TEHRAN (Iran News) – According to Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman, the Astana Peace Process is the only solution for years-long conflicts that are going on in Syria.

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Speaking at a press conference following the summit in Ankara, President Rouhani said all three guarantor states shared the same views on issues regarding the settlement in Syria.

“We all have the same opinion about necessity of preserving the territorial integrity of Syria,” Rouhani said.

The fifth summit concluded with a final statement, in which the three sides 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.

The statement also called Israeli regime’s attack in Syria as a ‘destabilizing’ measure which violates the Arab country’s sovereignty and further intensifies regional tensions.

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The Presidents:

1. Discussed the current situation on the ground in Syria, 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.

2. 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. They highlighted that these principles should be universally respected and that no actions, no matter by whom they were undertaken, should undermine them.

3. Reaffirmed in this regard the necessity to respect universally recognized international legal decisions, including those provisions of the relevant UN resolutions rejecting the occupation of Syrian Golan, first and foremost UN Security Council Resolution 497 and thus condemned the decision of the US Administration on the occupied Syrian Golan, which constitutes a grave violation of international law and threatens regional peace and security. They consider Israeli military attacks in Syria as destabilizing and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country and intensifying the tension in the region.

4. Discussed the situation in the north-east of Syria, emphasized that security and stability in this region can only be achieved on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and agreed to coordinate their efforts to this end.

5. Rejected in this regard all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and expressed 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.

6. Reviewed in detail the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and underscored the necessity to respect calm on the ground by fully implementing all agreements on Idlib, first and foremost the Memorandum of 17 September 2018. They are alarmed about the risk of further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in and around the area as a result of continued escalation and agreed to take concrete steps to reduce violations. They expressed serious concern with the increased presence of the terrorist organization “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” in the area and reaffirmed the determination to continue cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate DAESH/ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaeda or DAESH/ISIL, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the UN Security Council. While deploring civilian casualties and displacement of people, they agreed to undertake concrete measures, based on the previous agreements, to ensure the protection of the civilian population in accordance with the international humanitarian law as well as the safety and security of the military personnel of the guarantors within and outside the Idlib de-escalation area.

7. Reaffirmed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it could only be resolved through the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

8. Expressed their satisfaction with the successful completion of the work on the composition of the Constitutional Committee and reiterated their support to the efforts of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen to achieve agreement between the Syrian parties on the rules of procedure. They reaffirmed their readiness to facilitate the launching of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi.

9. Emphasized the need to increase humanitarian assistance to all Syrians throughout the country without preconditions. In order to alleviate the suffering of the Syrians and support the progress in the process of the political settlement, they called upon members of the international community, the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies to undertake greater responsibility in burden-sharing and to enhance their assistance to Syria, inter alia by developing early recovery projects, including the restoration of basic infrastructure assets – water and power supply facilities, schools and hospitals as well as the humanitarian mine action.

10. Highlighted the need to facilitate safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places of residence in Syria, ensuring their right to return and right to be supported. In this regard, they called upon the international community to provide appropriate contributions for their resettlement and normal life, and reaffirmed their readiness to continue interaction with all relevant parties, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other specialized international agencies. They agreed to coordinate their initiatives to organize international conferences on the humanitarian assistance to Syria and the return of Syrian refugees.

11. Welcomed the participation of Iraq and Lebanon as new observers of the Astana format.

12. In addition to the Syrian issue, discussed recent regional and international developments as well as their collaboration in different fields and reiterated their decision to promote joint economic and commercial cooperation.

13. Decided to hold the next Tripartite Summit in the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the invitation of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran H.E. Hassan Rouhani.

14. The Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation expressed their sincere gratitude to President of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for hosting the Tripartite Summit in Ankara.

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Rouhani arrived in Turkey on Sunday night to take part in a trilateral meeting with his Russian and Turkish counterparts in order to discuss a political resolution to the crisis in Syria.

Before leaving Tehran for Ankara on Sunday evening, President Hassan Rouhani told reporters at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport that issues in the region must be resolved through regional dialogue.

Stressing the need to continue the fight against terrorists in Syria’s Idlib region, Rouhani added that Syria’s constitution and the return of the refugees to their homes as two important issues going to be discussed in the trilateral meeting with President Erdogan and President Putin within the Astana format.

Rouhani stressed that the future of Syria belongs to the Syrian people and they must decide on their country’s future, adding that other countries must help the legitimate government of Damascus.

