Russia, Turkey, Iran to continue cooperating to eliminate ISIS – FMs’ statement

Russia, Turkey and Iran – guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire – will continue cooperating to eliminate Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and other terrorist groups, the three countries’ foreign ministers said in a joint statement on Friday. It followed a meeting in Kazakh capital Astana, which was aimed at summarizing the outcome of the two-year-long Astana process in Syria, TASS reports. Sergey Lavrov, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Mohammad Javad Zarif also welcomed UN Security Council resolution 2401 in response to the grave humanitarian situation all across Syria, including in Eastern Ghouta, Yarmouk, Foua and Kefraya, Idlib governorate, Northern Hama governorate, Rukhban and Raqqa. The ministers stressed the need “to ensure rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access” to areas affected by the conflict, and expressed concern over ongoing violations of the ceasefire.