UN’s envoy for Syria to attend Sochi talks

Monitoring Desk

ANKARA: UN’s Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will attend a planned summit on the Syrian conflict in Russia’s coastal city of Sochi.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was fully briefed by Mistura, and “has decided to accept the invitation of the Russian Federation to send a representative to attend the Sochi Congress,” Stephane Duja-rric, the UN’s spokesman, said in a statement.

“The Secretary-General is confident that the Congress in Sochi will be an important c-ontribution to a revived intra-Syrian talks process under the auspices of the United Natio-ns in Geneva,” Dujarric add-ed.

Earlier Saturday, the Syrian opposition’s Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC) said it will not take part in the meeting.

The announcement was made by HNC’s head Nasir Hariri following a two-day meeting on Syria held in Austrian capital Vienna.

He said the HNC has decided not to attend the Sochi meeting after consultations during the two-day meeting in Vienna.

“Our people have advised not to attend the Sochi talks,” he said, adding that the HNC would maintain political transition negotiations from Ge-neva. Asked about an ongoing Turkish military operation against the PYD/PKK terror group in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, Hariri said: “PYD, before Turkey, is primarily a problem for the Syrian people. They have armed militants a-nd have committed violations against civilians.” He stressed that the HNC stands against every terror organization.

The guarantor countries Russia, Iran and Turkey, had agreed to gather for Syrian peace talks in southern Russian city of Sochi on Jan. 29-30.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Guterres’ decision to send Mistura to attend the Congress in Sochi.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Since then, thousands of people have been killed, according to UN.