Senior Iranian MP urges Turkey to change Syria stance

[Anthea]

Senior Iranian MP urges Turkey to change its Syria stance

Iran, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has urged its neighbour Turkey, who has long tried to force Assad from power, to “modify” its stance on Syria.

“Now is an opportune moment for Turkey to modify its policies toward Syria and adopt policies that would contribute to the security and stability of the region,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a senior Iranian MP and head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told reporters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday after meeting with Assad, reported Iran’s Mehr News.

In addition to meeting Assad, Boroujerdi also met with the prime minister and the speaker of the parliament.

His comments come as Syrian regime forces, backed by supporting Iranian militia forces and Russian air power, are facing an offensive by a coalition of rebel and Islamist groups seeking to break the government’s siege on Aleppo. The outcome of the battle for the key city of Aleppo will likely be a major turning point in the war.

Turkey is backing opponents to the Assad regime while Iran has directly supported that regime, putting them on opposite sides of the civil war.

While they oppose each other’s goals in Syria, Tehran nevertheless condemned the coup attempt on July 15 and affirmed its support for the Turkish government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Boroujerdi said the main purpose of his visit to Damascus was to “announce that under the fire of tens of thousands of terrorists, who are backed by their international supporters, we still keep company with the nation and the legal government of Syria.”

“I am sure that Syria will triumph over terrorists and the terrorists who have killed and displaced thousands of civilian citizens will be crushed; surely peace and stability will be restored in this country,” he added.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/050820161