"In Astana talks the US position is also very important. They try to downplay the role of Astana meeting. So they did not actively participated in these talks trying to undermine the efforts being carried out not under their auspices," Yilmaz said.
Yilmaz stressed that although US Ambassador to Kazakhstan George Krol participated in Astana talks, he was not active and was just like an observer. He added that from now many issues will depend on US President Donald Trump and his administration attitude toward the Syrian crisis.
"They wanted to cripple the process in Astana, they stepped back from participation fully … with the view to wait the process to be transferred from Astana to Geneva, back on track where the United States is strong," Yilmaz added.
The intra-Syrian talks, brokered by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran, were held in Astana on January 23-24 and brought the Syrian government and opposition groups face to face for the first time since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011. The Astana negotiations will be followed by a UN-mediated meeting in Geneva expected to take place on February 8.
