Turkey: Syria’s territorial integrity, civilians will be defended

Turkey will continue to defend Syria's territorial integrity and protect the civilians in the war-torn country, the Turkish foreign minister has said in the Qatari capital Doha.

“Turkey will continue to defend Syria’s territorial integrity, protect civilians, and fight terror groups,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a trilateral meeting of Turkish, Qatari, and Russian foreign ministers on Thursday.

Cavusoglu said the ministers discussed how to contribute to long-lasting peace in Syria.

Underlining that the legitimate demands of the civilians were ignored, he said Syrians have been exposed to negative impacts of the conflict for over a decade.

Cavusoglu also thanked his Qatari counterpart and the country for the initiative.

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Discussions on ways to deliver aid, advancing political process

Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said he had discussions in Doha with his Russian and Turkish counterparts on mechanisms for delivering humanitarian aid to Syria. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia, Turkey, Qatar agreed to counter separatist efforts in Syria.

In joint statement released after the meeting, all the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to advancing political process in Syria facilitated by UN, rather than military solution.

Three countries stressed need to facilitate safe, voluntary return of Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons.

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War in Syria

Syria has been embroiled in a civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on protests with unexpected ferocity.

Over the past 10 years, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN officials.

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