Syrian opposition leader praises results of Astana peace conference

The head of the Syrian Opposition delegation to the 18th round of Astana peace negotiations on Syria, Ahmed Toma, has spoken with cautious positivity about “acceptable” results of the latest round of negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in Syria.

“There has been progress on some key issues. We have done what’s been asked of us, and negotiated with transparency.”  Toma told the Arabic news website Arabi 21.

The latest two-day round of talks, which concluded on Thursday, discussed humanitarian aid, counter-terrorism and separate negotiations to draft a constitution for Syria, which have stalled for months. 

“The majority of meetings at the Astana conference have met their primary aims; namely, preventing a return to intense conflict on the ground, and starting to sow the seeds of longer-lasting political solutions and justice in Syria” said Toma.  

Toma stressed his belief that “the Astana conferences have played their part in saving northern Syria from further conflict.”
 
Russians push away from Geneva

Earlier in the week, the head of the Russian delegation said that the Swiss city of Geneva was no longer an appropriate venue for talks on the Syrian constitution.

Toma restated the Syrian opposition's refusal to relocate UN-sponsored talks from Geneva to Muscat or Abu Dhabi saying “we’ve already clearly refused this suggestion. To ensure the transparency and independence of this process, we have to remain within the UN framework”. 

The 18th round of Astana peace process talks on Syria began on Wednesday morning in the Kazakh capital Nursultan, formerly known as Astana.

The Astana conference peace talks aimed at “de-escalation” between the Syrian regime and opposition have been held in Nursultan since January 2017.

In addition to regime and opposition delegates, the talks are attended by official delegations from the three guarantor nations - Russia and Iran, which support the Syrian regime, and Turkey, which backs opposition forces.