The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey will meet at a summit in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Thursday to lay out the next steps of their plans aimed at putting an end to the drawn-out conflict in Syria and enabling a new beginning for the civilian population.
The scheduled meeting of President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes as the Syrian civil war, which has been raging for eight years, enters a climactic phase.
In December, US President Donald Trump declared that the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group had been defeated and announced the abrupt withdrawal of American troops from Syria, over the objections of top advisers, including US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who quit in protest.
Anti-Terror Fight
The daylong summit in Sochi, which is the fourth summit of the three presidents, will focus on the joint fight against terrorism in the region, restoration of peace, return of refugees and political stability in Syria, Rouhani’s deputy chief of staff for communications, Parviz Esmaeili, was quoted as saying by IRNA on Wednesday.
He added that issues regarding progress made in halting the violence, the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and reconstruction efforts are also expected to feature in high-level talks in the Black Sea resort city.
Valiollah Nanvakenari, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told IRNA on Wednesday that future plans for Syria will be discussed at the summit in view of America’s withdrawal from the Arab state.
“The issue of Syrian Kurds and Turkish presence in certain parts of Syria is also on the agenda of the meeting,” the lawmaker said, expressing hope that negotiations will produce tangible results toward lasting peace in the region.
