Israeli attacks on Syria intensifying regional tensions

 

 

Presidents of Iran, Russia, and Turkey held a summit on Monday in Ankara to discuss the situation in Syria and released a joint statement which follows:

The Presidents:

 

1. Discussed the current situation on the ground in Syria, reviewed the developments following their last meeting in Sochi on 14 February 2019 and reiterated their determination to enhance the trilateral coordination in light of their agreements.

 

2. Emphasized their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. They highlighted that these principles should be universally respected and that no actions, no matter by whom they were undertaken, should undermine them.

 

3. Reaffirmed in this regard the necessity to respect universally recognized international legal decisions, including those provisions of the relevant UN resolutions rejecting the occupation of Syrian Golan, first and foremost UN Security Council Resolution 497 and thus condemned the decision of the US Administration on the occupied Syrian Golan, which constitutes a grave violation of international law and threatens regional peace and security. They consider Israeli military attacks in Syria as destabilizing and violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country and intensifying the tension in the region.

 

4. Discussed the situation in the north-east of Syria, emphasized that security and stability in this region can only be achieved on the basis of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and agreed to coordinate their efforts to this end.

 

5. Rejected in this regard all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as threatening the national security of neighboring countries.

 

6. Reviewed in detail the situation in the Idlib de-escalation area and underscored the necessity to respect calm on the ground by fully implementing all agreements on Idlib, first and foremost the Memorandum of 17 September 2018. They are alarmed about the risk of further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in and around the area as a result of continued escalation and agreed to take concrete steps to reduce violations. They expressed serious concern with the increased presence of the terrorist organization “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” in the area and reaffirmed 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 civilian casualties and displacement of people, they agreed 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 within and outside the Idlib de-escalation area.

 

7. Reaffirmed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it could only be resolved through the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

 

8. Expressed their satisfaction with the successful completion of the work on the composition of the Constitutional Committee and reiterated their support to the efforts of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen to achieve agreement between the Syrian parties on the rules of procedure. They reaffirmed their readiness to facilitate the launching of the Constitutional Committee in Geneva in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi.

 

9. Emphasized the need to increase humanitarian assistance to all Syrians throughout the country without preconditions. In order to alleviate the suffering of the Syrians and support the progress in the process of the political settlement, they called upon members of the international community, the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies to undertake greater responsibility in burden-sharing and to enhance their 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.

 

10. Highlighted the need to facilitate safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places of residence in Syria, ensuring their right to return and right to be supported. In this regard, they called upon the international community to provide appropriate contributions for their resettlement and normal life, and reaffirmed 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 agreed to coordinate their initiatives to organize international conferences on the humanitarian assistance to Syria and the return of Syrian refugees.

 

11. Welcomed the participation of Iraq and Lebanon as new observers of the Astana format.

 

12. In addition to the Syrian issue, discussed recent regional and international developments as well as their collaboration in different fields and reiterated their decision to promote joint economic and commercial cooperation.

 

13. Decided to hold the next Tripartite Summit in the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the invitation of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran H.E. Hassan Rouhani.

 

14. The Presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation expressed their sincere gratitude to President of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for hosting the Tripartite Summit in Ankara.