The creation and launch of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was made possible due to results reached during the Astana talks under the mediation of Russia, Iran and Turkey, former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told Sputnik on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2019) The creation and launch of the Syrian Constitutional Committee was made possible due to results reached during the Astana talks under the mediation of Russia, Iran and Turkey, former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told Sputnik on Tuesday.On Monday, the committee, which is tasked with developing a national constitution, held its second round of talks in Geneva. Unfortunately, they failed due to disagreements between committee members and a walk-out by the government's delegation before the session's start.
"If the constitutional committee makes any progress, this will be due to the Astana process [on Syria]. If the Astana process was not launched and did not succeed, we would not be there where we are now. The Astana process made possible the meeting of the constitutional committee," he said.
According to the former minister, the work of the committee is at its initial stage, and there are already many disputes among the participants since their stances on how to create a constitution differ considerably. At the same time, Yakis stressed that the committee was the only instrument available to solve the Syrian conflict, and that the negotiating process would take longer than several months.
"If there are any difficulties in Geneva, the Astana process will be able to assist in overcoming them," he said.
Yakis also added that cooperation between Turkey and Russia was very important as it helped Ankara to pursue a policy on Syria that reflected current realities.
Since 2011, Syria has suffered an armed conflict between various opposition groups, including terrorist organizations, and the government led by President Bashar Assad. The so-called Astana talks under the mediation of Russia, Iran and Turkey were launched to find a political solution to the conflict. In particular, the talks resulted in a landmark ceasefire agreement with the opposition and the establishment of four de-escalation zones. Since the launch of the Astana format, nearly all terrorists have been cleared out of Syria. This has encouraged the beginning of a political settlement process, the return of refugees and reconstruction efforts.
Amid these talks, in January 2018, a meeting of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress convened in Sochi, culminating in an agreement to form the Constitutional Committee. The body, which consists of three equal groups representing the government, opposition and civil society of Syria, gathered for its inaugural meeting on October 30 of this year in Geneva.
