The three countries; Turkey, Russia, and Qatar are making a joint effort to promote the political solution to Syria’s ten-year-old conflict. On Thursday, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the goal of the trilateral talk conducted is to contribute towards lasting peace in Syria. He also said that the recent international engagement with Assad’s government has been a barrier to bring a political solution to Syria and that it has rather given more legitimacy to his regime. In addition to that, he said that Turkey is going to host the next round of talks.
The Syrian conflict has created the largest refugee population in the world, constituting over a third of the global refugee population. In 2018, United Nations recorded 6.7 million Syrian refugees scattered in different countries like Turkey, Germany, United States, and Canada. Within even Syria itself, there is an estimation of 6.5 million Syrians displaced.
Turkey and Qatar have supported the groups who tried to topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime, while Moscow provided military support to help Assad seize back most of the country. But in the trilateral meeting, all the three foreign ministers emphasized that the only solution to the Syrian conflict is a political settlement that is in line with United Nations resolutions.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov appreciated the efforts that Iran, Turkey, and Russia have been making since 2017 to reduce fighting, in order to discuss a political solution. He also welcomed Qatar’s desire to contribute to this political solution.
Qatari Minister Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that they have been discussing on mechanisms to provide humanitarian aid across the whole of Syria as well, adding that there is a need to lessen the suffering of Syrians. In their joint statement, they urged the UN agencies and other world health organizations to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations in Syria and also enhance efforts to provide humanitarian aid in the war-torn country.
