The foreign ministers of the guarantor countries of Astana renew their commitment to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria

On October 29, The Foreign Ministers of the guarantors of the Astana process (Russia, Iran and Turkey) reiterated their commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and to continuing the fight against terrorism there.

After a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Iranian Foreign Minister MohammadJavad Zarif and Turkish Foreign Minister MevlutCavusoglu in Geneva, they issued a join statementsaid that the three countries welcomed the commencement of the work of the Constitutional Discussion Committee in Geneva.

“TheConstitutional Discussion Committee work should be carried out without any external interference or imposing a timeline and expressed full support for its work and the efforts of the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to SyriaGeir Pederson,” the statement said.

The foreign ministers reaffirmthat there is no military solution to the crisis in Syria, stressing adherence to the political solution to the crisis.

The Ministers called on the international community to increase aid to all Syrians without any preconditions and to contribute to the return of the displaced Syrians  to their country after the Syrian government provided the necessary conditions for this.

In a press conference, Lavrov explained that the formation of the Constitution Discussion Committee was one of the outcomes of the Syrian National Dialogue Conference held in the Russian city of Sochi in January 2018.

“We stressed that the most important thing is to ensure the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2254, which stresses that only the Syrians decide the future of their country themselves without any external interference,”Lavrov said. “The role of the United Nations and the international community is limited to facilitating the work of the Constitution Discussion Committee in order to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”

Lavrov expressed his country’s hope that the members of the Constitutional Discussion Committee will not be subjected to external pressures or impose specific timetables.

Lavrov stressed that the three countries agreed to continue efforts to stabilize the situation in Syria and eliminateterrorists.

For his part, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis and the work of the Constitutional Discussion Committee is a step in the political solution to the crisis.

Zarif said that the Syrians decide the future of their country away from any external interference.

Zarif added that the guarantors of the Astana Peace Process should ensure that there is no outside interference in the work of the Constitutional Discussion Committee.

O. al- Mohammad