Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Russia Vladimir Putin
© Mikhail Klimentyev/press service of the Russian President/TASS
ANKARA, April 4. /TASS/. The presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan outlined ways of development of cooperation in military-technical cooperation, energy and other fields. With President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and they agreed to continue cooperation in the framework of the Syrian settlement. The position of the three presidents was fixed in the Joint statement, which was the main result of the summit, which was held behind closed doors. It is noteworthy that to harmonize its provisions to the presidents took less time than their negotiations took service Protocol.
In a statement, the parties expressed their intention to continue participation in the Syrian settlement. Putin, Rouhani and Erdogan reaffirmed their determination to cooperate in the interests of the final disposition of the “Islamic state” and “Dzhebhat EN-Nusra” (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and other extremist groups, noting that in the course of counter-terrorism Department of the aforementioned terrorist groups from the units of the armed opposition who have already joined or will join the cessation of hostilities is extremely important.
While the presidents “stressed that no action, regardless of where they come from, should not undermine these principles [of territorial integrity and independence of Syria]”, “rejected all attempts to create new realities “on the ground” under the pretext of fight against terrorism and expressed its determination to confront the separatist plans aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and the national security of neighbouring countries”.
The presidents also urged the international community to increase assistance to Syria, including through increased humanitarian supplies, assistance in humanitarian demining, restoration of critical infrastructure and socio-economic infrastructure, the preservation of historical heritage.
The tripartite format of the meeting, which was used for the second time, was called a success, and the presidents of Russia, Iran and Syria decided to hold the next such meeting in Iran.
As appreciated trilateral summit of the presidents
Putin called the talks in a trilateral format, informative and efficient. “I’m sure the summit will take the necessary practical measures and the results will contribute to future productive work in the interest of final peace and stability in Syria,” he said. The Russian leader stressed that the unified position of the three countries “is particularly significant today amid growing attempts to exacerbate ethnic and interconfessional conflicts in the Syrian society, thus to split the country apart, while maintaining the potential for conflict in the middle East for many years to come”. “We agreed to extend the whole complex of bilateral interaction on Syria, especially in the framework of the Astana process, has repeatedly proved its effectiveness,” he added.