Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to create a working group of stakeholders, aimed at stabilizing Syria after the last pockets of terrorists are cleared of its territory, gives top priority to the notion of Syrian unity, Ahmad Kuzbari, chairman of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Syrian People's Assembly, told Sputnik
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to create a working group of stakeholders, aimed at stabilizing Syria after the last pockets of terrorists are cleared of its territory, gives top priority to the notion of Syrian unity, Ahmad Kuzbari, chairman of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Syrian People's Assembly, told Sputnik.Putin voiced this idea on Thursday, noting that all interested parties, including the Syrian government, opposition, and regional actors, must be a part of it.
"I believe that Russian President Putin's statement on establishing a working group of interested parties to supervise the withdrawal of foreign forces and the restoration of the Syrian state and its territorial integrity is a crucial message to all parties involved. First, President Putin's statement serves to reassure his insistence on the withdrawal of all foreign forces that are currently present on Syrian territories ... Second, it affirms that the project on dividing Syria has clearly failed, making the unity of Syrian land an extreme priority," Kuzbari said.
Kuzbari also noted that Putin's proposal on working group creation did not envisage exclusive control over northern Syria on the part of Turkey.
"President Putin's statement rejects any exclusive Turkish control over northern Syria, making it clear that there are other states that are acting as guarantors, such as Russia and Iran, which are also guarantors of the ongoing path of the Astana negotiations," he continued.
The proposal also underlines that the Syrian government should be present in any discussion group on the future of Syria and ways to prevent the return of terrorists, the lawmaker noted.
According to Putin, the group will oversee the withdrawal of foreign troops from Syria, as well as restoration of the statehood, while last pockets of terrorist resistance in Syria are soon going to be suppressed.
Putin has already discussed this idea with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, it is still unclear, which regional players will be included in the working group.
The Idlib region in Syria's northwest is the last major stronghold of Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia). Militants are also present on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.
