MOSCOW. Dec 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and Turkey discussed issues related to fighting terrorism in Syria at a meeting in the 2+2 format involving the two countries' defense and foreign ministers, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on Saturday.
"We have reaffirmed our readiness and resolve to continue this fight to finally purge the territory of Syria of this evil," he said.
"Today we were able to discuss with the defense and foreign ministers, the heads of the investigative services, and the military the steps that our countries took in the Astana Process and in the Sochi dialogue. Discuss how we will proceed on this track," Cavusoglu said.
"We also discussed the U.S. statement on the withdrawal of their troops from Syria. We discussed how we will coordinate our joint work in light of these circumstances," he said.
"Today we also discussed steps to implement the memorandum on the creation of a demilitarized zone in Idlib, which was signed in Sochi. We considered the actions we will take to implement this memorandum, to resolve any issues that may arise in the course of the implementation of this important document," Cavusoglu said.
"We believe that it played a considerable role in providing this calm, and that made it possible to make a considerable contribution to promoting the political process," the minister said.
"As the guarantor countries of the Astana Process, we are absolutely committed to the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, and we are ready to counter all actions that can be aimed at sabotaging these principles," he said.
"Some people apparently want to sabotage the work in the Astana and Sochi Processes. They shouldn't forget that it's now possible to talk about the creation of the constitutional committee thanks to actions taken by Russia, Turkey, and Iran," Cavusoglu said.
"When discussing all these important issues, we did not forget the humanitarian component. We talked about cooperation aimed at intensifying the process of the voluntary return of refugees to Syria and the creation of the conditions needed for that," he said.
"We will continue active work and coordination with our Russian colleagues, with our colleagues from Iran, to speed up the political settlement in Syria," the Turkish minister said.