Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov (of Russia), Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Rahman (of Qatar), and Mevlut Cavusoglu (of Turkey) announced the launch of a new joint consultative process regarding the Syrian settlement.
The three ministers stressed, during a joint press conference in Doha, that the new process will focus exclusively on humanitarian issues and work in parallel to the Astana process.
Lavrov said after the tripartite meeting with his Turkish and Qatari counterparts, “we agreed that our special representatives will participate in direct coordination of our additional efforts to achieve common goals, and we will hold other ministerial-level meetings periodically.”
Lavrov added, “the new approach was launched about a year ago and we welcome the role that Qatar seeks to play,” noting that “Syria’s return to the Arab League will only become possible after achieving stability in the region.”
In turn, the Qatari minister said, “there is an urgent need to improve the living conditions of Syrians, and coordination processes must have that in mind,” adding, “our new consultative approach runs in parallel to the Astana process and is concerned with humanitarian issues.”
Cavusoglu said that Turkey supports all initiatives to resolve the Syrian crisis that aim for a political solution in accordance with international legality, adding that “the Syrian regime must be pressured to break the deadlock in the current situation.”
Cavusoglu stressed that “we have decided to continue holding regular meetings with Qatar and Russia to discuss the Syrian crisis, and the next meeting will be held in Turkey, followed by one in Russia.”
According to the Tammouz website, Abdulrahman met, on Wednesday, with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Riyadh, and said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports any efforts towards ensuring Syria returns to the “Arab embrace.”
Abdulrahman stressed the importance of continuing to support efforts aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis, in a way that guarantees the security of the Syrian people and protects them from terrorist organizations and sectarian militias that impede access to real solutions that serve the Syrians.
He pointed out that “the Syrian settlement requires that the solution be political from the Kingdom’s point of view, which is what the political crisis needs right now,” noting that this “is mainly due to the parties to this issue, and requires that the Syrian regime and the opposition agree on a political solution.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
