Syria Talks’ Fourth Round Opens in Astana
Local Editor
The Kazakh capital city of Astana is hosting a fourth round of talks between the Syrian government and the opposition aimed at resolving the now six-year foreign-backed militancy in the Arab country.
The International Meetings on Syrian Settlement, as the talks are officially known, kicked off on Wednesday and will continue into Thursday.
The talks are moderated by Russia and Iran - as allies of the Syrian government - and Turkey, which sides with the opposition. The Iranian and Russian delegations have already started the discussions.
Hours after the talks kicked off, sources with the opposition told AFP that they have suspended their participation in the process, citing "violent airstrikes" in Syria.
"The suspension will continue until shelling stops across all Syria," the source added.
On the eve of the forum, expert discussions took place between representatives of Iran, Russia and Turkey.
At Damascus' request, Iran has been providing military advisory support to the Syrian military in its counterterrorism operations. Russia has been carrying out an aerial campaign in Syria, similarly in coordination with Damascus, since September 2015 to further boost the military's anti-terror performance.
The three mediators helped bring about a nationwide ceasefire in Syria late last year.
There have been three rounds of negotiations in Astana since January. The talks have been hailed as contributory to a United Nations-brokered process in Geneva.
The Astana discussions have seen participants trying to shore up the ceasefire by agreeing on the establishment of a jointly-run mechanism to monitor the deal, which would report to the UN.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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