The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia and Iran held an Astana format meeting to discuss the latest situation in war-torn Syria on Wednesday in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and took place at the Türkevi Center, or Turkish House, near the U.N. headquarters.
U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen also attended the meeting, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
While no additional information was released regarding the meeting, Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter that they are continuing "diplomatic efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis."
The Astana Process was launched in 2017 in a bid to restore peace and stability in the Arab country, which has been ravaged by war since 2011, when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.
On July 19, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held a trilateral meeting in Iran's capital Tehran.
The leaders gathered for the seventh summit in the Astana format to discuss recent developments in Syria; the fight against terrorist groups, which pose a threat to regional security, particularly the YPG/PKK and Daesh; the humanitarian situation; and the voluntary return of Syrians.
Despite pledging to retain calm on the ground during the meeting in Tehran, Russia and its ally Assad have frequently attacked the country’s northwest.
Russia joined Syria’s 10-year conflict in September 2015, when the regime's military appeared close to collapse, and has since helped in tipping the balance of power in favor of Assad, whose forces now control much of the country. Hundreds of Russian troops are deployed across Syria and they also have a military air base along Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
While Iran and Russia support Assad, Türkiye has been supporting the opposition.
Türkiye has also vowed a new operation to address its security concerns regarding the ongoing threat of terrorism.
