Head of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation to Astana 8 meeting, Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari, affirmed that the Syrian government considers the presence of Turkish and US troops on its territory as an aggression and demands immediate and unconditional withdrawal of foreign forces from its territory.

In a press conference following the end of Astana 8 meeting on Friday, al-Jaafari said that the eighth round of the Astana process dealt with the agreement of de-escalation zones, especially in the province of Idleb

th

hat the Syrian government considers the presence of Turkish troops on the Syrian territory as an aggression that contradicts what was agreed upon in the fourth round of Astana in last May.

On the role of the guarantor states in the de-escalation areas, al-Jaafari pointed out that the insistence of the United States to keep its forces on Syrian territory without the consent of its government is an aggression on Syria’s sovereignty and contradicts the provisions of the UN Charter and relevant resolutions, all of which affirm the respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria, adding that “this was confirmed by the final statement read by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, and we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of these foreign forces from our territory.”

” Syria will attend the National dialogue Congress in Sochi and we are exerting efforts to prepare for this Congress, which will form a basis for dialogue between the Syrians,” he added.

In response to a question about the sanctions imposed on the Syrian people, al-Jaafari said that the US and EU have imposed unilateral coercive economic measures on Syria and that such measures are illegal because they were not issued by a resolution from the UN Security Council.

He pointed out that the delegation discussed this important issue during the bilateral talks with the Russian and Iranian guarantors, who fully understand the problematic nature of this issue and its seriousness and impact on the Syrian economy and the welfare of the Syrian people.

Al-Jaafari said that there is no bilateral dialogue with the Turkish delegation, mainly because the support of the Turkish government for terrorism in the Syrian territories in addition to the facilitation of terrorists entering to Syria via common borders.

“There is no direct dialogue between us and the Turkish guarantor of the terrorist groups, and we said that to both the Russian and Iranian guarantors, who understand our position completely,” al-Jaafari said.

Earlier, plenary session of Astana 8 meeting started with the participation of the Syrian Arab Republic delegation, headed by Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari and the others delegations.

Manar/Ghossoun