Today, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is making a one-day visit to Sochi for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Idlib matter, energy, among other topics.

It is obvious that last week's Tehran Summit on Idlib did not give the desired outcome in terms of the humanitarian situation. Despite all of Turkey's insistence, Iran and Russia remained insistent on military intervention in Idlib, along with Bashar Assad's regime, while greatly supporting it.

It was obvious from their every move that they think that it is now time for Idlib, which was declared a de-escalation zone in Astana, because it harbors terrorists, and that once they take care of Idlib, the Syria problem will be completely over. Yet, the intervention they wanted was going to lead to an uncompensatable loss of lives and to the start of an influx of migration toward Turkey. It really is very strange that they can so easily talk about a massacre for which humanity and Turkey will pay, simply so the dictator they support can get rid of a few terrorists.

As a matter of fact, it was accepted in Astana that every regime opposition, even if they are armed, would not be considered terrorists, and especially the Turkey-backed armed Free Syrian Army (FSA) was recognized in the negotiations as a party. Yet what they are aiming for now is nothing other than using the terrorist excuse to destroy the opposition forces, accepted as a legitimate group worldwide. Otherwise, Turkey is on the same page as Iran and Russia considering terrorists.

But Turkey showed with Operation Euphrates Shield against Daesh, Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) Syrian affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), that there is an alternative in fighting terrorists, that a successful war against terrorists which targets terrorists only, without any civilian casualties, is possible.

Turkey carried out these operations not only without any civilian casualties, but also without turning a city into ruins or destroying a single house. Yet, every operation conducted by both the regime against its own people and Russia, Iran and the U.S. against terrorists, with war as their excuse, killed at least 30 civilians in exchange for one terrorist and turned cities into ruins.

Turkey physically showed with its experience that there are other ways to fight terrorism and it is now presenting this experience as a theory in Idlib.

It did this at the Tehran Summit and, although it was not very successful, it halted an attack launched against Idlib with its clear attitude after the summit.

In time, Idlib became the sole place in Syria where civilians who fled Assad's massacres and oppression since the start of the Syria crisis took shelter. Upon Turkey physically protecting this area, it actually became the safe zone Turkey wanted to establish within Syria.

It had all the parties accept this area during the Astana process as a de-escalation zone. The operation that is now being considered in this area with the aid of Russia and Iran is actually an open violation of the agreement and also has no other meaning than to restore Assad's murderous regime. It is really very difficult to understand why Iran and Russia continue to support Assad despite these atrocities.

Thank God Turkey is at the table in Syria and in the process that started in Sochi, which is continuing in Istanbul and Tehran. Despite everything, Turkey is able to prevent things from getting worse.

Turkey may not be achieving the exact result it wants but this does not mean it is not achieving anything in the name of the people of Syria. Things can be expected to reach a more reasonable point at the Sochi meeting today.

What did Yazid do?

I too ended up going to Tehran a week after Turkey, Iran and Russia's tripartite summit. I accepted the special invitation I received, thinking I would find the opportunity to directly observe how things are carrying on at the public level in Iran, which is faced with U.S. sanctions.

Frankly, Tehran, which I had not long visited, has developed quite a bit; I found it to be neater and much better in terms of municipal services.

With the impact of the sanctions, the Iranian toman dropped almost threefold in value against the dollar. This, of course, led to great displeasure among the people, with intense reactions and protests in the early days, however, people calmed down with time. People rapidly adapted to the new situation. Life is continuing its course as lively as possible.

It can be seen that the Iranian people, who got used to living under blockades and sanctions, will soon get used to this latest sanctions as well. The Communication Tower in Tehran that was completed a few years ago is considered the world's eighth largest tower and is filled to the brim with the shopping mall under it. Tehran, which has a population of 15 million, has shown with its own urbanization that it can make significant process without the dollar, despite the sanctions. It opened numerous five-star hotels within the matter of a couple of years.

As my visit coincided with the month of Muharram, I visited Tabriz after Tehran. I must say that watching the Muharram mourning in Tabriz that started at night and continued for hours was an entirely different experience.

On the days of Ashura, people generally wear black. It is a mourning made up of gatherings held at about 10 locations on the kilometers-long main street in Tabriz, visited by almost the entire population of a city. The sounds of the elegies for Huseyin, rising from speakers at these gatherings throughout the city, mix with the sounds of gigantic drums to project an interesting presentation. There is a political theology to this presentation that starts with the chant, "I

answered your call and came" (Labbayk ya Huseyin) and spans Tebriz, one of the most important centers of Shiism, and Tehran, and an answer from Tehran to it.

Of course, it is impossible to know how the Tehran regime is still standing on its feet despite so many attacks without understanding this theology.

I had the chance to chat with a pious Azerbaijani from Tebriz. I sincerely told him that I cannot understand how he supports Assad, who massacres Iranian people, even though he says he is quite pleased with Turkey and Iran's unity in Tehran. I said, "Yazid, the murderer of Huseyin, whose call you answered today, is being represented in Assad's person, can't you see this?" He said, "This is all politics." I in turn asked: well alright, what was Yazid doing then?