ASTANA (TCA) — Syrian peace talks ended in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, today, January 24, with Iran, Russia and Turkey agreeing on creation of a mechanism to monitor the fragile Syrian cease-fire.
The two-day meeting in Astana brought Syrian government officials and opposition groups together for indirect talks in hopes of shoring up a countrywide truce established in December, RFE/RL reports.
A joint statement issued at the conclusion of the talks on January 24 said Iran, Russia, and Turkey would jointly observe the cease-fire and “ensure full compliance…and prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the cease-fire.”
The final joint statement, which was read by Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov, underlined the importance of maintaining the national sovereignty of Syria, Iran’s PressTV news agency reports.
Iran, Russia and Turkey also backed participation of Syria’s armed opposition in UN-sponsored negotiations on Syria, which are scheduled to be held in Geneva next month.
The statement said the three countries “support the willingness of the armed opposition groups to participate in the next round of negotiations” under UN auspices in Geneva on February 8.
The opposition has reportedly expressed dissatisfaction over the statement.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to protecting sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria as a democratic country.
Mohammed Alloush, who headed the Syrian opposition delegation to Astana talks, said the opposition had reservations about the final communiqué of the talks, adding that opposition groups had submitted a separate ceasefire proposal.
He said Russia was expected to respond within a week to the ceasefire proposal offered by opposition groups.
