As Astana trio meets in Geneva, questions loom over Syrian constitution
The formation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee has been mired by disputes and delays, though this stalling could be beneficial to Moscow and the Syrian government.
High-level representatives of the three countries involved in Syria talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana — Russia, Iran and Turkey — have taken part in a two-day session in Geneva this week dedicated to the political resolution of the Syrian conflict. The delegates discussed with the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, the formation of the Syrian Constitutional Committee. The countries had reached an agreement to form the committee in January during the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi.
Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for Syria, summed it up this way: Moscow expects the last stage of discussion on the committee to take place in mid-July, during a separate meeting in Geneva. Lavrentiev also mentioned that Moscow and Ankara have been in constant contact over Kurdish participation in the constitutional committee, in which the Kurds will eventually be represented.
