Sputnik- The Russia-Turkey-Iran format of cooperation provides hope for Syria crisis settlement and preserving territorial integrity and sovereignty of the war-torn country, Ozturk Yilmaz, a deputy chair responsible for foreign relations of the Republican People's Party (CHP), told Sputnik on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)�� On Tuesday, the foreign and defense ministers of�Russia, Iran and Turkey met in�Moscow to�discuss the situation in�Syria, including in�Aleppo. They agreed in�a joint statement on�the revival of�the political process to�end the conflict in�the country. The document stressed the importance of�respecting Syria's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

"First of�all, this is an important development after�so many years of�a civil war. Now we can see a gleam of�hope for�the resolution of�the Syrian crisis and civil war. It is quite important that the party meeting has a result about�working together for�the territorial integrity and sovereignty of�Syria and fight against�terrorism� This is changing the format� And we have a hope for�the territorial integrity, to�the reservation of�territorial integrity and sovereignty of�Syria," Yilmaz said.

According to�Yilmaz, the agreement of�Russian, Turkish and Iranian ministers that regime change in�Syria is not a condition for�the crisis settlement is a good development, which means that all parties to�the conflict in�Syria could come together in�order to�work out�a way for�talks and possible peace deal.

Since 2011, Syria has been engulfed in�a civil war, following�the protests that had turned violent, as�part of�the so-called Arab Spring. Over the recent months, Aleppo became a major battleground in�Syria. On December 16, the Russian Defense Ministry's center for�Syrian reconciliation said that the Syrian army operation to�liberate the eastern neighborhoods of�Aleppo was over, and that the Syrian government troops were eliminating separate hotbeds of�militant resistance.