NUR-SULTAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2019) SULTAN, December 10 (Sputnik) - The 14th round of Astana-format talks on Syria will open in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan on Tuesday, gathering stakeholders in the Syrian crisis settlement in order to review the work of the constitutional committee in Geneva that has already had the first two sessions, and address other issues pertaining to peace building in the country.
The traditional two-day format will provide the venue for bilateral and multilateral meetings among the representatives of ceasefire guarantor states (Russia, Turkey and Iran), Syrian parties (government and opposition) and the United Nations. Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq are expected to be the observers. The decision to extend the number of observers and invite also Lebanon and Iraq was taken by the guarantor states in April.
The Russian team is headed by Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev and includes Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin as well. The Turkish delegation will be led by Foreign Ministry's Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Onal, and the Iranian delegation will be headed by Ali Asghar Khaji, senior assistant for political affairs of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Damascus is traditionally represented by Syria's Envoy to the United Nations in New York Bashar Jaafari, while the Syrian opposition - by Ahmad Tomah.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen will attend the talks from the United Nations' side. Moreover, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will come to hold a regular meeting of the working group on the release of detainees.
Work of the much-anticipated Syrian constitutional committee is expected to be in focus of the talks. The body was launched under the UN auspices on October 30 after more than a year and a half of efforts to work out the list of 150 members, equally from the government side, opposition and civil society. The committee had quite a rocky start, as the first session managed to agree only on the rules of conduct, and the second gathering, attended only by the "small body" of the committee, did not manage to have any meaningful sessions at all because of the differences between the sides.
Apart from that, the participants will review the situation in Idlib, where the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group (formerly known as the Nusra Front, banned in Russia) is increasing its presence.
Implementation of Russia-Turkey memorandum on the situation in northern Syria will also be on the table.
Turkey and Russia signed on October 22 a memorandum that set conditions for the peaceful withdrawal of Kurdish militia from northern Syria and envisioned joint patrols to ensure the implementation of the agreement. Since then, the patrols are conducted regularly by the Russian military police and the Turkish troops.
On Monday, Turkish Defense Minister Hukusi Akar said the number of attacks conducted by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria had decreased thanks to Russia's effort toward implementing the memorandum.
In addition, Russia wants to discuss in Nur-Sultan Washington's military equipment concentration near the oil fields in Syria's north-east, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bodganov.
In early December, Kurdish media reported that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces and the US-led coalition had redeployed their troops to the Syrian cities of Al-Hasakah, Qamishli, Al-Malikiyah and Deir ez-Zor to protect oil fields.
Astana-14 discussions will be behind the closed doors on Tuesday, while on Wednesday the parties will hold a plenary session and adopt a joint communique.
