SHAFAQNA- President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan ,President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani emphasized a strong commitment to Syria’s sovereignty in a joint statement comes after Fifth Round of Tripartite Summit of Iran, Russia and Turkey in Ankara.
“The Presidents emphasized their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” read a joint statement released following the trilateral summit on Syria, according to AA.
According to the statement, the leaders discussed the situation in northeastern Syria and “reviewed the developments following their last meeting in Sochi on 14 February 2019 and reiterated their determination to enhance the trilateral coordination in light of their agreements.”
The Syrian conflict can only be resolved through “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254,” the leaders stated.
The leaders also rejected all attempts to “create new realities” on the ground in Syria under the pretext of fighting terrorism, said the statement, likely referring to U.S. support for the terrorist YPG/PKK, ostensibly in order to fight Daesh.
The statement also voiced their “determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the national security of neighboring countries.”
the document slammed the Israeli “destabalizing” attacks that “violate Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, leading to an increase in regional tensions.”
Israel has launched several attacks on Syria, Lebanon and Iraq recently, leaving many dead and injured.
The three regional leaders also reiterated their support for the UNSC’s Resolution 497 that rejects Israeli takeover of the Syrian Golan Heights.
They also rejected US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied area, warning it could “endanger peace and security in the region”.
The US recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel through a presidential proclamation signed by President Donald Trump on March 25, 2019.
The directive made the US the first country to recognize Israeli rather than Syrian sovereignty over the Golan Heights region.
According to the statement, displaced Syrians need to be able to safely return to their homeland in a bid to kickstart reconstruction period.
Also, Rouhani, Erdogan and Putin agreed that Iraq and Lebanon observe the Astana peace process implementation, IRNA reported.
Iran, Russia, Turkey have united stance on preserving Syria’s territorial integrity
The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in Syria summit that illegal presence of US forces in Syria has endangered the country’s sovereignty, refuting the US president’s claim last year on Syria pullout as a lie.
At the start of his speech, president Rouhani said that ground must be paved for return of Syrian refugees, adding the refugees’ return to their sovereign homeland should be facilitated.
Rouhani added that Iran has always stressed inefficiency of military approach to Syrian conflict, calling for forming the Syria’s constitutional committee. He noted that creating a new constitution can be a major step for establishing security in Syria.
He went on to underline that the conflict in Syria must be resolved through dialogue.
Elsewhere, the Iranian president stressed that terrorists must not be allowed to use civilians as human shields in Syria, adding that fighting terrorists until their annihilation is necessary.
The three presidents of Iran, Turkey and Russia agree on preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and all oppose foreign interference in the country, President Rouhani said at a joint press conference with president Erdogan and president Putin.
At a joint press conference alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey and Russian President Veladimir Putin on Monday evening in Ankara, which was held after their Fifth Round of Tripartite Summit to discuss a political solution to Syrian conflict within the Astana Format, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said “it was a very constructive summit and all the three countries have a united stance to preserve Syria’s integrity.”
Rouhani said that all the three presidents agree on Syria’s territorial integrity and “we oppose foreign interference.”
The Iranian president condemned the illegal US presence in northern Syria, warning that “the US pursues dangerous objective of disintegrating Syria.”
He also slammed the US illegal recognition of Syria’ Gloan Heights as part of the occupying regime of Israel.
Rouhani added that the three countries agree on continuing fighting terrorists in Syria’s Idlib province, saying that Syria is suffering from presence of terrorists in country for too long.
“We must help restore security in Syria,” the Iranian president further noted, mehrnews told.
Putin Offers Saudi Arabia to Purchase Russian Advanced Air Defence Systems
Putin said as the summit began that a zone of de-escalation should not serve as a terrain for armed provocations.
Expressing hope that the three-way talks would help to bring ‘final’ settlement in the Syrian crisis, Putin said: “I would like to express a confidence that our talks will be productive and the agreements reached will form a ground for final resolution of the crisis in Syria, restore peace and security in this country, strengthen its sovereignty.”
“We must take supplementary measures to completely destroy the terrorist menace that comes from the zone of Idlib,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on press conference that Saudi Arabia should purchase advanced air defence systems from Russia in light of recent drone attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure.
“… In order to protect … their country, we are ready to provide appropriate assistance to Saudi Arabia, and it is enough for the political leadership of Saudi Arabia to make a wise state decision, as the leaders of Iran did before, having purchased the S-300, or as [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan did, purchasing the latest S-400 Triumph air defence systems from Russia. They will reliably protect any infrastructure in Saudi Arabia,” Putin told reporters at a joint press conference following Russia-Turkey-Iran summit on Syria, sputniknews mentioned.
Turkey, Russia, Iran must take more responsibility for Syria peace
“We are in complete agreement in aiming for a lasting political solution for Syria’s political unity and territorial integrity,” Erdoğan said in a televised statement as the summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani began.
“We have to take more responsibility to ensure peace in Syria,” he asserted, reiterating that Turkey stood with the Syrian people during the “most difficult and most painful” times.
Erdoğan said the Astana platform on Syria was a “unique attempt” and “the sole initiative” to find effective and concrete solutions for Syria, dailysabah reported.
The Astana peace process — seeking to end the Syrian conflict once and for all — was launched in January 2017 upon the initiatives of Turkey, Russia, and Iran. To date a total of 13 rounds have been held in Astana, Kazakhstan.