“We have shared stances on many issues and also some differences on the crisis in Syria and we hope that we can resolve these differences with the help of each other,” Zarif said in a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Tehran on Wednesday.
He noted the two countries' discussions over Syria during his recent visit to Ankara and Davutoglu's current visit to Tehran, and reiterated that the two countries have full concordance on several issues.
“First, we agree that the Syrian crisis does not have political solution,” Zarif said explaining about Tehran and Ankara's shared views and stances on Syria.
The Iranian foreign minister stressed that Iran and Turkey as two influential countries in the region intend to engage in different types of cooperation to persuade a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
“Another point of concordance is that all our efforts should be aimed at ending the conflict and establishing a ceasefire possibly before the upcoming Geneva II conference,” Zarif said.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran and Ankara both reiterate that they should cooperate to help the Syrian people who are under the most unfavorable humanitarian conditions.
“Iran and Turkey have decided to take action in certain areas, including relief operations and we have decided to do the needed cooperation and coordination through the two countries’ Red Crescent Societies to help better the Syrian people’s conditions given that we are close to winter,” Zarif said.
Asked if President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet holds a view on Syria different from the past, the Iranian foreign minister reiterated that Iran’s strategy has remained unchanged and Tehran continues to pursue the same principled policies.
Earlier today, Davutoglu in surprising remarks warned foreign powers against intervention in Syria, saying the move would entail dire consequences for the region.
In a U-turn change of policy, the Turkish foreign minister underlined in a meeting with Iran's President Rouhani earlier today that his country doesn’t think that foreign intervention in Syria would benefit the regional states.
Davutoglu also said that Tehran and Ankara share similar viewpoints on fight against terrorism and extremism, and stressed the necessity of the two countries’ cooperation in the settlement of the regional problems.
The Turkish top diplomat also underlined the necessity for Iran’s participation in the Geneva II conference due to be held on January 22.
The UN announced on Monday that the Syrian government and opposition negotiators would meet for the first time since start of the country's 32 month-old crisis in Geneva on 22 January. UN leader Ban Ki-moon said in announcing the landmark conference that it would be "a mission of hope".
Iranian officials have repeatedly underlined that Tehran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups to create stability in the Middle Eastern country.
Last November, Iran hosted a meeting between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to encourage them to start talks to find a political solution to their problems. The National Dialogue Conference kicked off work in Tehran mid November with the motto of 'No to Violence, Yes to Democracy".
The meeting brought together almost 200 representatives of various Syrian ethnicities, political groups, minorities, the opposition, and state officials.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and civilians being reported across the country.
Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes.
The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
