World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkey’s presidential spokesman described the recently concluded trilateral summit in Ankara as an "important step to clear Syria from all terrorist elements".

On April 4, Turkey hosted a tripartite summit on Syria. In a joint statement following the summit, leaders of Turkey, Russia and Iran agreed to fight separatism in Syria. They also stressed the necessity of strengthening humanitarian assistance to the country.

"Without denying the complexities and challenges of the Syrian war in its current state, the Ankara summit was an important step to clear Syria from all terrorist elements, including Daesh, al-Qaida, al-Nusra, the PKK, PYD and YPG and facilitate the political process that will give the Syrian people their freedom, peace, stability and dignity -- the fundamental rights that they have been denied for too long already," Ibrahim Kalin said in his article for Istanbul-based Daily Sabah.

Kalin said the joint statement emphasized the three countries' commitment to the "sovereignty, independence, unity, territorial integrity and non-sectarian character of Syria".

"This is a reference to the structure of a future Syrian government as non-sectarian, non-fractional, inclusive, democratic and pluralistic," he said.

Kalin added that the stance against separatist agendas in the joint statement is an “important outcome and confirms that Tehran and Moscow share Ankara's concerns over the PYD and YPG in Syria".

He said that the terrorist group has not been invited to either the Astana or Geneva talks as a result of Turkey's firm stance.

Kalin said Turkey's fight against the YPG in Syria was not a distraction from the fight against Daesh, "to the contrary, it complements the fight against terrorism in all its forms".

Eliminating all terrorist threats from all of Syria “must be the goal of all stakeholders", Kalin added.