Syrian Analyst Warns of Turkey's Possible Betrayal of Astana Talks

Rasa - A prominent Syrian analyst warned that Washington's proposal to set up a safe zone in Syria may coax Ankara into betraying the peace talks in Astana.

News ID: 427449

Date: 16 February 2017 - 21:53

RNA - "The new US administration has thrown a new prey for the Turkish government by announcing plans to set up safe zones in Syria which can dissuade Ankara from supporting the Astana talks and ceasefire in Syria," Malaz Mikdad told FNA on Thursday.

"The fact that Turkey has not yet confirmed the presence of armed opposition delegation in Astana talks shows that Ankara possibly wants to withdraw from Astana talks and ceasefire process in Syria," he added.

The start of a fresh round of consultations on Syria peace process in Astana was delayed until February 16 as delegations of the Syrian opposition and Turkey have not yet arrived in the Kazakh capital.

The talks in Astana have been originally scheduled for February 15-16 in behind-closed-doors format followed by a joint news conference with participation of representatives from attending delegations.

Delegations from Russia, Iran, Syrian government and invited UN officials arrived in Astana on Wednesday.

The first round of Astana talks on Syrian crisis settlement brought together the representatives of the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups for the first time in the six years of the Syrian war. As a result of the talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire that came into effect on December 30, 2016.

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