Türkiye suggests fast-tracking Syrian Constitutional Committee's work amid Astana talks

By Meiramgul Kussainova

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AA) - Türkiye suggested that the Syrian Constitutional Committee step up its work during the latest meeting on Syria in the Astana format, the country's representative said Thursday.

"As the Turkish side, we suggested that the work of the Constitutional Committee be initiated and accelerated because the solution will ultimately come through a political process," Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz told journalists during a press briefing in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Noting that the guarantor countries of the Astana format talks are on the same page on this issue, Yildiz said the basic setting for this should be a human rights-based constitution that "reflects an acceptable, modern and fair representation so that the crisis in Syria does not repeat itself again."

"The work of this committee will begin when the location is agreed upon," he said.

Yildiz said the 21st meeting in this format expressed concern about the possible repercussions of the ongoing clashes in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, adding they are all in agreement in criticizing Israel and that it should not spread the conflict to Syria and Lebanon.

He went on to say that the meeting emphasized that Syria should not be forgotten amid the crises in Palestine and Ukraine and that aid should continue and be increased "in parallel with the deterioration of the economic situation in Syria."

In this regard, Yildiz said they underlined that the Assad regime should not discriminate and impose unacceptable conditions on the delivery of humanitarian aid.

"Ultimately, the UN's role in solving the Syrian problem will continue. In general, support from the international community will be required," he said.

He also noted that the fight against terrorism was underlined during the meeting, where there is a very special situation regarding Türkiye due to the involvement of terrorist organizations such as the YPG/PKK, which target Türkiye from both Syria and Iraq.

"Türkiye has incurred a lot of costs due to the Syrian crisis. This includes migrants and refugees, but there are operations beyond that. There are terrorist acts. All of this is a cost. I hope that with the political solution in Syria, Syria will become a good neighbor of Türkiye," he said.

The 21st meeting in the Astana format began on Wednesday, during which representatives from Türkiye, Iran, Russia, Syria and the UN gathered to discuss the effects of the situation in Gaza on Syria in the wake of new attacks by Israel.

*Writing by Burc Eruygur in Istanbul