The presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani met in the Turkish capital Ankara today, aiming to speed up the peace process for Syria.
Iran, Russia and Turkey are the guarantors of the observance of the ceasefire regime in the Syrian Arab Republic. The first summit in such format was held in Sochi last year.
The presidents “rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries,” the joint statement, released on the website of the Iranian presidential administration, read.
The presidents also stressed the importance of separating terrorist groups in Syria from armed opposition, which observes the truce.
“Underlined that, in the fight against terrorism, separating the above-mentioned terrorist groups from the armed opposition groups that had joined and would join the ceasefire regime bore utmost importance with respect to preventing civilian casualties,” the statement said.
The leaders also welcomed the convening of the first meeting of the Working Group on the release of detainees and abductees “and handover of the bodies as well as the identification of missing persons in Astana on 15 March 2018 with the participation of three guarantors as well as the UN and ICRC, and emphasized the importance of the effective functioning of the Working Group which would help build confidence between the conflicting parties.”
“The Presidents… called upon the international community, particularly the UN and its humanitarian agencies, to increase its assistance to Syria by sending additional humanitarian aid, facilitating humanitarian mine action, restoring basic infrastructure assets, including social and economic facilities, and preserving historical heritage,” the statement reads.
A new a three-way summit will be held in Iran.
Source: Websites
