The presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran - Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hassan Rouhani - have agreed that they will continue cooperation until the final defeat of the Islamic State terrorist organization, the joint statement after the leaders' summit in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi read.
"The heads of states have stated that after several years of the international efforts aimed at the defeat of terrorist groups in Syria, which have been listed as such by the UN Security Council, during 11 months since establishment of ceasefire regime on December 29, 2016, significant progress has been made in elimination of IS and the Jabhat Fatah al Sham and other terrorist organizations, designated as such by the U.N Security Council, and have agreed that Iran, Russia and Turkey will continue cooperation in order to achieve their [terrorist groups'] complete defeat," the statement read.
The document added that the three leaders had agreed to assist the Syrian people in restoring the country's unity and achieving the political settlement of crisis through inclusive, fair and transparent process, which would be led by the Syrian citizens themselves. The statement added that such process would be aimed at adoption on constitution, which would be supported by the citizens, as will as holding free and fair election participated by all eligible Syrians and monitored by the United Nations.
"The Heads of state reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of The Syrian Arab Republic and emphasized that under no circumstances the creation of the above-mentioned de-escalation areas and at political initiative to solve the Syrian crisis undermine the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of The Syrian Arab Republic," the statement said.
"The presidents have made a decision that Iran, Russia and Turkey will continue coordinated efforts in order to ensure irreversible nature of trend of violence reduction," the statement added.
The statement also noted that the leaders had also agreed to meet again if necessary in order to discuss the Syrian settlement.
DAMASCUS WELCOMES LEADERS' JOINT STATEMENT
The Syrian Foreign Ministry welcomes the joint statement of presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey.
"Based on commitment of the Syrian Arab Republic to support any political action that respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria and contributes to sparing the blood of the Syrian people, the Syrian government welcomes the final statement of the trilateral summit held today in Sochi," an official source in the Foreign Ministry told the SANA news agency.
The source added that the trilateral meeting came as a continuation of the Monday meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad.
