Turkey, Iran vow to work closer on Syria after US announcement

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani vow to work more closely to end the fighting in Syria.

But the two leaders make no comment on US President Donald Trump’s shock announcement that he was pulling US troops out of the war-ravaged nation.

“There are many steps that Turkey and Iran can take together to stop the fighting in the region and to establish peace,” says Erdogan, without elaborating, at a joint news conference with Rouhani in Ankara.

“Syria’s territorial integrity must be respected by all sides. Both countries are of the same opinion regarding this,” Rouhani says in translated remarks.

The two leaders’ meeting had been arranged before Trump’s announcement about the US pullout, a move already welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier today.

— AFP