Iraq gets observer status at Astana peace talks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq will participate in the Astana peace process in the Kazakh capital for the first time as an observer, marking Iraq’s tentative return to regional affairs after years in the political wilderness.

Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday it will join Lebanon, Jordan, and United Nations representatives as official observers at Astana – a Russian-Turkish-Iranian-led rival to the UN-led peace process to end the war in Syria.

“Iraq has not and will not spare any efforts to participate in all that could possibly end crises in the region, and we have a long history on both the level of initiative and participation,” the ministry said.

“The participation of Iraq in the talks is a response to the invitation sent to us from the guarantor states in the Astana process, Russia, Turkey, and Iran.”

“We welcome efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, and we strongly back ending it through peaceful means,” it added.

Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry told local media both Lebanon and Iraq will join the latest round of talks taking place in the capital Nur-Sultan – formerly called Astana – on August 1-2. The talks will reportedly focus on the jihadi-dominated province of Idlib, battered by Russian-backed regime assaults which have seen hundreds of thousands displaced and hundreds of Syrians killed.

Russia hailed the participation of both Lebanon and Iraq in the conference.

“Today, Lebanese and Iraqi observers have for the first time joined the Astana talks. We believe that it will improve the engagement of Syria’s neighboring countries, making it possible to discuss pressing issues such as the return of Syrian refugees, the restoration of trade and economic ties and relations between Damascus and its Arab partners in more detail,” said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russian Foreign Ministry, according to TASS.

On Thursday, the Syrian delegation, headed the Syrian representative to the UN Bashar al-Jafari, met with an Iranian delegation headed by Ali Asghar Khaji to discuss the fight against terrorism and the need for the Syrian regime to re-establish control over the whole of the country.

Syria’s government has more than once threatened to retake the entire country by force.

According to Syrian state media agency SANA, Damascus will observe a ceasefire agreement starting on Thursday night “under the condition that the Sochi agreement, which stipulates that terrorists withdraw with a depth of 20 kilometers from the de-confliction line in Idlib and withdrawing heavy and medium weapons,” is respected.

The Astana peace process began in January 2017 as part of a Russian-led effort that largely bypassed the Geneva peace talks aimed at resolving Syria’s civil war, now in its ninth year.

Initially, the platform set up four de-confliction zones across Syria. The zones were slowly retaken by the Syrian regime.

In September 2018, following opposition from the US and other nations to a Syrian offensive against the province of Idlib, which shelters more than 3 million people, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement to set up a buffer zone around Idlib to prevent the regime onslaught.

Among the conditions were that a demilitarized zone some 15-20 kilometers deep along the contact line between the regime and opposition groups in Idlib would be established. The buffer zone would be devoid of jihadists and heavy and medium weapons.

However, on April 30, 2019, citing the takeover of the province by former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir Sham (HTS) from Turkish-backed rebels, and the failure to rid the buffer zone of heavy weapons, the Syrian regime resumed its onslaught.

More than 740 people have been killed since then, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Iraq gets observer status at Astana peace talks

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