UN, Turkey, Iran and Russia hold talks in Geneva on Syrian constitution

UN Special Envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura is hosting a two-day meeting with senior officials from Turkey, Russia, and Iran to establish a Syrian constitutional committee on Monday. 

The three states agreed to establish a constitutional committee during the Syrian National Dialogue Congress on January 30, 2018 in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

De Mistura will meet with the guarantor countries of the Astana process — Turkey, Russia, and Iran — on Monday and Tuesday. 

On Friday September 14, he will meet with officials from Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UK, and the US. 

Deputy Foreign Minister, Sedat Onal, will represent Turkey during the meetings.

Talks on Monday will be closed to press, while Tuesday’s meeting will be open to the media.

The final declaration of the Syria summit held by the guarantor countries in Russia in July highlighted the establishment of a constitutional committee.

On July 5, the Syrian Negotiation Commission submitted a list of 50 candidates to represent the Syrian opposition in the constitutional committee to de Mistura, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasised the significance of forming a constitutional committee following a trilateral meeting with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Tehran last week.

“Representatives of the three guarantor countries will meet again in Geneva with the UN’s Secretary-General’s special envoy on Syria in the coming days," Erdogan said on Friday.

“The formation process of a constitutional committee will be discussed, and we can say that the preparations have come to the last stage,” he added.

“Establishing and making this committee — which is on the agenda thanks to the Astana process — will bring a new dynamism to the political process,” he said.

Erdogan, Iran's Rouhani and Russia's Putin met in Tehran last Friday to discuss the future of Syria as a military operation looms in Idlib and released a joint statement after the summit affirming that the Syrian conflict can only end through a "negotiated political process."

Russian President Vladimir Putin had also agreed to help in establishing the committee.

The meeting held under the UN umbrella to end the seven-year-old civil war in Syria consists of four titles including transition, constitution, elections and the fight against terrorism.