ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Syria does not believe Turkey is committed to the Sochi agreement and that is the main cause of ongoing hostilities in Aleppo province.
The head of the Syrian government's delegation to the peace talks in the Kazakh capital, Bashar al-Jaafari, lambasted Ankara for not adhering to the previous Sochi agreement for a ceasefire in rebel-held Idlib.
”The focus was mainly for us and other delegations, especially the Russian and Iranian guarantor states, as well as the Kazakh side on the deterioration of the situation in Idlib with the Turkish regime’s non respect for obligations falling under the Sochi Agreement," Jaafari said at the conclusion of the conference, according to state-run SANA news agency.
Iran, Turkey, and Russia are the three backers of a ceasefire brokered in Sochi which has been violated multiple times by both sides.
Jaafari claims Turkey has not withdrawn "terrorist groups" from a belt 15-20 kilometers to the west of Idlib.
"That enabled the terrorist organizations to target Aleppo city with shells containing chemical substances more than once a time in an indication that there is a decision to escalate terrorism by those who support the terrorist organizations positioned in Idlib, especially Jabhat al-Nusra and Daesh (ISIS) and their affiliated groups," he added.
The Turkish foreign ministry said participants in the talks on Wednesday and Thursday reiterated their determination to "fully implement" the memorandum for stabilization and de-escalation in Idlib.
"The participants rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries," read a statement issued by the ministry.
Ankara called for the establishment of a constitutional committee "at the soonest possible time."
The United Nations and United States have called the latest round of talks unproductive with the latter saying "no tangible progress" was reached.
The 12th round of Astana talks will be held in February 2019. They began in January 2017 and have paralleled UN efforts in Geneva.
Around 400,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict that began in 2011.
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