Tripartite summit on Syria begins in Ankara

By Ilkay Guder

ANKARA

A tripartite summit on Syria began on Wednesday in the capital Ankara with the participation of Turkish, Russian and Iranian presidents.

The first tripartite summit was held in Black Sea resort of Sochi on Nov. 22, to discuss progress made in the Astana peace talks and changes in de-escalation zones across Syria.

The closed-door meeting among Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian president Hassan Rouhani will be followed by a banquet and a joint news conference.

A joint statement will be released following the meeting.

Continuation of the ongoing ceasefire in Syria, territorial integrity of the country and preventing the ceasefire violations are expected to top the agenda.