The solution to the Syrian war: Can three trees together make a forest?
(Baonghean) - The 5th trilateral summit between Iran, Russia and host Türkiye took place in Ankara earlier this week, with the focus of discussion being the war in Syria, which has entered its 9th year. "One tree cannot make a forest" - can "three trees together" find a long-term solution to the persistent conflict in one of the hottest spots in the world.
Establishment of the Constitutional Committee
The leaders of Russia, Iran and Türkiye held their first Syria Summit in Sochi, Russia in November 2017.
Since then, other trilateral meetings to find a solution to the Syrian conundrum have been held in Ankara in April 2018, Tehran in September 2018 and Sochi in February 2019.
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| Leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran talk after a press conference in Ankara on September 16. Photo: Reuters |
The 5th meeting in Ankara was considered "effective and successful", with the heads of participating countries reaching a series of important agreements.
The joint statement on the summit's outcomes shows that members affirmed their firm commitment to the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.
The presidents of the three countries stressed that these principles must be followed by all parties and no one is allowed to violate them.
The three leaders also discussed the situation in northeastern Syria, stating that stability and security in the region are only possible if the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected, and agreed to coordinate actions towards that goal.
Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani have jointly rejected any attempts to create new problems on the ground under the guise of counter-terrorism efforts, including illegal initiatives on autonomy.
“We all support the territorial integrity of Syria and are determined that once the security and counter-terrorism issues are resolved, Syria’s territorial integrity will be fully restored. This also involves the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Syrian territory.”
A notable point in this tripartite meeting, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is that they made efforts to "overcome differences regarding the establishment of the Syrian Constitutional Committee", deciding to start work to establish this committee without further delay or delay.
The process of establishing the committee and preparing the mechanisms for its operation will be carried out in coordination with the United Nations, Mr. Erdogan stressed.
Meanwhile, President Putin was quite cautious, affirming that it was too early to say exactly when the committee would begin operating, but agreed that it should be established as soon as possible.
“We believe that the work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee will play a decisive role in normalizing the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic. We have discussed this many times, always repeating that there is no alternative to the political process,” the Kremlin chief explained.
Counterterrorism and reconstruction
Further discussing counter-terrorism efforts in Syria, the parties paid special attention to Idlib, a province bordering Türkiye, where militants are fighting against local government forces.
The statement of the Tehran-Ankara-Moscow “troika” expressed agreement to take practical measures on the basis of previous agreements to protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified that this does not mean that Russia, Türkiye and Iran are planning a joint military operation in Idlib. Instead, he explained that these are steps aimed at “increasing the effectiveness” of anti-terrorism efforts.
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| Devastation in Idlib, Syria due to war. Photo: Reuters |
Meanwhile, host Ankara affirmed that they are ready to establish a security zone on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in Syria, if they do not reach an agreement with the US in the next 2 weeks.
“If we cannot reach an agreement with the US within two weeks, we will be forced to establish a safe zone ourselves to the east of the Euphrates River in Syria.”
The leader’s view is that “supporting terrorist organizations under the guise of fighting terrorism is unacceptable,” referring to Washington’s “backing” of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Ankara considers to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an “outlawed” organization in Türkiye.
And so, it is not too difficult to understand when Erdogan believes that the main threat to Syria now is the SDF, after the concern about the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) has been eliminated.
The war in Syria is coming to an end, which means the urgent need to rebuild the war-torn country is a hot topic at a heated event in Ankara on September 16.
From Moscow, the view is that it is necessary to cooperate with countries and international organizations to solve macro-level problems and restore Syria's socio-economic infrastructure.
In addition, President Putin also said that international forces "must really care about the repatriation of migrants, not with the aim of using them to achieve political goals, that is, to gain more votes on key issues related to the development of Syria."
Just the beginning
It seems that the agreed contents on the Syria issue at the 5th summit of the Russia - Iran - Turkey triangle are full of optimism and positivity, and can even be said to be somewhat beyond public expectations.
The Russian leader appeared very satisfied with the summit results, using many beautiful words such as "completely effective and successful", "the joint statement reflects the commitment to further efforts for the benefit of long-term peace in Syria"...
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| View of the Iran-Russia-Turkey trilateral summit on Syria. Photo: Mehr |
However, it should be noted that these are just the beginning steps, the process of communication and exchange will continue, and the parties have agreed to hold the next summit in Tehran.
In addition, an expert-level meeting on a solution for Syria, formerly known as the Astana process, was agreed to take place next month in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
This "appointment", according to experts, will likely aim to realize the current top priority of encouraging political dialogue within Syria.
