"Astana talks bolster Syrian government’s legitimacy"

A senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution says the recent Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan’s capital city of Astana have bolstered the legitimacy of the Arab country’s government.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Tehran on Tuesday in reference to the two-day Astana talks, which concluded earlier in the day by issuing a final statement.

“The Astana meeting showed that all sides, including Turkey and those groups, which follow this country and even countries not present there (in Astana), have acknowledged the Syrian government’s legitimacy either directly or indirectly,” Velayati said.

The peace talks started in Astana on Monday in the presence of representatives of the Syrian government and the militant oppositions to explore ways to find a mutually-acceptable solution to the almost-six-year conflict in their country.

Iran, Russia, and Turkey organized the Astana talks. The three also played intermediary roles at the talks, where the United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, was also present.

Velayati further assessed as positive the fact that representatives of the Syrian government and the militant oppositions, except the Takfiri terrorist groups of Daesh and al-Nusra Front, had agreed to accept a nationwide ceasefire and operate under the Syrian government in the future.

There are high hopes that the peace talks would lead to the extension of the ceasefire, he added, noting that it is not, however, reasonable and correct to expect the Astana meeting to resolve all the disputes in Syria.

The senior Iranian official emphasized that such meetings must continue in the future.

At the end of the Syrian peace talks in Astana, Iran, Russia and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to support the ceasefire in the country and monitor possible violations.

EA