Few people are aware that Kazakhstan played a major role in ending the diplomatic crisis that followed Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane last year. Now Kazakhstan is taking a much more public mediator role in strategic talks among Moscow, Ankara, Tehran and Damascus on Syria’s future.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hold Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana. On Dec. 18, after talking to Putin by phone, Erdogan said positive steps have been taken for the future of Syria and the situation in Aleppo, and that talks hosted by Kazakhstan will continue.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said he welcomes the proposal and his country is ready to fill the mediator role. And so, Kazakhstan, which was the discreet facilitator of the Russia-Turkey normalization, has emerged as the active mediator in the Syria issue.

Kazakhstan's relations with Russia are mainly military- and security-oriented, while its ties with Turkey are more about trade and other economic considerations. Kazakhstan has deftly managed a balanced approach to both countries. Both Ankara and Moscow have been pleased with Astana's constructive and risk-averse attitude.