Astana talks: Expanding Syria ‘safe zone’ will ‘do nothing good’, says Russian envoy

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Russia’s special envoy for Syria said Tuesday that Moscow and Ankara do not need to expand the so-called ‘safe zone’ in northern Syria as the situation in the region is now stable. 

Russia and the United States greenlighted Turkey’s October 9 offensive into northern Syria, launched with the stated aim of pushing Kurdish forces back from its southern border and implementing its ‘peace corridor’ plan, where it hopes to resettle millions of Syrian refugees currently sheltered in Turkey. 

Despite seizing control of two key towns and several surrounding villages from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and forcing the group to leave, Turkey says it wants to push deeper into SDF-controlled areas to the south. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara in late October: “We will give a drastic response to any attack coming from outside of the safe zone [in northern Syria] and we will expand our safe zone area if needed.” 

Arriving in the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan on Tuesday, Russia’s special presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters that any expansion of the “safe zone” will do “nothing good”. He said Turkey and its Syrian proxies must abide by the October 22 deal between Ankara and Moscow.

“The memorandum signed by Presidents Putin and Erdogan clearly defines the safe zone. It needs to be maintained in its current form. This is the only way. Expanding the zone will do nothing good,” he said in response to a question, according to Russian state media agency TASS. 

Despite the Turkish deals with both the US and Russia to halt fighting in Syria, clashes have continued between the SDF and Turkish-backed forces. 

“Various forces continue to stage provocations but on the whole, I think that we have succeeded in stabilizing the situation there. In my view, it is a very good sign,” the envoy added. 

Astana process

Lavrentyev’s is in Kazakhstan to attend the 14th round of talks between the guarantors of the Astana peace process – Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Before the two-day talks began on Tuesday, both the Russian and Iranian delegations held bilateral consultations behind closed doors in Nur-Sultan, according to TASS. 

The first meeting of the Astana process, which is intended to find a permanent solution for the eight-year Syrian crisis, was held in early 2017.

A number of closed-door bilateral and multilateral meetings will be held by the three guarantors of the process and others, including the United Nations, according to Kazhak newspaper The Nation.

The work of the Syrian Constitutional Committee and the situation in Idlib are to top the talks, the paper added.