Astana talks promise hope in stopping bloodshed in Syria

Negotiations between the Syrian regime and opposition groups have begun in the Kazakh capital, Astana, as part of Russia's and Turkey's objective to find common ground to stop the six-year-long bloodshed in war-torn Syria.

The talks on the reconciliation of the Syrian conflict began as scheduled at 07:00 GMT (10:00 Turkey local time) on Monday.

The two-day event is being held in Astana, with the hosting Kazakh government providing additional security. As many as 320 international and 120 Kazakh journalists are attending the meeting.

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov thanked Kazakhstan for accepting to host the event, saying Astana's assistance was highly appreciated.

When being posed the question of why the talks are being held in Astana, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov replied that Astana is the location for the talks due to the impartiality of Kazakhstan.

“Kazakhstan would be pleased to contribute to a success of the larger process by preparing the way for the UN-sponsored Syria peace talks held in Geneva,” Abdrakhmanov said.

Also on Sunday - Russia, Turkey and Iran held trilateral consultations ahead of the talks that lasted more than five hours and were described as “tough” by a member of the Russian delegation. The preparations to the talks are going on intensively, as the parties “managed to bring closer their positions on most issues onto the agenda,” Kazakh Foreign Minister said.

The negotiations follow a partial ceasefire which Russia and Turkey brokered between the Syrian government and some opposition groups in December 2016.

The talks promise hope, as the Syrian regime along with the representatives of the Syrian opposition, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Qatar intend to attend the negotiations, which are planned to be held in Astana at the end of January.

The United States, the People's Republic of China and the United Nations expressed support for the Astana platform.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed that they were pleased that the talks are to be held in Kazakhstan.

And the Kazakhstan leader said he was ready to offer the necessary platform for peace and provide favorable conditions for such negotiations.

The deal managed to significantly restrain the intensity of hostilities in Syria, but both the regime and the opposition report that violations continue.

The truce excludes Al Nusra and Daesh terrorists.