Russia proposes international meeting on February 11
Opposition says Syrian peace talks unlikely to begin Friday
UN says number of Syria’s besieged communities rises to 18
PYD-YPG has no future in Syria, says Turkey’s top national security body
Russia proposes international meeting on February 11 about Syria
On Thursday Russian officials announced wanting to hold an international meeting in Munich next month. “There is an agreement in principle between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State John Kerry, and now we will propose to all the other participants of the international Syria support group a time and place, Munich, February 11,” state news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. Russia’s security chief also said Syrian refugees should be given an opportunity to cast their ballots in the country’s future elections, and added that the international community should focus on creating conditions for a free vote in Syria. Meanwhile, at least 44 civilians have been killed in suspected Russian air strikes in parts of northern and eastern Syria a monitor said. [AFP, 1/28/2016]
Opposition says Syrian peace talks unlikely to begin Friday
A Syrian opposition figure said Thursday that indirect peace talks between the government and opposition are unlikely to begin on Friday for “technical reasons.” One of the major stumbling blocks ahead of peace talks scheduled to begin in Geneva Friday has been determining which groups from Syria’s opposition will be allowed a seat at the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Iran strongly opposed Saudi Arabia allowing “terrorists in a mask” to attend talks. The Saudi-backed opposition bloc says that before it participates in the Geneva talks the government should stop bombardments and allow humanitarian access to besieged rebel-held areas. One Syrian opposition figure said “it will be very difficult to hold the talks on Friday,” adding that many opposition figures still haven’t obtained visas or made reservations to come to Geneva. [AP, 1/28/2016]
UN says number of Syria’s besieged communities rises to 18
Besieged areas in Syria’s conflict have risen to 18, up from 15 earlier this month, with as many as half a million people now affected. The UN’s humanitarian chief and the head of the World Food Program on Wednesday called upon Syria’s government to allow sustained access to besieged areas and to the estimated 4.5 million people in hard-to-reach areas. Officials said the convoys that reached a few besieged communities earlier this month are not enough and that the food delivered will soon run out. “One off access … is not the kind of access we need to prevent starvation,” UN Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brien said. O’Brien told the UN Security Council that last year the United Nations made 113 requests to the Syrian government for approval of inter-agency aid convoys, but only 10 percent were able to deliver assistance. Another 10 percent of convoys were approved in principle by the Syrian government, but could not proceed due to a lack of final approval, insecurity, or no safe passage. The remaining 75 percent of requests went unanswered, O’Brien said. [AP, Reuters, 1/28/2016]
PYD-YPG has no future in Syria, says Turkey’s top national security body
A regular meeting of the National Security Council (MGK), which brings together top civilian and military officials, lasted for almost seven hours on January 27, as Ankara has been increasingly alarmed over the prospects of the inclusion of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in planned UN-backed talks on Syria. Neither the current regime under President Bashar al-Assad nor any “terrorist organization” has a place in Syria’s future, Turkey’s top national security body has reiterated, while also pledging to take measures to compensate civilians for damages incurred during ongoing deadly operations in southeast Anatolia. The Council also concluded that Turkey would continue its support for the Turkmens in northwestern Syria targeted by the Russian air strikes. [Hurriyet, Daily Sabah, 1/28/2016]