Astana talks on Syria crisis:

January 25, 2017

Turkey, Iran, Russia talks on ceasefire in Syria is successful and concentrated on ceasefire. Further fragile cease fire the talks in UN shall help to bring consolidated peace in the region.

Al Jazeera reports,Syria  opposition negotiators expressed reservations over Tehran’s role in monitoring the truce.The three regional powers announced on Tuesday in the Kazakh capital Astana the creation of a “trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the ceasefire”, which has been in place since late December.

The three regional powers also agreed that rebel groups, which represented the opposition in this week’s meetings, would take part in a new round of United Nations-led peace talks next month in Geneva.

Osama Abu Zaid, a legal adviser to the Free Syrian Army, said opposition participation in the Geneva talks depended on whether their demands, which were presented to the Russians, were met.

“We presented a scheme for mechanisms to monitor and implement the ceasefire,” Abu Zaid said during a press briefing shortly after the joint statement was made.

“The Russians have promised to review [the demands] in a week and said they will make a decision with the Turkish side during their meeting in Astana after seven days.”

The joint trilateral statement also stipulated that the Syrian government and opposition agreed to “jointly fight against ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and al-Nusra Front, and to separate them from armed groups”, but opposition officials claimed they had not discussed which groups were to be excluded from the ceasefire.

The communique used “al-Nusra Front” for the group now known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which changed its name last year after allegedly breaking ties with al-Qaeda.

Although it has seen large-scale defections in recent weeks, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham is one of the strongest players on the ground and often fights alongside elements of the opposition represented in Astana.

“This is a joint statement by three countries. We are not party to this agreement. It is an agreement between Russia, Iran and Turkey – they can sign any agreements they want to. But from our side, we said we had many reservations,” said Abu Zeid.

Rebel representatives also said the success of the talks would depend on the “removal of all foreign [Iran-backed] militias” from Syria and the ability of Moscow and Ankara to ensure that Iran abides by the agreement.Aljazeera