19th Astana talks to discuss Syria crisis commence in Kazakhstan
THE DELEGATIONS of Türkiye, Russia and Iran, which are the guarantor countries of the Astana Peace Talks established for a solution to the Syria crisis, came together for the 19th time yesterday in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.
According to local sources, in meetings that will last for two days, the delegations will consult the political process, including humanitarian and socio-economic issues regarding the general situation in Syria and the creation of conditions for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
In addition, the speakers will discuss other issues such as mobilizing the efforts of the international community for the reconstruction of Syria within the framework of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2642.
The Astana peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans launched in 2017 under the guarantors Türkiye, Russia and Iran to resolve the Syrian civil war, which began in early 2011 when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protestors with unexpected ferocity. The war displaced nearly 7 million people and caused the deaths of over 300,000 people in total.
The talks began with a bilateral meeting between Russian and Syrian Bashar Assad regime delegations yesterday. The Turkish delegation held its first meeting within the scope of the negotiations with the U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen.
The Turkish delegation is represented by Ambassador Selçuk Ünal from the Foreign Ministry, Russia by President Vladimir Putin’s Special Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, and Iran by Ali-Asghar Khaji, political affairs adviser to the minister of Foreign Affairs.
The U.N. special envoy for Syria also participated in the meetings. Meanwhile, delegations from Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, have observer status.
Speaking with the press, Lavrentiev noted that bilateral and trilateral meetings will be held with the relevant parties throughout the day to discuss ways to stabilize the situation in Syria. “Our priority is the situation in Idlib and the northeast of the Euphrates,” he underscored.
He further said that the news from the Western media that the Assad regime forces carried out a series of indiscriminate attacks on the borders of Idlib with the support of Russia did not reflect the truth.
“This is false information. All attacks are only made at the militants’ headquarters after monitoring the targets, to prevent provocative acts of terrorism,” he added.