Astana host 19th int'l meeting on Syria

The Turkish, Russian and Iranian delegations, the guarantors of the Astana talks established for a solution to the Syrian crisis, have come togherther for the 19th time in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The 19th Astana talks on Syria have kicked off in Kazakhstan, TRT Haber reports.

The talks started with a bilateral meeting between the Russian and Syrian Bashar al-Assad regime’s delegations at a hotel in Astana at 07:00 (GMT+6).

The Turkish delegation held its first meeting within the negotiations with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Otto Pedersen at 07.30 (GMT+6).

Türkiye is represented by the delegation headed by Foreign Minister’s Director General for Syria, Ambassador Selcuk Unal, while the Russian delegation led by President Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy on Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and the Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister’s Senior Advisor for Special Political Affairs Ali Asghar Khaji.

The discussions were attended by the delegations from the Syrian opposition led by Ahmed Toma and the deputy foreign minister of the Assad government, Ayman Susan. Along with the UN Special Envoy for Syria Pedersen, representatives from Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon are participating at the discussions as observers.

During the two-day meetings, the sides are discussing the comprehensive promotion of the political process, including humanitarian and social, as well as economic issues, confidence-building measures such as the release of hostages, the search for missing people, creation of conditions for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland. Moreover, issues such as the mobilisation of the efforts of the international community for the reconstruction of the UN Security Council within Resolution 2,642 are expected to be discussed.