Astana welcomes agreements on de-escalation zones in Syria

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Kazakhstan has welcomed the recent arrangements regarding de-escalation zones in the southwest of Syria.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry announced about it in a statement following the results of the agreement on the de-escalation zones for southwest Syria reached between Russia and the United States, Kazinform reported.

Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, hosted five rounds of Syrian talks since January 2017, which have resulted in a memorandum of understanding on creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.

Russia, Turkey and Iran,  are sponsoring the negotiations in Astana. The talks have become known as the Astana Process and are meant to create conditions for the success in the more comprehensive peace talks in Geneva on the overall political settlement of the Syrian conflict.

The ceasefire regime in the provinces of Deraa, Suweida and Quneitra that came into effect on July 9 is just another practical step towards a comprehensive cessation of hostilities all over Syrian territory, according to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.

“We call on all forces standing for the soonest resolution of the Syrian conflict, including the Syrian Government and the armed opposition, to be fully committed to the ceasefire regime,” the statement reads.

Kazakhstan expressed its full support for the Geneva peace talks on Syria under the auspices of the United Nations and voiced hope on reaching the specific solutions within the political process for settlement of the Syrian crisis.

The civil war in Syria between government and opposition with various terrorist groups involved, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), began back in March 2011.

Syrian President Bashar Assad managed to turn the tide of war in his favor after Russia started an air campaign in September 2015, while Iran is an uncompromising supporter of the Syrian leader.

Thanks to the ceasefire agreement signed in December 2016 as well as the high-level talks in Astana and Geneva, the level of violence in Syria has significantly decreased since early 2017 compared to the previous years.