Astana XI final statement affirms Syrian integrity

CAIRO – 15 September 2017: Russia, Turkey and Iran renewed their strong commitment to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to combating terrorism in it.


Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov read out the final statement at the end of the plenary meeting of the Astana XI talks in which “the guarantor states (Russia, Turkey and Iran) renewed their strong commitment to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2254 as they reached an agreement on de-escalation zones, including the Idlib area.”

The statement pointed out that the three guarantor countries stressed that the establishment of the de-escalation areas is a temporary measure that will continue for six months.

The de-escalation areas deal will be extended in a manner based on the consensus among the guarantor states and that the establishment of these zones under no circumstances will undermine the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic.

A joint Russian-Turkish-Iranian coordination center will be formed to coordinate activities of the troops that will monitor the de-escalation zones. The forces of the three guarantor states will be identified in these zones on the basis of the maps agreed in Astana on September 8 and in ac-cordance with the terms of deployment of the monitoring forces of de-escalation prepared by the Joint Working Group on a temporary basis in the de-escalation areas Syria’s in Idlib governorate.

The statement affirmed the fight against terrorism and the elimination of the so-called Islamic Group (IS) group, Al Nusra Front and all the people, groups and entities affiliated to Al-Qaeda and/or the two organizations as a result of the establishment of de-escalation zones. It further stressed the necessity of taking all necessary measures to continue fighting against them inside and outside areas of de-escalation zones.

Earlier, the plenary meeting of the Astana XI talks on Syria kicked off in Astana with the partici-pation of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation (headed by Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari), the Russian and Iranian delegations and others.