the summit, reaffirming the need to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria."

"It is necessary to deprive Turkey of any pretext to invade the Syrian territory," he said, adding "Ankara's intention to create a border security zone north of Aleppo will lead to an armed conflict. We oppose Turkey's aggressive plans, Ankara's policy of Turkification and support for terrorist groups."

A few hours after their joint presser on Wednesday, Turkish warplanes and artillery attacked areas populated by tourists and villagers in Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan, killing at least 10 people and injuring 25 others.