Sevil Erkuş - ANKARA
AFP photo
Turkey is not aware of a constitutional draft handed over to Syrian
officials from a Russian delegation
in Astana, a Foreign Ministry official has said, noting that the stages of the
political transitional process have been outlined by U.N. Security
Council.
“No draft constitution was presented to us. I
don’t know if any was submitted to the opposition,” a senior foreign ministry
official familiar with the Astana talks told Hürriyet Daily News.
Guarantor countries decided to restrict the
framework of Astana talks merely to just the cease-fire, the official said,
noting that they would be able to pave the way for a political process later.
The U.N. resolution suggests first establishing a transitional body and then
drafting a constitution.
Russia presented a proposal on a new
constitution for conflict-torn Syria during a meeting with the chief representative
of the rebel factions, Mohammed Alloush, in the Kazakh capital Astana. Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Jan. 25 that the blueprint written by Russian experts
was based on opinions from the Syrian government, opposition and regional
powers.
Alexander Lavrentiev, who led his country’s
delegation at the talks, on Jan. 24 said that Russia had
presented the rebels with the draft text of the constitution “to help speed up
this process and give it some more impetus.”
“In no way do we want to interfere in the
drafting and adopting of the basic law of the constitution of the country. We
believe that the Syrian people must lead this process,” Lavrentiev said.
Syria’s opposition reportedly rejected the
proposal warning Kremlin against repeating the mistake made by the George W.
Bush administration when U.S. overthrew Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein.
Turkish, Russian and
Iranian delegations will come together in the coming days to discuss a
cease-fire monitoring system and will also discuss enforcement measures for the
truce.
Turkey considers the inclusion of Iran in the
cease-fire as “success” because the violations in a truce deal brokered by
Turkey and Russia were
made by the Syrian regime and Hezbollah militias over the justification that
some Syrian opposition groups in Barada Valley and East Ghouta were affiliated
to al-Nusra, which is excluded from the deal.
The official said the Astana meeting aimed to
bring the armed groups and the regime together, although views of the parties
on the cease-fire, such as complaints made by the opposition regarding
cease-fire violations in Barada Valley and East Ghouta, were discussed
indirectly.
Turkey has made special efforts for the
participation of U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura at the talks,
the official said, adding that the contribution of the U.S. is also crucial to
achieve success to resolve the Syrian crisis.
Ankara attributes value to participation of
armed groups at the upcoming talks in Geneva, so that the cease-fire could be
reinforced and outcomes of the peace talks could be implemented on the ground.
But the earlier structure of the Syrian rebel delegation should also be
preserved in Geneva, the official stressed.
January/27/2017
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