Aug 29, 2018

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was on Wednesday holding previously unannounced talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, the Turkish presidency said.

Zarif went into the talks at the headquarters of Erdogan's ruling party, as expectations grow of an offensive in the Idlib province of northwest Syria bordering Turkey by Tehran's ally President Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey has been keeping a wary eye on the possibility of the offensive, as it seeks to bring peace to Syria along with Iran and Assad's other main ally Russia.

Ankara has throughout the seven year civil war in Syria supported rebels seeking to oust Assad but has put differences aside to form a three way alliance with Tehran and Moscow.

Erdogan and his counterparts Hassan Rouhani of Iran and Russia's Vladimir Putin are due to meet for a third summit on Syria in Iran on September 7, Turkish reports have said.