Russian, Iranian, Turkish top diplomats agreements on Idlib

Russian, Iranian and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov, Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu, who had a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, hailed the Russian-Turkish agreements on Syria’s Idlib that are geared to protect civilians while continuing fight against terrorist, the Russian foreign ministry said.

"The sides discussed in detail the situation on the ground, first of all in the Idlib de-escalation zone, and prospects for the launch of a really sustainable process of political settlement of the Syrian crisis," the ministry noted.

"Participants in the meeting highly assessed the agreements on the stabilization of the situation in Idlib that were reached in Sochi on September 17. These agreements make it possible to protect civilian populations while continuing uncompromised fight against terrorists, the ministry said.

Russian, Iranian and Turkish Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov, Javad Zarif and Mevlut Cavusoglu, who had a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, stressed the importance of more active efforts to launch the work of Syria’s Constitutional Committee, the Russian foreign ministry said.

"The sides once again stressed their commitment to more active efforts to form and launch the Constitutional Committee on the basis of the resolutions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 as it will make it possible for the Syrians to decide about the future of their country by themselves," the ministry said.

An agreement on a constitutional committee in Syria was reached at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi on January 30. United Nations Secretary Genera’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura plans to convene the committee’s meeting in Geneva as soon as possible. The committee will be comprised of delegates from the Syrian government, opposition and a group of independent politicians. De Mistura said this committee should have not more than 50 members. The committee will be tasked to work out recommendations on amendments to the Syrian constitution. Once these amendments are adopted, general elections will be held in Syria under the United Nations auspices.