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Will talks in Astana stop war in Syria?

Vestnik 28/05/2015

Victoria Panfilova, an observer of Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Exclusively for Vestnik KavkazaThe next round of three-day consultations on resolving the Syrian crisis finished on Wednesday in Astana. The meeting was attended only by representatives of the opposition.
The government delegation of Syria did not come to the Kazakh capital. Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov said that a resolution of the inter-Syrian conflict is only possible through peaceful means and only by the Syrians themselves.The leader of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society of Syria, Randa Kassis, initiated the negotiations in Astana. According to her, Kazakhstan can become an independent international arbitrator between the official authorities and the opposition. “Kazakhstan is a neutral state. It has good relations with Syria and with members of the United Nations Security Council,” Kassis said following the results of the consultations in Moscow. “I think Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev could receive Syrian representatives in his country.” Astana has been selected as the next possible site for consultations, particularly due to its close ties with Turkey, influencing the National Coalition for the Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, which is based in Turkey. Until now, its leaders ignored the invitations to come to Moscow for consultations. Given the fact that this coalition is considered to be one of the key groups of the Syrian opposition, any contacts between representatives of the country’s leadership and opposition without its participation will be inferior.Kazakhstan has agreed to host the talks, stressing that a resolution of the inter-Syrian conflict is only possible through peaceful means and only by the Syrians themselves. And it acted as a moderator during the inter-Syrian negotiations. Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov wrote on his Twitter page that Astana adheres to an open position in the inter-Syrian negotiations and does not set any hidden tasks.The meeting was attended by about 30 representatives of the moderate Syrian opposition – the Movement of the Pluralistic Society of Syria, the National Democratic Front, the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, the Coalition of Forces for Peaceful Changes, the Wa’ad party, the representatives of Kurdish, Turkmen, Assyrian and other ethnic groups, as well as experts from academia and civic society. The Damascus government, which did not participate in the dialogue, according to the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, “does not count on these meetings having any results.”However, as the participants reported, the talks were constructive. They discussed humanitarian problems and the organization of corridors with the help of international organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to deliver aid, as well as a road map solution to the conflict. The overwhelming majority of representatives of various Syrian opposition groups signed a final document on the results of the talks, a representative of the Movement for Pluralistic Society, Bassam Bitar, said. He did not specify which opposition groups shied away from signing and what was the cause of it, but expressed confidence that the results of the next meeting will be more spectacular. However, he did not specify where it is planned to hold the next round of negotiations. It is possible that it will take place in Astana again. Randa Kassis said that all participants of the talks agreed to come back to Kazakhstan. “We decided that we should meet every 2-3 months, and I think that Astana-2 will take place precisely in this period of time,” she said.Official Damascus is skeptical about the format of the talks in Astana: “Much of the opposition refused to participate. So we believe the meeting in Astana to be the same as those previously held in Cairo and Istanbul. We as a state do not count on these meetings having any results,” Syria’s Ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, told reporters.The director of the Kazakhstan Group of Risk Assessment, Dosym Satpayev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that Kazakhstan has good experience as a mediator in the conflict resolution process. He drew attention to the fact that Astana warned that it would not be a direct participant in the negotiations. Considering the fact that the negotiations were held behind closed doors, it is difficult to draw any conclusions, especially since they were not attended by the representatives of the Damascus government, i.e. the side which must be included in negotiations. But even if the results are not visible, Kazakhstan did not lose anything – on the contrary, it was beneficial, unlike the Ukrainian negotiation processes, and this is a plus for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry and the country’s leadership in general.Earlier, Astana has often been a site of talks. It is necessary to point out the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, when all international mediators and Iran’s leadership came to Kazakhstan. It was a triumph for Kazakhstan’s diplomacy in terms of mediation missions. Astana has also held talks on the Indo-Pakistani issue and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Astana is still ready to provide a platform for talks on Ukraine.
Victoria Panfilova, an observer of Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
The next round of three-day consultations on resolving the Syrian crisis finished on Wednesday in Astana. The meeting was attended only by representatives of the opposition. The government delegation of Syria did not come to the Kazakh capital. Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov said that a resolution of the inter-Syrian conflict is only possible through peaceful means and only by the Syrians themselves.
The leader of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society of Syria, Randa Kassis, initiated the negotiations in Astana. According to her, Kazakhstan can become an independent international arbitrator between the official authorities and the opposition. “Kazakhstan is a neutral state. It has good relations with Syria and with members of the United Nations Security Council,” Kassis said following the results of the consultations in Moscow. “I think Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev could receive Syrian representatives in his country.” Astana has been selected as the next possible site for consultations, particularly due to its close ties with Turkey, influencing the National Coalition for the Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, which is based in Turkey. Until now, its leaders ignored the invitations to come to Moscow for consultations. Given the fact that this coalition is considered to be one of the key groups of the Syrian opposition, any contacts between representatives of the country’s leadership and opposition without its participation will be inferior.
Kazakhstan has agreed to host the talks, stressing that a resolution of the inter-Syrian conflict is only possible through peaceful means and only by the Syrians themselves. And it acted as a moderator during the inter-Syrian negotiations. Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov wrote on his Twitter page that Astana adheres to an open position in the inter-Syrian negotiations and does not set any hidden tasks.
The meeting was attended by about 30 representatives of the moderate Syrian opposition – the Movement of the Pluralistic Society of Syria, the National Democratic Front, the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, the Coalition of Forces for Peaceful Changes, the Wa’ad party, the representatives of Kurdish, Turkmen, Assyrian and other ethnic groups, as well as experts from academia and civic society. The Damascus government, which did not participate in the dialogue, according to the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, “does not count on these meetings having any results.”
However, as the participants reported, the talks were constructive. They discussed humanitarian problems and the organization of corridors with the help of international organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to deliver aid, as well as a road map solution to the conflict. The overwhelming majority of representatives of various Syrian opposition groups signed a final document on the results of the talks, a representative of the Movement for Pluralistic Society, Bassam Bitar, said. He did not specify which opposition groups shied away from signing and what was the cause of it, but expressed confidence that the results of the next meeting will be more spectacular. However, he did not specify where it is planned to hold the next round of negotiations. It is possible that it will take place in Astana again. Randa Kassis said that all participants of the talks agreed to come back to Kazakhstan. “We decided that we should meet every 2-3 months, and I think that Astana-2 will take place precisely in this period of time,” she said.
Official Damascus is skeptical about the format of the talks in Astana: “Much of the opposition refused to participate. So we believe the meeting in Astana to be the same as those previously held in Cairo and Istanbul. We as a state do not count on these meetings having any results,” Syria’s Ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad, told reporters.
The director of the Kazakhstan Group of Risk Assessment, Dosym Satpayev, told Vestnik Kavkaza that Kazakhstan has good experience as a mediator in the conflict resolution process. He drew attention to the fact that Astana warned that it would not be a direct participant in the negotiations. Considering the fact that the negotiations were held behind closed doors, it is difficult to draw any conclusions, especially since they were not attended by the representatives of the Damascus government, i.e. the side which must be included in negotiations. But even if the results are not visible, Kazakhstan did not lose anything – on the contrary, it was beneficial, unlike the Ukrainian negotiation processes, and this is a plus for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry and the country’s leadership in general.
Earlier, Astana has often been a site of talks. It is necessary to point out the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, when all international mediators and Iran’s leadership came to Kazakhstan. It was a triumph for Kazakhstan’s diplomacy in terms of mediation missions. Astana has also held talks on the Indo-Pakistani issue and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Astana is still ready to provide a platform for talks on Ukraine.

