By Selen Temizer and Ali Cura
TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Moscow, Ankara and Tehran will abide by the Turkish president’s call for disarmament of all parties in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Speaking at a joint news conference following the third trilateral summit on Syria with Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani, Putin said: “Our priority is to clear Syria completely of terrorists. We have urged all parties for disarmament upon President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call.”
Putin added that it was not acceptable to protect terrorists under the garb of protecting civilians and harm the Syrian regime.
He said they were going to use the opportunities provided by the Astana format, adding that it was a constructive and efficient framework for normalizing life in the region.
He recalled that a total of 10 international meetings had been held until today and more will be held with attendance by the warring parties, guarantor countries and the UN.
Putin said that opposition and armed groups were planning to “stage a provocation” in Syria, adding that Moscow had “clear evidence” in this regard.
The Russian president also said a UN-monitored constitutional committee — which will determine the political structure of Syria in the coming years — should be established as soon as possible.
– Cease-fire in Idlib
Putin said that while he understood Erdogan’s call during the summit for cease-fire in Idlib, “destructive elements, terror elements continue provocations in the region “.
“We can’t ignore this. We have to think holistically about this problem,” he said.
The first tripartite summit was held in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on Nov. 22 to discuss progress made in the Astana peace talks and changes in de-escalation zones across Syria.
The second trilateral meeting was hosted by Erdogan in April in the Turkish capital Ankara.
