PREVIEW: 16th Round Of Astana Format Talks On Syria To Be Held In Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2021) Scheduled for July 7-8, the latest round of the Syrian peace process in the Astana-format will be held in Kazakhstan's capital of Nur-Sultan this week, with delegations from the Syrian government, opposition, and the "Astana trio" of guarantor states consisting of Russia, Iran, and Turkey expected to partake at the sub-ministerial level.

The sixteenth round of talks aims at addressing a number of key issues that have arisen throughout the course of the past year, with the Syrian Constitutional Committee and the situation in the North-Syrian province of Idlib reportedly topping the agenda.

REINVIGORATING THE SYRIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITTEE

Having broken down earlier in January, the resumption of the Syrian Constitutional Committee will be one of the main items on the agenda of the upcoming Astana talks, with a meeting dedicated to the creation of an effective drafting group scheduled during the talks as per a statement made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier on Friday.

"We are preparing another meeting, which will be largely devoted to preparing for the constitutional committee meeting, or rather it's drafting group, which should be as effective as possible," Lavrov told journalists during a press conference following his meeting with Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.

The upcoming talks were met with optimism from the Syrian opposition, with the head of the delegation to the Astana talks Ayman Assami citing Russia's willingness to achieve tangible progress amid a generally constructive atmosphere in international affairs that will most likely contribute to a number of positive developments for Syria's peace process

"The Russians, in my view, are keen on completing this round because nothing has been achieved for a long time throughout previous meetings. Now there is an international climate, which may contribute to the success of this track," Ayman Assami, head of the Syrian opposition's delegation to the Astana talks told Sputnik on Friday.

The general optimism surrounding the upcoming talks was further accentuated by an exchange of detainees between the Syrian government and opposition in the north-Syrian town of Al-Bab earlier on Friday, with Turkey's Foreign Ministry crediting a special working group created within the Astana format for the successful swap.

Syria's north, particularly the Idlib province, is expected to constitute another key element of the upcoming Astana talks, with a source from the Syrian opposition stating that the sides plan to discuss a partial withdrawal of Turkish troops and Ankara-backed militants from the embattled province.

"Participants of the next round of meetings in the Astana format [in Nur-Sultan] will discuss the withdrawal of the Turkish military and the groups it supports from areas located on the Syrian coast [border area between provinces of Idlib and Latakia], from the western Idlib and the rest of Jabal Zawiya in southern Idlib," the source told Sputnik last week.

Controlled by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army with the support of the Turkish military since 2017, the situation in the Idlib province has remained volatile despite a ceasefire agreement reached by Russia and Turkey in March of last year following the failure of the 2018 demilitarization agreement.

With ceasefire violations reported by both sides on regular basis, the Russian Center for Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria issued a statement last week warning of a false-flag chemical weapons attack planned by militant groups.

The subject of much controversy over the course of the past weeks, humanitarian access to the roughly three million people living in the rebel-held north-Syrian Idlib province remains a subject of dispute between the parties to the Astana talks.

With both Damascus and Russia insisting on the delivery of humanitarian aid via the government-controlled parts of the war-torn country to further cement Damascus' sovereignty over the country's territory, the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing from Turkey into Northern Syria has been the subject of heated debate.

Previously renewed for a period of 12 months as per the United Nations' Security Council Resolution 2533 (2020), the Bab Al-Hawa crossing is expected to be closed after July 10th in light of an anticipated Russian veto to renew its mandate, with the country citing concerns over the route being used to smuggle weapons to terrorist groups active in the Idlib province.

Since 2014, largely Western-sponsored humanitarian aid to the besieged region has been delivered through four border crossings, with the Bab Al-Hawa border crossing remaining the only operational route following the closure of the Al-Yaroubiya crossing with neighboring Iraq earlier in January, with Russia rejecting a UN proposal to reopen the crossing last week.

The move was met with opposition from the West, with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken waning Russia of risking the hopes for constructive relations between the two countries, while France warned that the collective West would halt the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria should the crossing be closed.

Joining in opposition to the anticipated closure of the border crossing, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed the humanitarian nature of the subject matter following his talks with his Russian counterpart in Antalya last week.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed Russian sources have discussed a possible solution of the subject of humanitarian access to Idlib, on condition that the Astana trio in coordination with Damascus supervises the transfer of humanitarian aid.