Iranian President Hassan Rouhani slammed the “illegal” military presence of foreign forces in Syria on Tuesday, calling for their withdrawal ahead of his trip to Turkey’s capital city of Ankara.

Axar.az reports quoting Press TV.

Before leaving Tehran for Ankara to participate in a trilateral summit on a Syrian settlement by the heads of states of the guarantors of the Astana process on Syria — Russia, Turkey and Iran — Rouhani called for an end to the unauthorized presence of foreign forces in Syria.

"From our viewpoint, the presence of foreign forces in war-stricken Syria without the authorization of the country's government is illegal and must be stopped," Rouhani said, Press TV reports.

The Iranian president pointed out that the crisis in Syria has to be settled through dialogue and by continuing campaigns against terrorist forces there. He stressed that Syria's future should be decided by its own people through comprehensive talks bereft of foreign intervention.

"The issue of reconstructing Syria as well as drawing up and amending a new constitution are the key matters that are important for the future of Syria and they will be discussed during the trilateral meeting," Rouhani told reporters.