Russia, Iran and Turkey vows to secure Syria's territorial integrity; calls for ceasefire between conflicting parties

Ankara, April 5: Few days after Syrian armed forces liberated the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta province, Russia, Turkey and Iran have vowed to secure the territorial integrity of Syria and called for a lasting ceasefire between the conflicting parties.

 

On Wednesday, the president of three nations including Russia, Turkey and Iran during a trilateral summit in Ankara vowed to secure the territorial integrity of Syria. According to a joint statement released after the summit, the three nations have also called for a lasting ceasefire between the conflicting parties.

The top leaders of three countries also stressed their joint determination to speed up efforts to ensure calm on the ground and protect civilians in Syria after talks on the future of the country. Importantly, the summit brought together two countries which have been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's most forceful supporters, Iran and Russia, and one of his strongest opponents Turkey.

In a press conference after the summit, Russia President Vladimir Putin said that ISIS retains its destructive potential to attack in different regions across the globe despite its defeat in Syria. On the other side, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted that Ankara-led Operation Olive Branch in northern Syria aims to fight the Kurdish militia as it poses a threat to Turkey.

While Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States of trying to use the jihadists of the al-Nusra Front and the IS as tools in the region, saying the Syrian conflict has no military resolution. Interestingly, the co-operation between the three countries raised hopes of stabilizing Syria after seven years of conflict, in which over 500,000 people have been killed with half the population displaced.

The first tripartite summit was held in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi in the year 2017 to discuss progress made in the Astana peace talks and changes in de-escalation zones across Syria. However, the third trilateral summit of Russian, Turkish and Iranian leaders is expected to be held in the coming months in Tehran.