Al-Jaafari after Astana Meeting: Turkish Side Practiced Blackmail Policy

ASTANA, (ST)- Head of the Syrian Arab Republic Delegation to Astana 5 meeting on Syria, Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari has stressed that from the very beginning of Astana process, the Turkish stance was negative, making it difficult to reach key results.

 The Plenary Session of Astana talks on Syria was held on Wednesday in the Kazakh capital with the participation of the Syrian Arab Republic Delegation, the guarantor countries (Russia, Iran and Turkey) and the “armed opposition” delegation.

In a statement to journalists following the session, al-Jaafari said that participating in Astana and Geneva meetings was to push forward efforts aiming to stop the fight in Syria, help the Syrians and restore stability to the country. He pointed out that the Syrian efforts in this respect were faced by counter efforts from the Turkish side.  

 According to al-Jaafari, the Turkish stance was negative from the very beginning of Astana process and this negative stance has led to unimportant results in this round of talks, particularly regarding the de-escalation zones issue.

Al-Jaafari pointed out that the Turkish side rejected reaching the parameters of these zones and practiced blackmail policy.

 He pointed out that the agenda of this round of Astana talks focused on putting the final touches on the details of the agreement on de-escalation zones , but the Turkish side hindered that.

“The Turkish side fought to hinder reaching positive results that serve the interests of the Syrian people.

Guarantor Countries stress importance of maintaining Syria’s stability and territorial integrity

In the same context, the joint statement of the guarantor countries of the cessation of hostilities in Syria affirmed the importance of maintaining Syria’s stability and territorial integrity and of finding a political solution to the crisis in the country being the only way out.

According to the statement, which was delivered by the Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Khairat Abdul Rahmanov, the guarantor countries stress the need to strengthen the cessation of hostilities, continue contributing to confidence building between Syrian parties and welcome decrease of violence level  as a result of signing the memo on the establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria.

 The statement said that the joint work group was tasked with completing all conditions to specify the de-escalation zones in Syria, maintain the cessation of hostilities in the country and enhance confidence among all parties.

The statement pointed out that the guarantors urge all parties to comply with the cessation of hostilities regime and not to violate it and they welcomed establishing a joint work group for de-escalation.

The guarantor countries affirm the need that all parties in Syria should adopt necessary measures to enhance confidence as to push the political process forward, maintain the cessation of hostilities regime and ensure the fast and secure delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected areas, according to the statement.

It affirmed the important role of Astana meetings in enhancing Geneva process and welcomed holding the next round of Geneva talks on Syria on July 10.

The coming round of Astana talks will be held in the last week of August, 2017 in the Kazakh capital, said the statement

In his statement at the beginning of the plenary session, the Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Khairat Abdul Rahmanov stressed that “dialogue is the only possible way to solve the crisis in Syria.”  

Earlier in the day the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic held a meeting with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura within the framework of Astana 5 meeting on Syria.

On Tuesday, the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic led by Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari held consultative meetings with the Russian delegation led by Director of  Russian Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department Sergey Vershinin and with head of the Iranian delegation led by Assistance Foreign Minister Hussein Jaberi Ansar.  

The guarantor states of the cessation of hostilities in Syria (Russia, Iran and Turkey) held two rounds of talks at the experts level dealing with the borders and parameters of the de-escalation zones.

Russia expects progress on Syria de-escalation zones at Astana talks

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia hoped that progress would be reached on agreeing on the borders and parameters of Syrian de-escalation zones at talks in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Following his talks with Secretary General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday, Lavrov said “we hope that a real progress will be reached in terms of designating certain parameters, including geographic ones and those linked to ensuring the operation of de-escalation zones.

Hamda Mustafa