Source: http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/71700.html


Majority of Syrian Opposition Sign Final Document at Reconciliation Talks

Sputnik News 26/05/2015

The majority of representatives of the Syrian opposition, who met for a fresh round of reconciliation talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, signed Tuesday a document summing up the results of negotiations, a participant in the talks told RIA Novosti.
ASTANA (Sputnik) — The meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana brought together more than 30 party leaders and representatives from various Syrian opposition groups, civil society figures and independent activists. The Syrian government has been absent from the talks.
“The overwhelming majority of representatives of various Syrian opposition groups signed a final document on the results of the talks,” Bassam Bitar, a representative of the Movement for Pluralistic Society, said.
Meanwhile, leader of the Movement for Pluralistic Society Randa Kassis told RIA Novosti that the issue of foreign mercenaries in Syria was the main point of contention for the opposition members.
“We believe that all foreign mercenaries should leave the country. It is our principle. We are not calling for their immediate withdrawal. But if we’re talking about the beginning of a political process, in the end they will have to leave the country,” Kassis stressed adding that this position was backed by the majority.
“Some still believe that in this case, Hezbollah should also leave [and they are against it],” she said.
Some 30 Syrian opposition members gathered in Central Asian Kazakhstan for two-day reconciliation talks.
Syria has been in a state of civil war for the past four years, with government forces engaged in a war against various militias, including the Islamic State.
Syria’s warring parties have met twice over the last three years at UN-backed Geneva conferences and twice in the Russian capital Moscow but failed to reach a practical solution toward ending the violence that has killed more than 220,000 people.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150526/1022584357.html#ixzz3eenfS5Wf


