Turkey holds talks with Iran on Syrian unrest

Today's Zaman--Turkey had talks with Iranian officials on Monday, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who have much influence on Syrian regime to discuss recent developments in Turkey's southern neighbor.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said early Tuesday that it is very important that a very dynamic transformation process in the Middle East should be directed and implemented through regional dynamics.

"For this reason, there is a need for very close consultations with friend and neighbor countries that might have an influence on regional developments, Davutoğlu told Turkish journalists in Tehran, where he came on Sunday to have talks with officials of the Islamic republic.

In Iran, Davutoğlu met on Monday with Ahmadinejad, Parlaiment speaker Ali Larijani and secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili to discuss bilateral relations and regional developments. The foreign minister also had talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday.

Recalling that he had talks in Egypt, Libya and Saudi Arabia after parliamentary elections in Turkey, Davutoğlu said while Egypt is experiencing a transition period, the Libya Contact Group meeting will be in Turkey and the developments in Syria concern everyone.

"We attach importance to completing with peaceful ways of political reform processes in friend and neighbor countries without creating security risk," Davutoğlu said, adding that this is the reason why Turkey finds it important to hold consultations with the regional countries. Davutoğlu stressed that eventually all this transformation process should be directed by regional dynamics.

Davutoglu's remarks came as the tensions between Syria and the United States flared on Monday after Syrian regime loyalists attacked US embassy in Damascus. United States, which sees Syria as a fragile but crucial element of any lasting Middle East peace equation, had been reluctant to demand Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside but US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments on Monday indicated Washington's patience had run out.

"If anyone, including President Assad, thinks that the United States is secretly hoping that the regime will emerge from this turmoil to continue its brutality and repression, they are wrong," Clinton said. "President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power."

Aside from Saudi Arabia and Iran, Davutoğlu could also visit Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon and Syria over the coming two days but the itinerary had not yet been fixed, it said.    

İstanbul hosts a contact group meeting on Libya on Friday that will bring together foreign ministers from Western powers, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and representatives of the Libyan opposition, to map out the future and avoid instability after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's eventual departure.    

Syria's instability represents the greatest worry for Turkey, as the two countries share a long border and a similar sectarian and ethnic make-up.    

A major Muslim partner in NATO and a candidate for EU membership, Turkey's foreign policy has moved away from being almost solely Western facing in recent years and actively engaged fellow Muslim countries and former Cold War adversaries in the old Soviet bloc.

Recalling his meetings with Iranian officials, Davutoğlu said they have discussed all regional developments and particularly the situation in Syria.

Turkish foreign minister said the officials also sought ways on how to coordinate efforts in reform processes in these countries. "Syria is a close friend of both Iran and Turkey which has close relations with the two countries. It is important for us that there is no more civilian death toll and the country starts reform works as soon as possible," Davutoğlu said.

Davutoğlu said Turkey has expressed its position in this to the Iranian side and listened to the Iranian side, adding that both countries agreed on "inevitability of reform process in Syria and that the process should be completed without instability."      

Stressing that it is important that tensions in Syria are ended and the country has a peaceful Ramadan, a holy Muslim month, Davutoğlu said Turkey will continue its works in this regard and maintain its contacts with all sides to make sure that the process sails along the legitimate demands of people without risking the regional stability.

Syrian instability is one of the greatest concerns for Turkey because the two countries share a border and have a similar sectarian and ethnic make-up.    

The foreign minister said they have discussed reform process in Syria with Iran and that Turkey will continue its coordination with the Islamic republic with respect to the reform process in Syria.

Iran is touted as an influential country on Syria and its chief supporter as both countries see Israel as the arch foe in the region. Observers say Iran has a big leverage on Syria's Baath regime and that it could be helpful to urge Iran to spur the Syrian regime to stop brutal crackdown on protesters and speed up the earlier pledged reforms.