President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said ensuring stability in Syria would benefit the region as a whole, as he met with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Cairo on the sidelines of the D-8 Summit on Thursday.
“President Erdoğan noted that Syria’s stabilization would serve the stability and security of the entire region and that Syria’s rapid recovery could be achieved with the contributions of all regional and international actors,” the Presidential Communications Directorate said.
Erdoğan called for reconciliation in Syria and the restoration of the country’s “territorial integrity and unity.”
He also voiced hope for “the establishment of a Syria free of terrorism,” where “all religious sects and ethnic groups live side by side in peace.”
He noted that Türkiye-Iran relations are also vital for stability in the region.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also called for “the participation of all (Syrian) groups in the future government… as well as respect for different beliefs and religions.”
He added that “for more than 14 months, the Middle East region, in particular Gaza and southern Lebanon, and now… Syria, has been the target of massive attacks” by Israel.
“It is our religious, legal and human duty to prevent further harm” to those suffering in the conflict zones, he said.
The gathering of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, also known as the Developing-8, was being held against a backdrop of regional turmoil including the conflict in Gaza, a fragile cease-fire in Lebanon and unrest in Syria.
Pezeshkian is the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.