Syrian talks kick off in Kazakhstan’s Astana

Tengri News 25/05/2015

Syrian talks have kicked off in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Tengrinews reports citing the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Kazakhstan.
The negotiations will last until May 27. According to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, the situation in Syria evolved into one of the most serious conflicts in the world and stepped beyond the country’s boundaries, therefore countries need to join efforts to resolve the conflict.
“Kazakhstan supports the UN-led effort of all the involved parties inside and outside of Syria to end the violence and bloodshed, overcome the humanitarian disaster and determine the political future of this country through dialogue and reconciliation,” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry declared.
The Foreign Ministry sent out invitations to all the Syrian opposition groups without exception and civil society groups, too.
The participants of the meeting are discussing delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria and development of an action plan to settle the conflict.
Syrian opposition proposed to hold talks in Astana in April’s end. “We’re talking about getting Kazakhstan to assist in resolving the crisis in Syria because of the role that Kazakhstan played in the world community thanks to its relationships with various countries,” the leader of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society Randa Kassis said then.
In early May, Randa Kassis announced that she had a meeting with Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov and the head of the Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry’s Department for Asia and Africa, during which they determined the date of the Syrian opposition meeting.
The Syrian talks have been ongoing for four years already with a sole aim of resolving the Syrian crisis that initially started as a pro-democracy revolt and turned into a multi-sided civil war after the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government responded with violent crackdowns.
It has already claimed lives of more than 200 thousand people, according to the United Nations, and forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes. Many rights groups have accused the international community of failing Syria.

By Assel Satubaldina

Source: https://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/syrian-talks-kick-off-in-kazakhstans-astana-260463/


Geneva / Syria consultations

UNIFEED 13/05/2015

As part of the ongoing Geneva Consultations on Syria, Special Envoy de Mistura met with Randa Kassis, President and Founder of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society.
These meetings focused on various perspectives and initiatives of supporting the Syrian people in their search for peace and efforts to realize their aspirations.
They discussed the deteriorating situation in Syria and the growing humanitarian concerns in the country.
De Mistura stressed the urgency of finding a political solution, and making every effort to alleviate the suffering of the people and save lives amidst the chaos that many parts of Syria have lunged into.

Source: https://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/asset/1357/1357646/


Kazakhstan to Host Syria Talks

The Diplomat 08/05/2015

Kazakhstan will host talks on the Syrian crisis later this month, according to a report from Tengrinewsciting RIA Novosti, the Russian state news agency. The talks, Tengrinews says, will occur in Astana from May 25 to 27.
In early April, Randa Kassis, an opposition figure, said at the Syria talks in Moscow that some of the opposition would reach out to explore the possibility of Astana’s participation in mediation the Syrian conflict. By late April, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry was saying that a number of Syrian opposition groups — which it did not name — had asked the Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to host talks and a group visited Astana on April 27 to further explore the possibility.
This series of events seems to have built to actually scheduling talks, but it’s not time to celebrate yet. Not only have Syrian peace talks to-date yielded little tangible results, but Kazakhstan has scheduled talks on other disputes in recent months that have be postponed.
The Moscow and Geneva Syria peace talks have made little progress and Kazakhstan’s foreign minister, Erlan Idrissov, insisted that the country had no “intention to substitute the existing platforms.”
The April Moscow talks ended on a sour note – characterized by infighting between the various opposition groups. Russia is widely categorized as an ally of the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad, something that certainly impacts the appeal of talks in Moscow. Some of the Syrian conflict’s major players neglected to attend the meetings, such as the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which Washington has recognized as “a legitimate representative” of the Syrian people, but not a “government in exile.” The UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura also declined to attend the Moscow meetings, though he did attend the first set of meetings in Moscow in January. The January meeting, however, only resulted in the parties agreeing to meet again.
The Islamic State, a critical piece of the Syrian puzzle, has declined to participate in any peace talks.
Kazakhstan doesn’t have delusions about the talks solving the crisis in Syria. Neither does Kassis, who said that the Astana meetings will discuss humanitarian aid and an action plan to settle the conflict. According toTengrinews, she also commented that “we will never be able to find a way out of the situation or achieve an agreement with the Islamic State or Jabhat al-Nusra. But there are several disbanded officers that have agreed to visit Astana.”
So what’s in it for Kazakhstan? This isn’t the country’s first attempt to raise its diplomatic profile. It is the act of hosting — not final resolution of conflicts under consideration — that matters at this juncture.
In 2010, Astana hosted the OSCE summit. But the summit ended poorly and consensus was difficult to achieve — the then-recent WikiLeaks scandal and disagreements over language referring to a number of frozen conflicts within the OSCE’s zone postponed the closing news conference by half a day. After midnight Nazarbayev said to reporters that “the fact that I am talking to you at 01:00 Astana time probably tells you that it was not easy to achieve consensus.”
In 2013, Kazakhstan hosted nuclear talks between the P5+1 and Iran in the old capital, Almaty. While the talks served to boost Kazakhstan’s diplomatic clout the impact on the still-ongoing negotiations is indeterminate.
Earlier this year, Kazakhstan was scheduled to host negotiations on the Ukraine crisis, but the peace talks werepostponed due to reports, on both sides, of mobilization. Reports in February said that the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France remained interested in talks in Astana, but nothing has been announced.
Kazakhstan has cultivated a neutral image, “so it is not surprising that when conflicts arise in the post-Soviet space and beyond, Kazakhstan emerges as a kind of a moderator,” Dosym Satpayev, a Kazakh political analyst commented. Kazakhstan has good relations with Russia, China, the United States, and a number of European countries, making it an attractive option for diplomacy in some ways. And although it may still lack the profile of other venues — such as Geneva — it is most certainly gaining diplomatic ground.
Rustam Burnashev, another analyst quoted by Tengrinews, said that Kazakhstan’s previous hosting of the OSCE summit and Iran talks “was not about peacemaking, but nevertheless, it propelled the status of the country.” The scheduled Syria talks, no matter how they impact that conflict, fit into this theme.

