Turkey, Russia, Iran to supervise Syrian cease-fire


Turkey, Russia and Iran on Thursday agreed to set up a joint commission to supervise the Syria truce.According to diplomatic sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the parties will finalize the technical details in Turkey. The date of the meeting in Ankara was not specified.Russia's Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentiev told reporters after the meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana: "This common group will ensure and monitor the truce in particular. It will also work on different aspects of the political process."The January meeting in Astana saw the three countries agree on a trilateral mechanism for observing and ensuring compliance with the cease-fire.. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Friday said that Turkey's aim is to reach a political solution in Syria as soon as possible. Speaking in the German city of Bonn at the G20 summit of foreign ministers, Çavuşoğlu said that Ankara wants to kick off the Geneva process as soon as possible without excluding any actors and find a political solution in Syria.The foreign minister said that he spoke with his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson about what countries can do and which strategies they can adopt to bring the Syrian crisis to an end. "We can wipe out Daesh from Raqqa in a short time with groups that are not appropriate but we need the right strategies and appropriate groups, moderate groups," he asserted.Çavuşoğlu contended that every country at the G20 meeting wanted to hear about what Ankara thinks about the Syrian issue after Turkey took steps regarding the cease-fire and the evacuation process from Aleppo.