Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Friday that both the moderate Syrian opposition and the Assad regime must respect the ceasefire, following news that the Assad regime have broken the ceasefire and resumed air strikes in parts of Syria.
Çavuşoğlu also added that Turkey is ready to coordinate talks between both sides, but highlighted the importance of maintaining the truce.
He reiterated that Turkey and Russia are the guarantors of the ceasefire deal signed between the Assad regime and the Syrian opposition. He also called on Iran to use its influence over Hezbollah and Shiite militias in a positive manner.The ceasefire took effect at midnight local time (2200 GMT) on Dec. 30.
''Turkey is opposed to terrorist groups such as Daesh, PYD/PKK and YPG participating to the Astana peace talks for Syria. Al Nusra is also a terrorist organization and should also not be represented in the peace talks. Al Nusra has been listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey since Oct. 2013,'' he added.Çavuşoğlu added tha he and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov are working on the coordination of the meeting in Astana.
The Astana meeting in Kazakhstan is part of recent efforts between Turkey and Russia to launch a political process in Syria.
US-led coalition bombed Daesh in al-Bab
Answering the questions of journalists, FM Çavuşoğlu said that for the first time after a long break, the US-led coalition forces had bombed Daesh positions yesterday in al-Bab.
He also noted the success of the Turkey-led Operation Euphrates Shield against terrorist groups in northern Syria.
''Many Syrians returned to the areas we cleared from Daesh. So, this shows that these people do want to return to Syria,'' he added.US-Russia tensionsÇavuşoğlu also touched upon the recent diplomatic tension between Russia and the United States, saying the spat "will serve nothing but add to the existing problems".
The FM told reporters in southern Antalya province that such a tension "between the global actors" will be no good "for both of the countries and for the region."
Diplomatic relations between the two powers have been strained after the U.S. expelled 35 Russian diplomats Thursday, giving them and their families 72 hours to leave the U.S.
"We do not want to go back to the Cold War era," Çavuşoğlu said. "There are already a pile of problems around the world."
He urged that the problems should be solved in diplomatic ways.