Russia, Iran, Turkey issue joint statement on Syria

Tehran, July 19: Russia, Iran and Turkey adopted a joint statement on Syria reaffirming their commitment to strengthening trilateral cooperation to achieve normalization of the situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“The adopted joint statement confirmed the commitment to strengthening trilateral cooperation between Russia, Iran and Turkey in the interests of achieving a sustainable and viable normalization of the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Putin said after the trilateral summit.
A joint statement by Russia, Turkey and Iran determined that the Syrian crisis could only be resolved through political and diplomatic means.
“The Troika states share the opinion that the Syrian crisis can be completely resolved only by political and diplomatic means based on the intra-Syrian dialogue, as provided for by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254. And, of course, while strictly observing the fundamental principles of respect for sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity,” he said.
He added that the Syrians themselves should determine the future of Syria without imposing any “ready-made recipes or models” from the outside.
The difficult situation east of Euphrates was discussed at the trilateral summit, Putin said.
“We discussed the difficult situation in the north-east of Syria, east of Euphrates, where, with the support of a number of countries, attempts are being made to consolidate an illegal foreign military presence in violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian state,” he said.
The legitimate Syrian authorities have regained control over most of the country’s territory, Putin said.
“Thanks to the effective joint work of our three countries, the terrorist threat and the level of violence in the Syrian Arab Republic have been steadily decreasing in recent years. The main forces of the IS [Islamic State terror group, banned in Russia] and other groups that ruled in this country have been defeated,” Putin said. (UNI/SPUTNIK)