Tabnak – Shortly after Russia proposed to bring different Syrian factions to form a nation-wide congress for developing a new constitution, Syrian opposition has rejected the idea, saying that it won’t join any new initiative outside the existing formats.
Iranian new outlet Press TV reports that the Syrian opposition has rejected an initiative put forward by Russia during the latest negotiations in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to hold a congress, which would bring together Syria’s warring sides in Sochi later this month.
Members of Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committee and the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition (SNC) told Reuters on Wednesday that they do not approve of the plan, saying they would issue a joint statement later to express their opposition to the plan.
SNC spokesman Ahmad Ramadan said the plan seeks to circumvent the UN efforts to mediate Syrian peace talks in Geneva, adding, "The Coalition will not participate in any negotiations with the regime outside Geneva or without UN sponsorship.”
This is while, at the end of the latest talks in Astana, Iran, Russia and Turkey had pledged to bring the Syrian government and opposition together for a "congress” to help them develop a lasting political solution to the ongoing conflict in the country.
A joint statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on the second day of Syrian peace talks in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on Tuesday, pointed to an "initiative of Russia" which listed 33 Syrian organizations invited to a "Congress of Syrian National Dialogue" in the Russian city of Sochi on November 18.
However, despite Turkey’s approval of the Syrian congress plan, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the country opposes the invitation of the representatives of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to the talks.
Ibrahim Kalin’s remarks came a day after a senior Kurdish official said that Russia had invited the Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria to a proposed congress of Syria’s rival parties in November.
According to the reports, the latest round of Astana talks focused on humanitarian issues in Syria as well as the situation in Idlib Province.
Elaborating on the agreements in the seventh round, Iran’s top negotiator at Astana talks Hossein Jaberi Ansari said on Tuesday that each of the three guarantor states had agreed to set up 12 checkpoints in Idlib, where a de-escalation zone has been formed.
Jaberi Ansari noted that the three guarantor states agreed on continuation of the fight against ISIS and al-Nusra terrorists and their affiliates, settlement of the Syrian conflict through political channels and delivery of humanitarian aid to all the areas across Syria.
