14th round of Astana format talks on Syria concluded with commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity
Iran, Russia, and Turkey categorically rejecting “self-rule initiatives, under the pretext of combating terrorism: and also expressly rejected any separatist agenda, which not only undermined Syria’s territorial integrity and security, but also threatened “the national security of neighboring countries”.
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Kazakhstan
Iran, Russia, and Turkey concluded their meeting on Syria in the Asthana format in Nur Sultan on Wednesday, 11 December.
In a joint statement released at the end of the two day meet, all three countries rejected, in a thinly vieled manner, any epectations of Kurdish autonomy, categorically rejecting “self-rule initiatives, under the pretext of combating terrorism: and also expressly rejected any separatist agenda, which not only undermined Syria’s territorial integrity and security, but also threatened “the national security of neighboring countries”. The latter was of course a reference to Turkey which had led a military incursion into north-east Syria in October this year codenamed Operation Peace Spring, to destroy the Kurdish defence forces and the autonomous Kurdish enclave there soon after US President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. Turkey has insisted that the Kurdish YPG forces were allied with the Turkish PKK party, which is outlawed in Turkey as a terrorist organisation.
The Adana Agreement of 1999, signed between Syria and Turkey, was once again agreed upon by the Astana trio as producing the framework for the security of Turkey and the sovereignty of Syria. However, Turkey has so far desisted from talking with Syria, whose ruling regime it charges with the murder and displacement of millions of Syria.
The statement, while condemning Israeli military strikes inside Syria, as well as the illegal transportation of Syrian oil also came out heavilly against terrorist organisations in the region, primarily the Tahrir-al Sham, the Daesh or ISIL, and the Al Nusra Front. It highlighted the parties’ commitment to Syria’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty, underlining that the fight will continue against all kinds of terrorist groups.
The parties welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of 22 October 2019 on stabilization in the north-east of Syria. The situation in Idlib de-escalation area was reviewed in detail and the trio again called for the full implementation on the ground the Memorandum of 17 September 2018, signed between Russia and Turkey to stablize the situation in Idlib.
While deploring civilian casualties, they agreed toundertake 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 Astana process for achieving peace in Syria began in January 2017 in order to agree upon a ceasefire between Russia and Turkey. Iran, Russia, and Turkey supported opposinig sides in the Syrian civil war. A recent contribution of the Astana format was the establishment of a Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva in November. Nothing concrete has come out of the committee but still analysts believe it is a step forward.
The neighboring countries of Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon participated as observers.
The next meeting on Syria in the Astana format is slated to take place in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan in March, 2020.
Read the full text of the joint statement here.
