The 13th round of Astana concluded its work last Friday, affirming the general line of the Astana meetings, which seeks to complete untying the military knots in order to open the door wide to a political solution.
Last week witnessed two important events. The first is the signing of the Idleb Agreement in Sochi by Russia and Turkey based on Astana's formula. The second is the Zionist aggression on targets in the province of Latakia that led, among other losses, to downing of a Russian reconnaissance aircraft and the killing of 15 Russian military servicemen on board.
A few hours ago [18 September 2018], a statement was issued by the Syrian Negotiating Commission on its position on the recent Russian-Turkish agreement. In what follows is our position on that statement:
Today's summit in Sochi [17th September, 2018] between the Russian and Turkish presidents marked an important and significant step forward towards ending terrorism in Syria as well as towards consolidating the political solution to the crisis. The fourth de-escalation zone has gained greater momentum by becoming co-sponsored by Russia and Turkey, and this will help to get rid of the internationally classified terrorist groups more rapidly. This process will take place in accordance with new ways and methods different from what has been followed in other regions, for several considerations, the most important of which:
The propaganda campaign concerning the ongoing preparations for the restoration of Idleb governorate to the authority of the Syrian state, is continuing and expanding under the banner of caring for the civilians. It is clear that this campaign – in which all the forces of obstruction are involved from the United States to its regional allies, to some Syrian opposition forces – aims to prevent the elimination of the Terrorist organization of Al-Nusra Front, and this is meant to perpetuate the abnormal situation in Idlib, allowing Syria to remain hostage to Western countries, their mined solutions and their own reconstruction projects, to try to freeze the status quo, leading to division and fragmentation, blocking any gaining of the antecedent accrued benefits from the path of Astana to go on toward a political solution.
