Geneva Peace Talks Scheduled for February 20

The next round of U.N.-sponsored Syria peace talks is scheduled for February 20 in Geneva, Reuters reported.

The talks were initially scheduled for February 8, but were put back.

Peace talks sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran in the Kazakh capital, Astana, ended last week without much of a breakthrough. The hosts agreed that a December 30 cease-fire between government and rebel forces would continue, and that they would monitor their respective allies on the ground.

The Geneva talks were postponed to take advantage of the Astana peace talks, U.N. special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said.

“We want to give a chance to this Astana initiative to actually implement itself,” de Mistura said. “If the cease-fire becomes as solid as we hope, that will only help the serious talk to achieve the concrete.”

If the Syrian opposition is unable to choose who its delegates to Geneva will be, the U.N. will decide for them, de Mistura said, “in order to make sure that it can be as inclusive as possible.”

Repair Team Enters Wadi Barada

A technical repair team has entered the water facility in Wadi Barada following the “evacuation” of rebel fighters there earlier this week, according to a statement from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The water-rich valley located northwest of Damascus has been the scene of intense clashes between government and rebel forces since December 22, despite the December 30 nationwide truce deal. The Ain al-Fijah water plant in Wadi Barada, which provided nearly 70 percent of the capital’s supply, was destroyed in government airstrikes in December. Nearly 4 million people were left without water as several cease-fire attempts between government and rebel forces in the valley failed.

Pro-government forces took control of Wadi Barada on Saturday, with nearly 2,000 rebel fighters and their families sent out of the area to rebel-held Idlib province. Nearly 17,500 people were displaced from Wadi Barada in the government offensive.

Syrian Government Rejects Kurdish Autonomy in Russian Draft Constitution

The Syrian government rejected a Russian proposal for decentralized communities in Syria, the pro-government website Al-Masdar News reported.

The draft constitution proposed by Russia included Kurdish autonomy, saying that “the Kurdish cultural self-ruling systems and its organizations use both the Arabic and Kurdish languages equally.”

The Syrian government rejected Kurdish autonomy and refused to recognize the Kurdish language as being equal to Arabic.

The main Kurdish military force in Syria, known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), controls nearly 20 percent of Syrian territory, and has established de facto autonomous rule in areas under its control.

RECOMMENDED READS:

• Reuters: Syrian Government Denies Rumors Assad in Poor Health
• BuzzFeed News: The Leader of Syria’s White Helmets Has Criticized Trump’s Refugee Ban
• Foreign Policy: Syria and Russia: A Long and Tangled History That Involves the USS Liberty
• Al Monitor: Does Syria Really Want to Reconcile With Kurds?
• The New York Times: A Story of Chaos at the Border of Turkey and Syria