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Members of Astana group to discuss ways to improve Syria-Turkey relations

According to Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, the talks, scheduled for June 20-21, will involve delegations from the guarantor countries - Russia, Iran and Turkey - and representatives of the Syrian government and opposition

ASTANA, June 20. /TASS/. The deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran will discuss a roadmap to improve relations between Ankara and Damascus and other issues at the 20th international meeting on Syria in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

According to Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, the talks, scheduled for June 20-21, will involve delegations from the guarantor countries - Russia, Iran and Turkey - and representatives of the Syrian government and opposition. Representatives of the United Nations, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq are expected to attend the meeting as observers.

The deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran will hold four-party consultations on the first day of the event to discuss work on a draft roadmap aimed at normalizing relations between Syria and Turkey. The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that the Russian draft was ready.

In addition, the countries of the Astana process on Syria are also expected to hold bilateral and trilateral consultations.

On the next day, June 21, more consultations, a plenary session and a press conference are planned to be held.

The Foreign Ministry specified that the meeting’s agenda would include the changing situation around Syria, efforts to find a comprehensive solution to the Syria issue, the fight against terrorism, the exchange of hostages, the search for missing people, the humanitarian situation, the work to facilitate Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction and the creation of conditions for the return of Syrian refugees to their home country.

In addition, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry noted that a meeting of the working group on the release of detainees and hostages, the handover of the bodies and the search for those missing, which was set to take place on the sidelines of the negotiations, would involve representatives of the guarantor countries, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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Syria Turkey Kazakhstan

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