Second day of Syrian peace talks continue with little progress

World Today

Peace talk

Two days of peace talks in Astana produced a commitment to salvage Syria’s fragile truce and fight terrorism.

Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed to form a trilateral commission to monitor and ensure compliance with the ceasefire between Syria’s warring parties, and jointly fight ISIL and Al-Nusra, two terrorist groups in the country.

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Yet, some aspects of the agreement kept the Syrian government and opposition groups from fully endorsing it.

While the communique was not signed by either side, it does mark the first time that Russia, Turkey and Iran have come together on the issue of Syria, promising to flex their influence in order to maintain enough peace to lead both parties to further negotiations.

The communique also marks the first time rebel fighters have been invited to join peace talks in Geneva.

However, the opposition said it has reservations, denouncing Iran’s role and distrusting the government’s.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government declared the talks a success, yet vowed the army would continue its advance on the Wadi Barada valley, accusing rebels there of poisoning the main water supply for Damascus.

“As long as there are terrorists depriving seven million people in the capital of Damascus from drinking water, the army will continue the operations,” said Bashar Ja’afari, Syrian Government Chief Negotiator.

The communique is void of details, such as how the ceasefire will be enforced or how to provide humanitarian aid.

Only 14 of Syria’s more than a thousand rebel groups were represented here in Astana. Some, such as Syria’s Kurdish PYD, who are fighting Turkish and Russian military forces in the north of the country, said they are not bound by any outcome of these talks.

Nevertheless, for these talks to prove effective on the ground, Russia, Turkey and Iran have a lot of work to do before both sides meet again in Geneva in about two weeks.


Doga Eralp discusses Syria peace talk

For more on the discussion of Russia, Iran and Turkey’s roles in the resolution of the Syrian conflict, CGTN’s Mike Walter spoke to American University professor Doga Eralp.