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Friday, October 30, 2015

Joint Statement on Syria Talks

The following is the final communiqué issued today by the 19 participants in Syria Talks in Vienna:

"Meeting in Vienna, on October 30, 2015, China, Egypt, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States [“the participants”] came together to discuss the grave situation in Syria and how to bring about an end to the violence as soon as possible.

The participants had a frank and constructive discussion, covering major issues. While substantial differences remain among the participants, they reached a mutual understanding on the following:

  1. Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity, and secular character are fundamental.
  2. State institutions will remain intact.
  3. The rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination, must be protected.
  4. It is imperative to accelerate all diplomatic efforts to end the war.
  5. Humanitarian access will be ensured throughout the territory of Syria, and the participants will increase support for internally displaced persons, refugees, and their host countries. 
  6. Da'esh, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the U.N. Security Council, and further, as agreed by the participants, must be defeated.  
  7. Pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communique and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2118, the participants invited the U.N. to convene representatives of the Government of Syria and the Syrian opposition for a political process leading to credible, inclusive, non-sectarian governance, followed by a new constitution and elections.  These elections must be administered under U.N. supervision to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, free and fair, with all Syrians, including the diaspora, eligible to participate.
  8. This political process will be Syrian led and Syrian owned, and the Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.  
  9. The participants together with the United Nations will explore modalities for, and implementation of, a nationwide ceasefire to be initiated on a date certain and in parallel with this renewed political process.

The participants will spend the coming days working to narrow remaining areas of disagreement, and build on areas of agreement.  Ministers will reconvene within two weeks to continue these discussions."


Top photo: Syria Talks; Vienna, 30 October 2015 (ndtv)
Bottom photo: Announcing the results of the Syria Talks; from left: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, and Secretary of State John Kerry (AFP)

6 comments:

  1. You can see Zarif's footprint in it! well done!

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  2. Amazing. It is as if Iran wrote the communique. Nearly every line mirrors the Iranian position, that's remained consistent for some time now.

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  3. Indeed Mark, well said. I also wrote the same but didn't end up in the comments adn I agree with you 100% it shows Iran's footprint all over it and it is logical! Zarif knows the soft power very well.

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    Replies
    1. Comments are randomly and sometimes selectively removed without a valid reason, especially when it is a signed comment. I cannot imagine this is done by Nader - the sceptic in me asks whether some mysterious forces may be interfering with the posted comments! -R

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    2. Very rare that I delete a comment. And Nader is more permissive than I.

      There is a comment moderation policy in effect. However, there may be a posting problem. Make sure you click on the "Publish" button and not "Preview" or "Sign out." I'll keep an eye out for any errors on our side. Apologies if the problem is with Blogger.

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    3. There is no posting problem. Once a message is acknowledged as sent by Google, it will have reached the moderators. +R

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