| New York Times | - |
ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey and Iran, on opposing sides of the civil war in Syria,
signaled a thaw in relations on Friday, asserting that they shared
concerns about the rise in sectarianism there and could collaborate to
bring peace to their neighbor.
Turkey and Iran Signal a Softening of Differences Over Syria
Umit Bektas/Reuters
Iran’s foreign minister,
Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet
Davutoglu, in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Friday.
By TIM ARANGO and SEBNEM ARSU
Published: November 1, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and Iran, on opposing sides of the civil war in Syria,
signaled a thaw in relations on Friday, asserting that they shared
concerns about the rise in sectarianism there and could collaborate to
bring peace to their neighbor.
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The softening, reflected in the Iran foreign minister’s visit to Turkey,
came as the international community was working toward talks to end the
Syrian conflict. Turkish officials appeared to be trying to position
themselves as a bridge between the West and Iran on Syria, as Turkey has
done on the Iranian nuclear issue.
In an afternoon meeting here between Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian
foreign minister, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, Mr.
Erdogan made clear that he still believes that President Bashar
al-Assad of Syria must go. A senior Turkish official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity said that Turkey was willing to support a plan in
which some institutions of the Syrian state remained intact, and that
Turkey was pressuring Iran to abandon Mr. Assad.
Privately, Turkish officials say that despite the diplomatic push,
Turkey will continue to support rebel fighters in Syria even as peace
talks appear to be looming. Turkish officials say that in their meetings
with Western officials they argue that the rebels need to fight on so
they are not negotiating with Mr. Assad from a position of weakness.
The Iranian visit highlighted a difficult reality for Turkey: that its
policy of robust support for the rebel fighters has not only failed to
topple Mr. Assad’s government, but has led to a rising threat from
extremists linked to Al Qaeda who dominate the Syrian battlefield.
Turkey has recently been criticized, by American officials and others,
for enabling these extremists by allowing weapons and fighters to cross
its southern border into Syria.
Turkish officials privately blame the United States for the rise of
these extremist groups by not doing more to support moderate fighters at
the outset of the conflict, and by designating one of the Qaeda-linked
groups, the Nusra Front, as a foreign terrorist organization late last
year. That designation, opposed by Turkey, energized the Nusra Front,
and it became a jihadist magnet, several Turkish officials said.
Turkey, like Saudi Arabia, has publicly stated its disaffection with the
United States and the international community for not giving more
support to the Syrian opposition, and for retreating from a threat of
military action against Syria in favor of a pact to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons and a diplomatic path to end the conflict.
Yet Turkey is limited in its ability to pursue a more independent
policy, and has fallen in line behind the international community’s
diplomatic effort.
Appearing at a security conference in Istanbul on Friday morning, the
foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran spoke in language that belied the
many disagreements between the two Middle Eastern powers — in Syria, but
also in Iraq, where Iran is a strong supporter of the Shiite-led
government and Turkey has long supported the Sunni opposition.
Mr. Zarif, the Iranian minister, told reporters that the growing
sectarian strife in Syria, abetted by Qaeda operatives and their Sunni
jihadist associates, was a contagious threat.
“If the flames of sectarianism rage in the Middle East, you will see the
results in the streets of London, New York, Rome and Madrid,” he said.
Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said, “Sitting here
together with the Iranian foreign minister, you can be sure we will be
working together to fight these types of scenarios, which aim to see a
sectarian conflict.”
The appearance of the two diplomats on the same stage also highlighted
the international charm offensive that Iran has undertaken since the election in June
of President Hassan Rouhani. A relative moderate, Mr. Rouhani has
signaled that he wants to pursue warmer relations with the West, raising
the possibility of a deal over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, as well
as a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict.
Later, at an evening news conference here in Turkey’s capital, Mr. Zarif
told reporters that Turkey and Iran were working for an end to the war
in Syria. “We think people should be making their decisions at the
ballot box, and that the tragedy there should come to an end with the
help of neighboring countries, so these are the issues that we agree
upon,” he said.
He added, “There can be a difference of opinion among two brothers, but
our efforts are to breach these differences and reach a common
perspective.”
Turkey has long had strained and complicated relations with Iran,
although it has kept channels of communication open even as the two
countries have fought what amounts to a proxy war in Syria. Ties between
Turkey and Iran also have become more strained amid the rise in
sectarian frictions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims across the region.
As a Sunni power, Turkey and its government, led by the Islamist-rooted
Justice and Development Party, have been accused by critics of pushing a
foreign policy that favors Sunni interests, while Iran and its Shiite
clerical hierarchy have been guardians of Shiite Islam in the Middle
East, supporting the Shiite powers of Iraq and Hezbollah, the Lebanese
militant group.
A pivotal issue for the planned peace talks on Syria, referred to in diplomatic shorthand as Geneva II,
is whether Iran, which has been the most important ally to Mr. Assad’s
government, will participate. Turkey is pushing for Iran to have a seat
at the table, while Western powers like the United States have wavered
on that prospect.
Whether those talks can be convened by the middle of this month in
Geneva, a goal announced Sept. 27 by the United Nations secretary
general, Ban Ki-moon, remains unclear because so many questions are
unresolved, including the list of invitees. Mr. Ban’s special envoy to
Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said at a news conference in Damascus on Friday
that he remained hopeful that talks would take place but that Syria’s
fractious opposition would need to decide on how it intended to be
represented.
“In my personal opinion, Geneva II will not happen if no opposition
representatives attend,” Mr. Brahimi said, declining to specify a date.
“We hope it will take place in the next few weeks, not next year.”
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