Iranian, Turkish, Russian FMs to discuss Syria

Foreign ministers from Iran, Russia, and Turkey are likely to meet in Moscow on December 27 to discuss the situation in Syria following the recent developments in the country.

"Our Foreign Minister has done his utmost effort to finalize the meeting of Foreign ministers of Iran, Russia, and Turkey in Moscow on Dec. 27," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi according to the official IRNA news agency.

The meeting would seek to find effective ways to deal with the ongoing situation in Syria, he said, adding that Iran has been the first to propose ceasefire in the Arab state, relief aid transfer to the civilians, and dialog among the Syrians, said Qasemi.

Iran announced Friday that the Islamic republic is ready to send humanitarian aid to Syria.

Es'haq Jahangiri, Iran's First Vice President, made the remarks in a phone conversation with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, urging for Tehran-Ankara cooperation to diplomatically resolve the crisis in Syria.

Over 8,000 rebels and their families have been evacuated from their last strongholds in Syria's northern city of Aleppo since the announcement of truce on Thursday.

Nearly 15,000 people, including 4,000 rebels, were set to evacuate eastern Aleppo as part of a Russian-Turkish deal to end the presence of rebels in the city.

In exchange for the evacuation in eastern Aleppo, rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib will allow civilians to leave the besieged Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa.

With the evacuation, the Syrian army will take over the whole Aleppo city, as it has already controlled 99 percent of the rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the city.

--IANS

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