Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Moscow, SANA- Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and African Countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, affirmed that he is counting on constructive work in the process of the Astana meetings on Syria, which are continuing and require political will from the participating delegations.
“In parallel with the 20th International Meeting in the Astana format, another event is taking place, which is the meeting of representatives of the four countries at the level of deputy foreign ministers (Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey), to discuss relations between the neighboring countries of Syria and Turkey,” Bogdanov said in a statement in the Kazakh capital Astana on Tuesday.
Bogdanov added “This is a very important process that must be based on the principles of mutual respect, territorial integrity, unity of states, and territorial sovereignty of Syria and Turkey, between which many issues have arisen over the past twelve years.”
Bogdanov noted that other important issues would be discussed in relation to refugees, security issues, the illegal American presence and the humanitarian issues, in addition to other issues.
He said: “On May 10, Moscow held a meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey. The Deputy Foreign Ministers were tasked with preparing a road map on relations between Syria and Turkey. We hope that this work will succeed.”
Bogdanov stated that under the pretext of combating terrorism, the US forces had been deployed in Syria in the eastern Euphrates region, which is an important region for Syria as it contains oil resources. The Americans are also stationed in al-Tanf area illegally and they support a number of separatist and terrorist groups. This is absolutely unacceptable because it violates Syria’s territorial integrity.
Bogdanov added: All issues are interrelated, and the return of refugees, for example, requires resolving economic issues and rebuilding the economy, cities and villages.
“This requires collective efforts, and we hope with the support of the Arab countries in this, especially after the resumption of Syria’s participation in the meetings of the of the Arab League and the participation of President Bashar al-Assad in Jeddah Summit, and we believe that these are important aspects qualified to solve many humanitarian problems,” Bogdanov said.
Manar Salameh/ Ruaa al-Jazaeri
