The “Astana 16” meetings on Syria will start on Wednesday in Kazakhstan to discuss hot files, foremost of which is the seriously deteriorating humanitarian situation in Idlib, especially with the dispute over extending the opening of the “Bab al-Hawa” crossing, which is the lifeline for the last strongholds of the Syrian opposition in country.

A few days later, the UN Security Council will discuss the extension of the international mechanism for delivering humanitarian aid into Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, in light of talk of a Russian refusal.

In the past period, the Syrian arena witnessed many violations by the regime forces and the militias supporting it in the Idlib area, and it is expected that all these files will be addressed.

Participants

The high-level meeting will be attended by representatives of the guarantor countries, namely Turkey, Russia and Iran, the delegations of the Syrian regime and the opposition, in addition to the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen.

The delegations of the participating countries will also participate as observers, namely Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan, and representatives of international organizations.

The head of the Syrian opposition delegation to the “Astana” talks, Ahmed Tohme, previously confirmed to “Arabi 21” the opposition’s participation.

Press reports had revealed that the head of the “Syrian Tribes and Clans Council” and a member of the National Coalition, Sheikh Salem al-Maslat, joined the opposition delegation that will participate in the tour.

In this regard, the official spokesman for the “Syrian Tribes and Clans Council,” Sheikh Mudar Hammad Al-Assaad, did not confirm Al-Muslat’s participation in the next round of “Astana” talks.

He said toArabic21The council is mainly represented in the delegation participating in the talks, where the head of the opposition delegation, Ahmed Tohme, is a member of the advisory body of the “Syrian Tribes and Tribes Council.”

its time

The Astana meetings will be held on the seventh and eighth of July, in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan.

hot files

The United Nations has been delivering aid to millions of people since 2014, through a mechanism approved by the Security Council, which allows international aid to be delivered to Syria through the Bab al-Hawa border gate.

Syrian citizens who were forcibly displaced from different regions in Syria and sought refuge in Idlib (northwest) depend on this humanitarian aid; In order to secure their food and drug needs.

Until 2020, aid has been sent through 4 border gates, two of which are with Turkey, where Russia succeeded in closing 3 gates by using its veto in the Security Council, and keeping the “Bab al-Hawa” crossing opposite the “Giloh Gozo” gate on the side. The Turkish border is only open for an additional year.

More than 1,000 humanitarian aid trucks pass through Bab al-Hawa gate every month, but the mechanism that keeps it open expires on July 11.

The UN Security Council needs to renew approval of the said mechanism; So that the border gate remains open to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian aid.

It is scheduled that the Syrian field and political issues will be present at the meeting, especially after a fifth round of constitutional committee meetings was held in Geneva months ago, without achieving progress, due to the regime’s refusal to discuss constitutional contents.

In contrast to the regime, the opposition presented ten articles of constitutional contents in Chapter One related to constitutional principles, with which the regime did not interact, which prompted the UN envoy to feel disappointed, and to express that an opportunity was lost during the previous meeting in Geneva weeks ago.

The Astana-15 tour, which took place in the Russian city of Sochi last February, witnessed an agreement to extend the truce agreement signed on March 5, 2020, with an emphasis on the country’s unity and rejection of separatist plans by some parties, which are complementary to the track meetings. And it discusses Syrian field and humanitarian affairs.