Fifth Round of Syria Talks Opens in Kazakhstan

Representatives from the Syrian government and opposition groups convened in Kazakhstan on Tuesday for the fifth round of negotiations aimed at ending the Syrian conflict, with a focus on plans to solidify the proposed “de-escalation zones.”

Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov confirmed to local news agencies that Syrian government representatives and nine opposition delegates had arrived in the capital, Astana, for a series of bilateral talks followed by a session for all delegations on Wednesday.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are co-sponsoring the talks, and the U.N. Special Representative for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as well as delegations from Jordan and the U.S., will observe.

Riyad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, told Reuters the opposition views Iran as “a hostile state,” and the country’s participation at the Astana negotiations will likely undermine the U.N.-led peace talks in Geneva.

Representatives in Astana will continue negotiations on the memorandum signed by Russia, Iran and Turkey in May to create four de-escalation zones in the country. The three co-sponsors failed to finalize details of the agreement by the original June 4 deadline.

According to the agreement, rebel and regime forces will cease all fighting for six months in the four zones, expected to cover the northwestern province of Idlib, parts of the central province of Homs and opposition-held Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, as well as the southern provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Sweida.

Russia May Send Troops to Police Borders of De-escalation Zones

Russian troops may be deployed along the boundaries of the four de-escalation zones in Syria within two to three weeks if Moscow, Turkey and Iran come to an agreement at the latest round of talks at Astana on Wednesday.

“Overall, [the agreement] provides for the presence of Russian military police in the buffer zones, but once again this matter has not been agreed yet,” Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev told Reuters.

Opposition groups participating in the talks said they are quickly becoming distrustful of Russia’s plan, arguing that the Syrian government had repeatedly violated previous cease-fire agreements.

An opposition representative told Reuters that the aim of the agreement is “to set out the areas of influence between the three states that sponsor it, and it embodies the interests of these states and their areas of influence on the ground, unfortunately with an intended American absence and suspicious European silence.”

“It will succeed in the north because the desire of the states and their interests dictate that, and if we want to interpret it on the Syria-wide level, it represents the strengthening of Russian and Iranian influence on the ground.”

Residents in Afrin Protest Turkish Military Intervention

Thousands of people took to the streets in the Kurdish-controlled northern town of Afrin on Wednesday, protesting Turkish military intervention in the area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Demonstrations against Turkey’s presence began after shelling from the Turkish military and its opposition allies killed a woman and two of her children in the northern Aleppo countryside on Tuesday.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) reportedly organized the protests, according to Rudaw.

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