Syria peace talks hinge on envoy’s answers
The Syrian opposition is awaiting clarification on key points from the United Nations before deciding whether to attend peace negotiations planned for Friday. The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC) that includes armed and political opponents of President Bashar al-Assad viewed its invitation positively, but said it had requested clarifications from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The questions reportedly regarded the implementation of steps outlined in a UN Security Council resolution, including the lifting of blockades on besieged areas, a halt to attacks on civilian areas, and a release of arbitrarily detained people. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said, “I spoke to Mr. Hijab … he will respond to de Mistura and Ban Ki-moon this morning … If I understand their position, they say yes to negotiations.” A spokesman for the HNC Monzer Makhous said opposition talks could last “perhaps all day.” The Syrian government has already agreed to join the talks. [Reuters, Al Arabiya, 1/27/2016]

Kurdish PYD not invited to peace talks in Geneva
Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) officials will not be invited to peace talks in Geneva, where negotiations for the opposition will be led by a Saudi-backed opposition group, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday. “The PYD group was causing the most problems, and Mr. de Mistura told me he had not sent them an invitation letter,” Fabius explained. PYD leader Saleh Muslim confirmed that he had not been invited, stating, “Of course we would sincerely like to join, and also we think that if we don’t join it, this Geneva 3 will fail as happened in Geneva 2, where they excluded some sides.” Haytham Manna, co-leader of the Syrian Democratic Council that works closely with the PYD, was invited but said he would not attend unless Kurdish leaders Muslim and Ilham Ahmed were also invited. UN Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, who sent invitations on Tuesday without confirming the names, planned to make a statement on invitees later on Wednesday or on Thursday and would not comment beforehand. [Reuters, 1/27/2016]

Syrian government troops recapture key southern town
Government forces have retaken control of a strategically important town in southern Syria, activists say. Sheikh Miskeen, which lies on one of the main routes from Damascus to the city of Deraa and the Jordanian border, fell after a month-long battle. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Director Rami Abdulrahman said taking the town has cut off rebel links between eastern and western Deraa. He also said, “The destruction in the town is huge.” Russian warplanes were reported to have played a key role in the offensive. [BBC, 1/26/2016]

Turkey’s human rights environment deteriorated in 2015, says HRW
The environment for human rights in Turkey deteriorated in 2015 with the breakdown of the Kurdish peace process, a sharp escalation of violence in the country’s southeast and a crackdown on media and political opponents of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on January 27. HRW Senior Turkey Researcher Emma Sinclair-Webb was joined by International Executive Director Kenneth Roth in İstanbul on Wednesday morning for the international release of the group’s 2016 world report, ‘Politics of Fear’ Threatens Rights, Terror Attacks, Refugee Crisis, and Broad Global Crackdown. Sinclair-Webb said, “We are seeing the dismantling of all checks on power of the [country’s] leaders. Turkey is basically dismantling and eroding its democratic framework. This spells, for Turkey, dark times ahead.” [Hurriyet, Today’s Zaman, ANF, HRW, 1/27/2016]