Erdogan: Syrian Opposition Decides to Skip Peace Talks With Damascus

© AFP 2023 / ADEM ALTANTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a mukhtars meeting at the presidential palace on November 26, 2015 in Ankara
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a mukhtars meeting at the presidential palace on November 26, 2015 in Ankara - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Syrian opposition has made a last-minute decision not to participate in the talks with the country’s government in Geneva, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The intra-Syrian talks were slated to begin Friday evening.

"The moderate opposition decided to not take part in the talks at the last moment. The continuous Russian airstrikes in the region where opposition is located presents a problem for it. Until ceasefire is reached, participation in those talks is perceived by those on the frontline as treason," Erdogan said.

Ankara has repeatedly accused Moscow of trying to target the moderate opposition, while Russia denied the allegations as groundless as Russian airstrikes have been supporting not only Syrian government forces, but also the country's opposition groups fighting against Daesh terrorist group.

Russian airstrikes in Syria - Sputnik International
Putin: Russia Coordinates Moves in Syria With Both Assad's Army, Opposition
The Turkish president added that the Syrian opposition had repeatedly called for ceasefire to participate in negotiations.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with the country’s government fighting against multiple opposition factions and terrorist groups, including Daesh and al-Nusra Front.

Russia has been launching airstrikes against Daesh and al-Nusra terrorists in Syria since September 30 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Musa, a 25-year-old Kurdish marksman, stands atop a building as he looks at the destroyed Syrian town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on January 30, 2015 - Sputnik International
Syrian Opposition Group to Protest Kurdish Exclusion From Peace Talks
In December 2015, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution on settling the Syrian conflict, which reaffirmed the goals of the Vienna agreements to bring the entire spectrum of political groups in the crisis-torn country to the negotiating table and stated that the next round of the talks would take place in January, 2016.

Earlier, Deputy head of the Syrian opposition delegation at the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, George Sabra, said Thursday the delegation would not travel to Geneva to attend the beginning of the talks on January 29.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала