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Putin, Erdogan discuss efforts to establish Syrian constitutional committee

According to the Kremlin, the two leaders also discussed the fight against terrorism in Syria, issues facing the Middle East and bilateral cooperation

© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss efforts to establish a Syrian constitutional committee, the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday.

"In light of the fifth summit of the Astana process guarantors [Russia, Iran and Turkey - TASS], which is scheduled to take place in September, the parties touched upon issues related to the Syria conflict, including efforts to establish and launch a Syrian constitutional committee that are being carried out by Russia, Turkey and Iran together with the United Nations," the statement reads.

Besides, the Russian and Turkish presidents exchanged views on ways to improve the situation in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone. "They agreed to step up joint efforts to eliminate the terrorist threat coming from the area and implement the Sochi Memorandum signed on September 17, 2018," the statement says.

According to the Kremlin press service, the two leaders also discussed the fight against terrorism in Syria, issues facing the Middle East and bilateral cooperation.

The press service added that the telephone call had been initiated by Turkey.

Syrian constitutional committee

On January 30, 2018, participants in the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, decided to establish a constitutional committee that would work on the country’s new constitution.

The 150-member committee is supposed to include representatives of the Syrian government and opposition, as well as civil society members. Each of the three groups will hold one-third of seats in the committee.

Tags

Vladimir Putin Syria Dmitry Peskov Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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