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Russia, Turkey and Iran to mull Syrian crisis

17 November 2017 11:08 (UTC+04:00)
Russia, Turkey and Iran to mull Syrian crisis

By Kamila Aliyeva

Moscow, Tehran and Ankara – the guarantors of nationwide ceasefire in Syria - will come together to discuss the current situation in Arab Republic on November 22.

The meeting of the presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran – Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani – will mainly focus on the settlement of the Syrian crisis.

This was stated by Turkey’s leader on November 17, Turkish media outlets reported.

He also informed that the sides are expected to discuss the situation in the Syrian cities of Idlib and Afrin.

Settlement of the Syrian conflict in the interests of all parties, Erdogan stressed.

Turkish president met with Putin in the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi on November 13. Following the meeting, Putin underlined that joint work with Russia, Turkey, and Iran on Syria continues “successfully” and the level of violence there decreased.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are set to meet in Antalya this week, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Syria will be the main topic for discussion at this meeting as well.

Turkey, which backs the opposition, and Russia and Iran, which support Bashar Assad, are the guarantor countries who brokered a December ceasefire in Syria, that led to the Astana talks aimed at strengthening the ceasefire.

Astana talks also involve Kazakhstan - as an organizing country, sides to the Syrian conflict - governmental and opposition, and observers from the U.S., United Nations and Jordan.

To date, seven rounds of negotiations on the ongoing Syrian conflict were held in Astana.

The seventh international meeting focused on approving the provision on a working group on the release of hostages, prisoners, the transfer of bodies of the dead and the search for missing persons. The parties also considered combating international terrorism and humanitarian demining in Syria.

Guarantors of a nationwide Syrian ceasefire regime - Russia, Turkey and Iran - had agreed on May 4 in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to establish "de-escalation zones" in war-torn Syria. The zones would cover the city of Idlib and certain parts of Latakia, Homs, Aleppo and Hama as well as Damascus, Eastern Ghouta, Daraa and Quneitra. The establishment of the fourth one in Idlib province was the spotlight of the sixth meeting in Astana.

De-escalation zones in Syria allowed to significantly reduce the scale of the conflict and contributed to the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Syria.

While the Astana process is separate from the UN’s Geneva talks on Syrian crisis, the attendance of the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura links the Kazakh platform to broader international efforts.

Syria has been locked in civil war since March 2011. According to UN's special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, around 400,000 people have died in the conflict while half the population has been driven from their homes.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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