Source: https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/kazakhstan-to-host-syria-talks/


Kazakhstan’s Astana to host Syrian crisis talks in May’s end

Tengri News 07/05/2015

Kazakhstan’s capital Astana will host talks on the Syrian crisis on May 25-27,Tengrinews reports citing RIA Novosti. The talks have been held for four years already with a sole aim of resolving the Syrian crisis that initially started as a pro-democracy revolt and turned into a multi-sided civil war after the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government responded with violent crackdowns. It has already killed over 200 thousand people, according to the United Nations.
The leader of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society Randa Kassis spoke about the upcoming meeting. “I met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerlan Idrissov and the head of the (Kazakhstan Foreign) Ministry’s Department of Asia and Africa. We set the date of the meeting of the Syrian opposition in Astana, which is May 25-27,” she is quoted as saying by Sputnik agency.
She also said that Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry would send out invitations to all the Syrian opposition groups without exception and civil society groups, too.
The participants of the meeting will discuss delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria and development of an action plan to settle the conflict. Currently, Randa Kassis is meeting with the opposition groups. “We will never be able to find a way out of the situation or achieve an agreement with the Islamic State or Jabhat al-Nusra. But there are several disbanded officers that have agreed to visit Astana,” Kassis said.
Earlier, the Syrian opposition asked Astana to join the Syrian crisis talks on April 6-9 in Moscow when Cassis called Kazakhstan a neutral country that enjoys good relations with all the permanent members of the UN Security Council. “And there are positive signals coming from Kazakhstan,” she said.
However, the Kazakh side did not join the Syrian talks in Moscow that time.
By Assel Satubaldina

Source: https://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/kazakhstans-astana-to-host-syrian-crisis-talks-in-mays-end-260222/


Syrian Opposition to Visit Kazakhstan Over Holding Reconciliation Talks

Sputnik News 20/04/2015

According to the founder of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society Randa Kassis, a group of members of the Syrian opposition will visit Astana on April 27 to discuss the possibility of holding intra-Syrian talks in Kazakhstan, the founder of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)– A group of members of the Syrian opposition will visit Astana on April 27 to discuss the possibility of holding intra-Syrian talks in Kazakhstan, the founder of the Movement of the Pluralistic Society, Randa Kassis said Monday.
“We, the representatives of Syrian opposition, signatories to the appeal to the Kazakh President, intend to visit Astana on April 27,” Kassis told RIA Novosti.
Earlier in April, seven Syrian opposition activists officially requested Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to mediate the future reconciliation talks.


