Çavuşoğlu meets UN Syria envoy to discuss political solution for Syria
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met the UN special envoy to hold a remarkable talk regarding the political solution for war-torn Syria on Monday. Çavuşoğlu hosted Geir O. Pedersen in capital Ankara and discussed the political process in Syria, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy told reporters.
- Türkiye
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 08:55 | 28 January 2019
- Modified Date: 09:25 | 28 January 2019
According to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy, discussions on a political solution for Syria dominated their meeting.
Çavuşoğlu also extended Turkey's support to Pedersen in his new role, while conveying Ankara's expectations from him.
The Syrian Constitutional Committee that is planned to be carved out as a part of the political solution will be tasked to carve out a Syria's post-war constitution, which is seen as a stepping stone to elections in the war-torn country. The formation of the committee has been stalled for some time now due to the objections from the Bashar Assad regime since participants at a Russia-hosted conference in January 2018 agreed to establish it.
The committee is expected to have 150 members, a 50-member delegation from the regime and a 50-member delegation from the opposition. However, little progress has been made since participants at the Syrian National Dialogue Congress agreed to form the committee on Jan. 30, 2018. The Syrian regime has been objecting to 50 members of the committee representing civil society, experts, independents, tribal leaders and women.
On Oct. 2018, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named Pedersen as the new UN special envoy for Syria.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.