The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France, and Germany have discussed the war in Syria at a summit, reiterating calls for a UN-backed political process to end the war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron gathered for the talks on Syria in Istanbul on October 27.
Afterward, the four issued a final statement also calling for the convening of a committee by the end of the year to work on constitutional reform as a prelude to free and fair elections in Syria.
It also supports efforts to facilitate the "safe and voluntary" return of refugees to their Syrian homes.
The statement also rejects "separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries."
Many obstacles to a peace agreement remain. They include divided opinions about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran.
Western countries, meanwhile, condemn Assad for what they call indiscriminate attacks on civilians and Turkey has been helping insurgents trying to remove him from power.