MESOP UPDATE SYRIA TALKS : Next Political Talks Set for February 20

February 01 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – The next round of political talks between the Assad regime and Syria’s opposition-rebels has been set for February 20 in Geneva, according to diplomats.

The talks would be the follow-up to last week’s discussions in the Kazakhstan capital Astana, brokered by Russia and Turkey. An opening session was marked by bitter exchanges between regime and opposition-rebel delegations. The two sides then spoke indirectly through Russian and Turkish officials.There was no sign of progress. The opposition-rebel bloc called for a ceasefire, release of detainees, and end to sieges, but the head of the regime delegation, UN Ambassador Bashar al-Ja’afari, questioned the legimitacy of the opposition and said the regime would continue military operations.

Hezbollah and regime regime forces subsequently forced the capitulation of the Wadi Barada area, northwest of Damascus, with its al-Fija springs which supply more than 60% of Damascus’s water. They are continuing an assault on the East Ghouta area, northeast of the capital.Nevertheless Russia, Turkey, and Iran issued a statement nominally committing themselves to monitoring of a ceasefire. Moscow and Ankara have struck an effective deal for the partition of northern Syria, with Turkey accepting the pro-Assad recapture of all of Aleppo city in December and Russia acceding to a Turkish-rebel offensive which has taken parts of Aleppo Province from the Islamic State.

Last Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met an “opposition” composed of politicians favored by Moscow. The opposition-rebel bloc said it had turned down the invitation to join the session.The Geneva talks will be formally under UN auspices, although the timing has been led by Russia. Moscow initially set the session for February 8 but delayed it for unspecified reasons. www.mesop.de