An international meeting on the Syrian settlement began in the capital of Kazakhstan on January 23 with the participation of a number of delegations, including the opposition, Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey. Russia, Turkey and Iran have agreed on the establishment of a trilateral mechanism to monitor the ceasefire in Syria, the Anadolu news agency reported Tuesday citing a diplomatic source.
In a related story, consultations of representatives of the armed opposition in Syria have kicked off within the framework of the International Meeting on Syrian Settlement (Astana process), a source close to the organizers of the talks told Kazinform correspondent.
"The consultations of the military experts of the participating delegations reportedly on the mechanism of control over ceasefire are underway," the source said. The two-day Syrian peace talks are on at the Rixos President Hotel in Astana. According to the Kazakh MFA, representatives of the Syrian government, opposition, Russia, Turkey, Iran and the UN Envoy to Syria are participating in the talks. It should be noted that the capital of Kazakhstan was chosen as the venue since it is a neutral territory for all parties to the conflict.
KAZINFORM/SPUTNIK/MNA