Türkiye, Russia and Iran, the guarantors of the Syrian crisis, are set to convene in the Kazakh capital of Astana for two-day talks next week, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry announced Friday.
Turkish, Russian and Iranian delegations, as well as the representatives from the Syrian opposition and President Bashar Assad’s government, will attend the 21st round of talks in Astana from Jan. 24-25, the ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the United Nations, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon are expected to send in observers.
The sides will discuss the development of the regional crisis surrounding Syria, efforts for a comprehensive solution and the humanitarian situation in Syria, as well as mobilizing the efforts of the international community for the reconstruction of Syria within the framework of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2642.
The Astana peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans launched in 2017 under the guarantors Türkiye, Russia and Iran to resolve the Syrian civil war, which began in early 2011 when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protestors with unexpected ferocity. The war displaced nearly 7 million people and caused the deaths of over 300,000 people in total.
The summit is convening upon the request of guarantor nations, the Kazakh ministry noted.
Kazakhstan, which has hosted the meetings since the start of the process to varying results, was more reluctant to continue the talks when the nations last assembled in June 2023, with Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Kanat Tumysh unexpectedly calling for the conclusion of the process, saying its goal had been achieved "considering Syria’s return into the Arab League."
Arguing that the process "wasn’t yet over," the Russian negotiator had responded by suggesting that Russia, Türkiye and Iran could take turns hosting the meetings, although neither Ankara nor Tehran floated such an idea.
At the 20th round of talks, a roadmap for the normalization of ties between the Damascus-based regime and Ankara was also on the agenda, besides the release of hostages and missing persons, the humanitarian situation, the rebuilding of Syria and the establishment of conditions for the return of Syrian refugees.
However, the most prominent topic was counterterrorism efforts in Syria, where terrorist groups, including Daesh, the PKK and the YPG, rose to prominence amid the conflict.
In a joint statement, the sides all condemned "illegitimate self-rule initiatives" and nations supporting "terrorist entities" in Syria.
The YPG is PKK’s Syrian affiliate and the United States has strongly backed it under the pretext of fighting the Daesh terror group. Thanks to U.S. help worth millions of dollars, the YPG has grown stronger in northeastern Syria. Along with the PKK, it still controls much of the war-torn country’s east, making it impossible for Assad to establish territorial integrity.
Since the civil war broke out, Türkiye has backed the opposition as the Bashar Assad regime frequently denounced Ankara’s support that paved the way for liberating Syria’s north from PKK, YPG, as well as Daesh.
Relations between the two, however, thawed after the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed more than 56,000 people combined in both countries. Turkish officials have since been floating the idea of cooperating with Damascus on counterterrorism efforts.