25 Apr 2019 12:26

Turkey counts on progress in forming Syrian constitutional committee - diplomat

NUR-SULTAN. April 25 (Interfax) - Turkey is expecting the current round of the intra-Syrian talks, which is taking place in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan over April 25 and 26, to help establish the Syrian constitutional committee, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal said.

"Hopefully, the meeting will be useful and will help establish the constitutional committee. The situation on the ground is high on the agenda, and we are expecting to make progress in that area, too," Onal said at a bilateral meeting with the Russian delegation.

He also hailed the presence of UN representatives at the meeting.

The head of the Russian delegation and Special Presidential Representative, Alexander Lavrentyev, in turn, expressed hope that UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen would join the talks.

"We hope that Mr. Geir Pedersen will come here and participate in our talks," Lavrentyev said.

The two-day 12th round of the intra-Syrian talks began on Thursday.