The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

A new round of “Astana talks” on Syria on April 25-26

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mokhtar Teleberdi said Saturday that the next round of “Astana talks” on Syria will be held on April 25 and 26 in his country’s capital, “Sultan” (formerly Astana), while at least 22 civilians were killed, Eight children, in artillery shelling of the Syrian army forces on the province of Idlib and adjacent areas in north-west Syria.

“We have not received official assurances yet, but the preliminary information we have received indicates that the talks will be held on April 25 and 26,” Sputnik quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mukhtar Teleberdi as saying.

The Kazakh capital, Sultan, hosted several rounds of “Astana talks” on Syria, with the participation of the three guarantor states – Russia, Turkey and Iran.

In March, Kazakhstan changed the name of the country’s capital from Astana to Sultan in honor of the first president of the independent republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned last month.

In another context, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs affirmed yesterday its call on the Syrian government to immediately release all Jordanian detainees and detainees and to enforce international laws in such cases, which oblige any state that arrests a citizen of another country to disclose this. , To clarify the reasons for the detention and the place and conditions of his detention, and to secure a consular visit to his country’s embassy to ascertain his health and conditions of detention.

This came during the call of Charge d’Affaires of the Syrian Embassy in Amman, Ayman Alloush, as explained by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sufian al-Qudah, yesterday.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country had found with the help of Syria the remains of an Israeli soldier who had been missing since the 1982 Lebanon war and returned him to Israel yesterday for his burial.

The Israeli army announced yesterday that it had found a secret operation on the body of Zakharia Baumel, 37 years after his loss.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, five days before parliamentary elections in Israel, whose results are difficult to predict, while revealing part of the mystery of finding the soldier.

“Our army and our Syrian partners have found the whereabouts of the soldier,” Putin said. “The remains of the soldier are with us, and according to the military tradition, we will send them to Israel with your participation,” Putin said.

This story contradicts what the Israeli army announced yesterday, that the remains were returned several days ago.

Baumel was the commander of the 362th Tank Battalion and lost in the battle of Sultan Yacoub against the Syrian army in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, near the Syrian border, between 10 and 11 June 1982.

Two other soldiers, Yehuda Katz and Zevi Feldman, are still missing. They are part of the collective memory in Israel that the return of its soldiers, the dead or prisoners, is a moral duty.

Netanyahu said he had asked Russia for help two years ago, adding that Baumel’s funeral was taking place in Israel “in the presence of his family and friends.”

“We are very happy that he will have the necessary military reinforcements and that those close to him will be able to put roses on his grave,” Putin said.

On the field level, at least 22 civilians, including eight children, were killed in an artillery bombardment of the Syrian army forces in Idlib and adjacent areas in northwest Syria within 24 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Idlib, under the control of the al-Sham Liberation Front (formerly the Nasra Front), has been escalating in artillery and air strikes for weeks, despite a Russian-Turkish agreement since September. Damascus accused Ankara yesterday of “delaying” its implementation.

According to the director of the observatory, Rami Abdul Rahman, “the killing of 12 civilians (yesterday), including three children, as a result of artillery bombardment of the city of Kfarabal” in Idlib.

A rocket attack also killed another child in the town of Ma’arat al-Nu’man.

“Nine civilians, including four children, were killed in a bombardment of regime forces targeting several towns” in the northern Hama and Aleppo districts of Idlib.

Idlib, with parts of neighboring provinces, is governed by an agreement reached by Russia and Turkey in Sochi, which stipulates the establishment of a demilitarized zone between 15 and 20 kilometers deep along the seam lines between the army forces, the Sham Liberation Organization and other small groups. However, implementation has not yet been completed.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem accused Ankara of obstructing the implementation of the accord.

“So far we hear from Russian friends that the situation is difficult, but Turkey is determined to implement the agreement,” he told a joint press conference with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Ariaza in Damascus. “We are frankly still waiting for the implementation of the Sochi agreement, but also patience has limits, and we must liberate this land.”

Damascus has always reiterated its intention to restore areas beyond its control, namely Idlib and the Kurdish rebel control areas in northern and eastern Syria, through negotiations or through military force.

Since February, the army has stepped up its shelling of Idlib and its environs. And launched its ally Russia raids for the first time since the signing of the agreement, last month targeted the city of Idlib, leaving 13 civilians dead, according to the Syrian Observatory.

The escalation, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), announced yesterday that more than 86,000 people have been displaced in the past two months. It also killed 90 civilians, nearly half of them children, from bombing, raids and improvised explosive devices in Idlib and northern Rif Hama last month.

The United Nations and international organizations are wary of the consequences of any military attack on Idlib, home to some three million people, about half of whom are displaced from other provinces.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that “the recent escalation of violence in northwestern Syria poses a significant threat to the civilian population in the region.”

Pompeo warns Ankara of “devastating repercussions” in the event of a military operation in Syria

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned his Turkish counterpart Mouloud Chaochoglu of “the potential destructive consequences” of any Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria.

“Minister Pompeo expressed his support for the ongoing negotiations on northeastern Syria, warning at the same time of the potentially devastating consequences of any unilateral Turkish military action in the region,” the State Department said in a statement.

The two ministers met on the sidelines of the NATO celebration of the 70th anniversary of its founding, noting that the US and Turkish armies, are considered to be the strongest armies of the alliance.

US-Turkish relations are strained by several files, notably US support for Kurdish factions in Syria, which Ankara considers terrorist groups linked to the PKK. Turkey is threatening to launch an offensive to remove these factions from its borders. The US Secretary of State also told his Turkish counterpart that he was “concerned that Turkey might have the Russian S-400 missile defense system.”

Source: A new round of “Astana talks” on Syria on April 25-26 – International News