"The joint efforts conducted on the ground in the context of the Astana process, and as part of the political process with the aim of finding a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict will be discussed during the summit," stated Erdogan.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will host a trilateral summit in Tehran with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan, as the UN warns of a 3-million person humanitarian catastrophe ahead of an imminent Syrian regime operation in the northwest governorate of Idlib.
"The meeting is aimed at evaluating the developments that have taken place following the second meeting of the trilateral summit, hosted last April by Turkey, and at identifying steps which can be taken forward," added Erdogan
Turkey, Russia, and Iran are the three guarantors of several failed ceasefire agreements. In their Astana talks, they have sought to meet with Syrian government loyalist and opposition groups to find lasting peace.
The three presidents have met previously in Turkey and Russia. In Syria, Ankara has found itself backing Syria's rebels who oppose the rule of the Iran- and Russia-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Staffan de Mistura, the UN Special Envoy to Syria, is appealing for Erdogan and Putin to find a “soft solution.”
“We look to Russia, Turkey, Iran to come with hope to the civilians in Idlib,” he said. “There are indeed many more babies than there are terrorists in Idlib. There are a million children.”
Through the conflict, Turkey has hosted upwards of 3.5 Syrian refugees as part of a migrant deal with the European Union. Erdogan repeatedly has said he hopes for the displaced to return to their areas once a solution is found.
