Guarantor States make joint statement following 13th International Meeting on Syria

On day one of the 13th meeting on Syria, there were closed door bilateral and multilateral consultations, with the issues of stabilization in the Idlib zone and the elaboration of cease-fire measures under discussion.

Russia has been led by the Russian President’s Special Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

Turkey was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.  

The Islamic Republic of Iran was headed by Ali Asghar Haji, the Senior Advisor to the Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

The 13th international meeting on Syria saw both sides of the conflict - the Syrian government delegation led by the United Nations Permanent Representative of Syria, Bashar al-Jafari, and the armed opposition led by Ahmet Tuma take part.

The Iraqi and Lebanese delegations partook as observers.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Vasilenko, the Astana process is central to the multilateral efforts towards peace in Syria.

“Started in 2017 with support of First Kazakh President – Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Astana process on Syria has certainly reached the great results in establishing peace in Syria,” Roman Vasilenko said.

The joint statement by the guarantor States – Russia, Iran and Turkey - is as follows:

The guarantor States confirm their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and the objectives and principles of the UN Charter.

The States also reaffirm the respect for universally recognized international legal decisions, including the provisions of the relevant UN resolutions refuting the occupation of the Syrian Golan, first and foremost the respect for the UN Security Council resolution 497.

The guarantor countries have revised in detail the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and stressed the necessity to establish peace by fully implementing all the agreements on Idlib, including the 17 September 2018 memorandum.

They express a serious concern over the presence of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist organization in the area and reaffirm 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 the civilian casualties, they agree 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.

The guarantor States have discussed the situation in northeastern Syria and stressed that the long-term security and stability in this region can be achieved only through respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

The three reject all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and express their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the neighboring countries’ national security.

The countries are convicted that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and reaffirm 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.

The guarantors have held the detailed consultations on the trilateral basis and the consultations with the representatives of the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen concluding the formation and launching of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi.

Satisfaction with the progress made on finalizing the composition and the rules of procedure of the body as well as the readiness to facilitate the convening of the committee at an early date were expressed.

The three States welcome the fourth successful operation on the mutual release of detainees/abductees on 31 July 2019 in the wake of the Astana format’s Working Group. It was underscored that the Working Group was a unique mechanism which had proved to be effective and essential for building confidence between the Syrian parties, and agree to take measures to continue and step up the Working Group’s work.

The three countries have emphasized the need to increase humanitarian assistance to all Syrians without preconditions. To support the improvements in the humanitarian situation in Syria and the progress in the political settlement, they called on 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 have discussed the idea and exchanged views on the perspectives of holding the International Conference on Humanitarian Assistance to Syria.

The need to facilitate the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places of residence in Syria, ensuring their rights to return and the rights for support was emphasized.

They called on the international community to provide appropriate contributions and reaffirm 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 welcome the participation of the Iraqi and Lebanese delegations as observers of the Astana format. The conviction that the observers would contribute to the efforts to bring the peace and stability in Syria was expressed.

It was decided to hold the next International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format in October 2019.

Author: Adlet Seilkhanov

Photo credit: Baurzhan Zhussbayev