New round of multinational talks on Syria to be held in Kazakhstan
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Committees from Turkey, Russia and Iran take part in the sixth round of Syrian peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, September 15, 2017. /VCG Photo

Committees from Turkey, Russia and Iran take part in the sixth round of Syrian peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, September 15, 2017. /VCG Photo

Representatives of Iran, Turkey, Russia, and those of the Syrian government and the opposition will attend the 13th round of talks on Syria in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on Thursday and Friday, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"All previously invited parties have confirmed their participation," the ministry said in a statement.

Iraq and Lebanon will send delegations as observers, the statement said.

UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen will miss the talks for health reasons, so the UN delegation will be headed by his deputy, it said.

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will also head to Nur-Sultan to attend a sideline meeting on the release of detainees and hostages in Syria.

As was the case in the previous rounds, bilateral and multilateral technical consultations will be held behind closed doors on the first day, and a plenary session will be held the next day.

The main results of the two-day talks will be made public in a joint statement, the ministry said.

The process toward a peaceful settlement in Syria, also known as the Astana process, was launched in January 2017 by Russia, Iran and Turkey in Astana, later renamed Nur-Sultan, to bring warring parties in the Syrian conflict to the table to find a political solution to the crisis.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency