Following the meeting on the Syrian issue in Kazakhstan's capital city Astana, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif held a joint press conference.

Indicating that there is a humanitarian disaster in East Ghouta, Çavuşoğlu stated that the bombing of civilian people is unacceptable and said: "We must separate terrorist elements from civilians." Noted that there should be a separation between moderate opposition to terrorist organizations or civilian people.

Appreciating Russia the efforts of humanitarian aid, Çavuşoğlu emphasized that these are not enough. "It is an urgent need to end the conflicts in the East Ghouta," he added.

Lavrov stated that up to now, 12,000 civilians have been evacuated from East Ghouta and the civilians continue to leave the area.

Thousands of civilians have been able to leave the conflict area on Thursday for the first time since the aid corridor was established in East Ghouta. It is reported that thousands of people lost their lives in the last month due to the operation.

The meeting in Astana is also a preparation for the leaders' summit on Syria on April 4 in Istanbul.

Turkiye, Russia and Iran's leaders have met in Sochi on Syria in November 2017 and decided to act together to achieve peace. Turkiye, Russia, and Iran at the same time as the guarantor countries of the Astana process. Within the framework of the process initiated in Astana, the parties are in negotiations to establish a ceasefire in Syria and to form de-escalation zones.

ILKHA