Turkey confirms Syria talks with Russia and Iran

ANKARA (Agencies): Turkey confirmed Friday that it would meet Russian and Iranian foreign ministers for talks on the escalating civil war in Syria in Qatar Saturday.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan “will meet with the Russian and Iranian ministers… for a meeting under the Astana process” on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, a foreign ministry source said.

The so-called Astana process involving the three countries was launched by Kazakhstan in 2017 in a bid to find a political solution to the civil war in Syria, which has flared again after a lightning offensive by armed opposition forces over the past week.

Iranian state media had reported earlier that a meeting was expected on the forum’s sidelines between Turkey, which supports some of the opposition forces, and Damascus allies Iran and Russia.

Qatar, which gave early support to the opposition after the government crushed a peaceful uprising in 2011, remains a fierce critic of President Bashar al-Assad but is calling for a negotiated end to the fighting.

Turkey shares a border of more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) with Syria and currently is home to around three million Syrian refugees.