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The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey as guarantors of the Astana format:

1. Reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter;

2. Reaffirmed in this regard the respect for universally recognized international legal decisions, including those provisions of the relevant UN resolutions rejecting the occupation of Syrian Golan, first and foremost UN Security Council resolution 497;

3. Reviewed in detail the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and highlighted the necessity to establish calm on the ground by fully implementing all agreements on Idlib, first and foremost the Memorandum of 17 September 2018. They expressed serious concern with the increased presence of the terrorist organization “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” in the area and reaffirmed the determination to continue cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate DAESH/ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaeda or DAESH/ISIL, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the UN Security Council. While deploring civilian casualties, they agreed to undertake concrete measures, based on the previous agreements, to ensure the protection of the civilian population in accordance with the international humanitarian law as well as the safety and security of the military personnel of the guarantors present within and outside the Idlib de-escalation area;

4. Discussed the situation in the north-east of Syria and emphasized that long-term security and stability in this region can only be achieved on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country;

5. Rejected in this regard all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and expressed 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;

6. Expressed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and reaffirmed their commitment to advance the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council resolution 2254 and the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi;

7. Held detailed consultations on the trilateral basis as well as with the representatives of the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen on the conclusion of formation and launching of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi. They expressed satisfaction with the progress made on finalization of the composition and the rules of procedure of the body and reiterated their readiness to facilitate the convening of the committee as soon as possible;

8. Welcomed the fourth successful operation on mutual release of detainees/abductees held on 31 July 2019 within the framework of the respective Working Group of the Astana format. They underscored that the Working Group was a unique mechanism, that had proved to be effective and necessary for building confidence between the Syrian parties, and agreed to take measures to continue and step up its work;

9. Emphasized the need to increase humanitarian assistance to all Syrians throughout the country without preconditions. In order to support the improvement of the humanitarian situation in Syria and the progress in the process of the political settlement, they called upon the international community, the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, to enhance the assistance to Syria, inter alia by developing early recovery projects, including the restoration of basic infrastructure assets – water and power supply facilities, schools and hospitals as well as the humanitarian mine action. They also discussed the idea and exchanged views on the perspectives of holding the International Conference on the Humanitarian Assistance to Syria;

10. Highlighted the need to facilitate safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places of residence in Syria, ensuring their right to return and right to be supported. In this regard they called upon the international community to provide appropriate contributions and reaffirmed their readiness to continue interaction with all relevant parties, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other specialized international agencies;

11. Welcomed the participation of the delegations of Iraq and Lebanon as new observers of the Astana format. They expressed their conviction that the observers (Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon) would contribute to the efforts to bring peace and stability in Syria;

12. Expressed their sincere gratitude to the Kazakh authorities for hosting in Nur-Sultan the 13th International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format;

13. Decided to hold the next International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format in Nur-Sultan in October 2019.

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On Sunday, Kazakhstan held snap presidential elections, with seven candidates contesting the presidency, including incumbent President Tokayev. For the first time ever, first president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev did not participate in the election. Preliminary reports suggest that the voter turnout hit 77.4%.

Tokayev will be inaugurated on June 12, the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Monday.

“The date of the inauguration of Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev elected in snap presidential elections will be set for 12 June 2019,” CEC member Lyazzat Suleiman said at the commission’s session.

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In a joint statement released at the end of the meeting, the sides reaffirmed their strong commitment “to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey as guarantors of the Astana format … strongly condemned the decision of the US administration to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, which constitutes a grave violation of international law, particularly the UN Security Council Resolution 497, and threatens peace and security in the Middle East,” the statement said.

On March 25, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing the highlands on the border with Syria as Israel’s territory, which was condemned by the UN Security Council. Israeli regime seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War — an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UNSC.

The Syrian guarantor states also reaffirmed their commitment to the earlier reached agreements on the Syrian province of Idlib, including those on joint patrols and the Joint Coordination Center.

“[The guarantor states] reviewed in detail the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area, welcomed steps taken in order to implement the memorandum of September 17, 2018 and reaffirmed the determination to fully implement the agreements on stabilization in Idlib, including the coordinated patrols and effective functioning of the Joint Iranian-Russian-Turkish Coordination Center,” the statement added.

The Astana talks support the establishment of the UN-backed constitutional committee in Syria as a way to find a political solution.

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Chairman of Iran’s Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, will head the Iranian delegation at the event.

The meeting will be held in line with the cooperation between Iran, Russia and Turkey in the framework of Astana process to bring peace and security to Syria.

The Astana process was launched by Russia, Turkey and Iran in January 2017 to bring all warring parties in Syria to the negotiating table to complement the UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.

Cooperation between the guarantors of peace in Syria has also been able to preserve the territorial integrity and national sovereignty and independence of Syria.

The next round of the Astana talks will be held in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on April 25-26.

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 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has affirmed the importance of eradicating the hotbed of terrorism in Idlib, saying that patience in not endless regarding the presence of terrorists in it.

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Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the upcoming Astana meeting on crisis in Syria would be held in the second half of February.

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