Astana round helps check whether parties to Syrian conflict ready for Geneva talks - expert

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Delegations from Russia, Iran and Turkey as well as representatives of the UN and the U.S. arrived in the Kazakh capital to participate in the International Meeting on Syrian Settlement. The Astana round of negotiations is another opportunity to check whether various groups are ready for the Geneva process, believes Anastasiya Reshetnyak, researcher of the Foreign Policy and International Security Department of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Reshetnyak said: "The Syrian opposition at the talks is represented by 20 different groups active in the zones of the conflict as well as controlling specific areas. It proves that, as a matter of fact, there are forces ready to make a compromise."

"The Astana round is another opportunity to check whether those groups are ready for the Geneva process. Decisions can be made at the Geneva process only if all parties to the conflict show their political will," the expert stressed.

In her words, as a mediator, Kazakhstan provided all necessary conditions for the Syrian peace talks. "The behind-the-closed-doors format will make participants more open to the dialogue and fastidious approach of the Kazakh Foreign Affairs Ministry in organizing the talks will help minimize differences between the parties," she added.