The aftermath of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan�s Aug. 9 meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, has seen a flurry of Turkish-Iranian and Russian-Iranian contacts centered on the Syrian crisis. Expectations have�grown that the bilateral contacts will turn into a trilateral mechanism. Statements from Moscow and Tehran have fed optimism that a common understanding is close, with officials highlighting the preservation of Syria�s territorial integrity, the Syrian people�s right to decide their future and the fight against�terrorism.

As Ankara scrambles to make a foreign policy pivot, a series of important developments around the Syrian crisis have gone largely unnoticed. On�June 9, the�defense ministers�of Iran, Syria and Russia came together in Tehran for the first time since the Syrian crisis broke out more than five years ago.�According to Iranian state television, the meeting indicated that the Syrian war had entered its "final stage."

The July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey led to a telephone call between Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani�in which the two discussed regional issues. Then, on Aug. 8, the leaders of�Iran, Russia and�Azerbaijan�met in Baku�and signaled that Turkey was welcome to join. �Neither Arab nor Western countries�could give Erdogan the support that Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani can give,�said�Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ibrahim Rahimpour, as Erdogan made no secret of his�displeasure�with the level of Western support he received after the putsch.

Erdogan�s meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg the following day resulted in a decision to establish a��strong� bilateral mechanism�to try to resolve the Syrian crisis�involving intelligence, Foreign Ministry and military officials.

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