On Saturday, Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov wrote in a letter to the members of the Syrian opposition that Kazakhstan is “in principle” ready to provide a forum for negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Arab country.
Idrissov invited the Syrian opposition members to visit Kazakhstan “at a convenient day” for further discussions of Astana’s possible mediation in the Syrian peace process.
Syria has been in a civil war since 2011, when an anti-government uprising started. More than 220,000 people have died in the hostilities. Various extremists groups, including the Islamic State, are fighting in the war.
Earlier in April, Moscow hosted the second round of intra-Syrian peace talks between the country’s authorities and the opposition.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150420/1021117585.html#ixzz3eelxd0Tx


Syrian Opposition Asks Kazakh President to Mediate Reconciliation Talks

Sputnik News 13/04/2015

The Syrian opposition officially requested Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to mediate future reconciliation talks on Syrian crisis.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Members of the Syrian opposition have officially requested Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to mediate future reconciliation talks, according to a letter signed by seven opposition leaders.
The letter, obtained by RIA Novosti Monday, welcomes Moscow’s “efforts and insistence in reaching a political settlement in Syria” and asks for an “invitation to Kazakhstan in order to continue the efforts that had been initiated in Moscow.”
“We consider it vitally important to continue our discussions in order to establish a consistent and structured platform, comprising various groups of realistic and constructive opponents,” the letter reads.
Earlier this month, Randa Kassis, a Syrian secular opposition figure, told Sputnik that the idea to invite Kazakhstan stemmed from the country’s neutrality and good relations with all members of the UN Security Council.
On April 6-9, Moscow hosted a second round of intra-Syrian talks between the Syrian authorities and the opposition. One of the opposition leaders referred to the talks’ outcome as positive, saying it could provide a framework for future steps to resolve the crisis in the country.
The first round of Moscow talks took place in January.
Envoys of the Syrian government and opposition previously took part in negotiations in Geneva, but talks failed to yield results.
Syria has been in a civil war since 2011, when an anti-government uprising took place. More than 220,000 people died and millions were displaced as a result of the hostilities between the army and various militias, including radical Islamists.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150413/1020815707.html#ixzz3eelf2WHs


Intra-Syrian Talks Participants to Issue Joint Statement on Friday

Sputnik News 09/04/2015

The opposition and the government have alined six points of the upcoming document, Randa Kassis, a Syrian secular opposition figure said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Participants of intra-Syrian consultations in Moscow are expected to issue a nine-point joint statement on Friday, a Syrian opposition source at the current talks told RIA Novosti Thursday.
“It will be a document issued jointly by opposition and government officials. We have agreed six point so far, three are remaining,” Randa Kassis, a Syrian secular opposition figure, who has been invited to take part in the negotiations in Moscow, said.
Kassis said the document would be based on the principles agreed at Geneva I talks.
Meanwhile, another opposition source at the Moscow talks told RIA Novosti that the issue of future Geneva III talks on Syrian reconciliation had been taken off the agenda of the current consultations.
Earlier in the day, a representative of the Syrian National Youth opposition party Suheyr Sarmini told Sputnik that no particular changes were made during the last day of negotiations.
The Russian capital hosts the second round of talks between Syrian leadership and its fragmented opposition from Monday through Thursday. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, along with UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, has declined the invitation to participate in the talks.
The parties first met in the Russian capital in late January to discuss a political framework for settling the Syrian crisis. The warring sides worked out so-called Moscow Principles outlining a political platform for national reconciliation.
The Syrian civil war began in 2011 following an anti-government uprising. The war has taken over 200,000 lives, and displaced millions, according to UN estimates.

Source: https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201504091020669452/#ixzz3eelFHgJx


Syrian Opposition Plans to Ask Kazakhstan to Join Intra-Syrian Talks

Sputnik News 07/04/2015

Members of internal Syrian opposition intend to send a letter to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev asking him to join intra-Syrian reconciliation talks.
MOSCOW, April 7 (Sputnik) — Members of internal Syrian opposition are planning to ask Kazakhstan to join intra-Syrian reconciliation talks in the future, a participant of the current round of talks in Moscow told Sputnik on Tuesday.
“I intend to send a letter to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev with a proposal to arrange his meeting with a working group consisting of some opposition activists, who took part in consultations in Moscow, and some other opposition members, who did not attend the current talks,” Randa Kassis, a Syrian secular opposition figure, who has been invited to take part in the negotiations in Moscow, said.
The Russian capital hosts the second round of talks between Syrian leadership and its fragmented opposition from Monday to Thursday. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, along with UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, declined the invitation to participate in the talks.
The previous round, a first attempt in over a year to resolve the Syrian conflict dating back to 2011 and resulting in 220,000 deaths, took place in January and yielded the so-called Moscow Principles outlining a political platform for national reconciliation.
The topics on the agenda for the latest talks include launching a political process to help bring about national reconciliation and studying confidence-building measures both sides could rely on, according to the assistant secretary-general of one of the participating parties.
The initiative to invite Kazakhstan to join negotiations in the future, Kassis told Sputnik, stems from the Central Asian state’s neutrality and good relations with all five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150407/1020588766.html#ixzz3eekjNekU