FACTBOX - Astana Talks On Syrian Conflict Settlement

FACTBOX - Astana Talks on Syrian Conflict Settlement

A new round of talks on the settlement of conflict in Syria is kicking off in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on Thursday and will last for two days

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2019) A new round of talks on the settlement of conflict in Syria is kicking off in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on Thursday and will last for two days.

Negotiations in Astana (the Kazakh capital Astana was renamed to Nur-Sultan in late March, 2019, but the name of the talks remained unchanged) on resolving the ongoing Syrian armed conflict were initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On December 14, 2016, Putin had a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The leaders agreed to suggest that the warring parties in Syria continue their peace talks in another format and not just in Geneva, where the UN-backed talks on the Syrian settlement have been taking place. Astana was named as a possible venue.

Then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev supported Putin's proposal to conduct the Syrian peace process in the Kazakh capital.

On December 20, 2016, the foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey issued a joint statement after their Moscow talks. The statement listed agreed-upon measures aiming to invigorate the political process and to stop the Syrian conflict. The parties voiced their readiness to help draft a future agreement between the Syrian government and the opposition and to act as the guarantors of this document, which is currently being negotiated. They invited all countries influencing the situation on the ground to act likewise.

The talks in Astana aim to consolidate the ceasefire regime established in accordance with the agreements signed on December 29, 2016, and to become a platform for direct dialogue between the government and the opposition under UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

The first round of talks on Syria was held in Astana from January 23-24, 2017.

Apart from the Syrian government delegation and the armed opposition, the Astana talks involved Russian, Turkish and Iranian representatives, the guarantor countries of the ceasefire agreement, as well as UN officials. The Astana meeting became the first case when the Damascus delegation and that of the armed opposition sat down at one negotiating table. Both Syrian delegations conducted indirect talks.

An agreement on establishing a trilateral mechanism for monitoring the ceasefire regime in the Syrian Arab Republic by Russia, Iran and Turkey, as guarantors of the Syrian truce, became one of the talks' main results.

The parties did their best to separate the opposition from terrorist groups. Earlier, it was impossible to reach the same agreement with the United States. For example, military negotiators managed to coordinate demarcation lines with the Islamic State terror group (IS, banned in Russia) and also moved to determine the positions of the terrorist of the Jabhat al-Nusra terror group, also banned in Russia.

Moscow, Tehran and Ankara also supported the armed opposition's desire to take part in UN-brokered talks in Geneva.

Russia submitted proposals on the draft Syrian constitution to the national opposition. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, Russia thereby has opened a discussion on the content of the fundamental law.

The second round of negotiations in Astana on resolving the Syrian conflict took place from February 15-16, 2017.

The talks involved delegations of guarantor countries, representatives of the Syrian government, and the armed opposition. Representatives of Jordan and the United States were invited as observers, with the United Nations sending in a five-person delegation.

The main outcome of the talks was the final agreement to establish a group to monitor the Syrian truce with the participation of Iran, Russia, and Turkey. The parties to the talks managed to formulate a prisoner exchange mechanism and coordinated a clause on exchanging the bodies of those killed in action.

The third round of negotiations was held from March 14-15, 2017. The Syrian armed opposition decided not to send their representatives to Astana. A planned plenary meeting therefore did not take place, with the parties focusing on multi-format consultations.

The parties discussed the release of prisoners and made headway on this issue. They agreed to establish a working group and to further separate the moderate opposition from terrorist groups. Moreover, the participants discussed the difficult issue of the establishment of the constitutional commission and the efforts of various countries to rebuild ancient Syrian landmarks, including legendary Palmyra.

The fourth round of Astana talks took place from May 3-4, 2017. The representatives of guarantor countries, as well as the representatives of the United States, the United Nations, the Syrian government and the opposition participated in the negotiations.

During the second day of the talks, the parties signed a memorandum on establishing four security zones in Syria.

Astana meeting participants also reviewed issues regarding the establishment of a working group to exchange forcibly detained persons and discussed the relevant draft document.

The fifth round of talks in Astana took place from June 4-5, 2017. The talks were mainly focused on determining the de-escalation zones in accordance with the memorandum signed during the previous round. During the talks, a provision on a joint working group was adopted, but no documents were signed.

The sixth round of Astana negotiations was held from September 14-16, 2017. Beside the representatives of the guarantor states and authorized representatives of the Syrian armed opposition in the amount of 24 people, the talks were attended by UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield, as well as by Nawaf Wasfi Tell, the Jordanian ambassador at large and special adviser to the minister of foreign affairs.

Following the talks, the sides announced the creation of four de-escalation zones in Syria, including one zone in Idlib province, the north of the central Homs province, Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as southern Daraa region. The agreement stipulated that the monitoring in the de-escalation zone in Idlib is carried out by Iranian, Russian and Turkish forces, while the remaining zones will be maintained by Russian military police.

The seventh round of talks on Syria was held in Astana on October 31, 2017. The participants of the talks discussed Russia's proposal, which was initiated by Putin at the Valdai forum, to hold the Congress of National Dialogue in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

According to the final document of Astana-7, the representatives of the guarantor states agreed to discuss the holding of the Congress in the framework of the Geneva process under the auspices of the UN. Damascus has supported the idea, but the Syrian armed opposition refused to take part in the event.

The eighth round of the talks in the Kazakh capital took place from December 21-22, 2017. The talks were attended by the delegations from Russia, Turkey, Iran, the Syrian government and opposition, as well as then-UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, alongside the United States and Jordan that acted as observers.

Following the meeting, the guarantor countries prepared a joint statement.

According to the document, Russia, Iran and Turkey welcomed the successes achieved in the fight against terrorism in Syria, in particular defeat of the IS. The countries also vowed to continue joint efforts on counterterrorism in Syria, to complete elimination of the IS, the Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organizations, as well as to prevent the movement of terrorists to other countries and regions.

The participants agreed to establish a working group on the release of detainees, adopted a statement on humanitarian mine clearance in the country and made the decision to meet in Sochi in January to prepare for the Syrian National Dialogue Congress.

The ninth round of talks on Syria under the auspices of Russia, Turkey and Iran was held in Astana from May 14-15, 2018.

Negotiations started with a meeting of the working group on the release of detainees in Syria. Consultations among delegations also took place.

A plenary session with the participation of all sides of the negotiation process was held on the second day. The representatives of guarantor countries, as well as the governments of Damascus and the Syrian armed opposition partook in it.

UN special envoy and Jordan delegation acted as observers. The United States refused to participate in the talks in the same role.

The implementation of a memorandum of de-escalation, and the creation of a constitutional committee, were the main topics of the talks.

The tenth round of negotiations in the Astana format was held from July 30-31, 2018, in Sochi. The representatives of guarantor countries, as well as the representatives of the United Nations, the Syrian government and the opposition participated in the negotiations.

The formation of the Syrian constitutional commission was discussed during the negotiations. Consultations on the composition of candidates to the commission from the civil society of Syria were held on the first day. On the second day, de Mistura presented preliminary member lists and ways to appoint the commission's members to the guarantor states.

The talks also focused on such issues as the prolongation and expansion of the truce in Syria, the release of prisoners and those who were abducted as well as on the situation in the Idlib province.

The 11th round of negotiations on Syria was held in Astana from November 28-29, 2018. The talks were attended by the delegations from Russia, Turkey, Iran, the Syrian government and opposition, as well as by UN Special Envoy for Syria.

According to its results, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told Sputnik that the formation of the Syrian constitutional committee was being held in coordination with all the participants of the Astana process, but they could not agree on the final list of the committee's members.