The Syrian government and Iranian delegations held a bilateral meeting on the issue of Turkey’s military observation posts in the Syrian northwestern Idlib province as a part of Astana-9 talks, Sputnik reported on Monday, citing a source.
"They just started a bilateral meeting and will focus on the Turkish observation points in Idlib," the source was quoted as saying by Sputnik.
The Kazakhstan capital is currently hosting a fresh round of Syria talks in Astana. All delegations except the United States have confirmed their participation. The US Embassy in Kazakhstan told Sputnik earlier on Monday that the US delegation would not partake in the ongoing negotiations.
The Turkish government completes the construction of Syrian ceasefire observation posts in the Syrian province of Idlib within a week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday.
"As of now, the number of the observation posts along the perimeter of the de-escalation zone in Idlib has reached 10. The agreements envisage the construction of 12 such posts. The remaining two will be built within the upcoming week. I hope that after the construction of the posts is completed the situation in Idlib will normalize," Erdoğan told reporters.
Astana has hosted eight rounds of talks on Syrian settlement so far. One of the main achievements of the negotiations was the creation of de-escalation zones in the country last year.
