ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups have gathered in the Kazakh capital Astana to hold peace talks aimed at ending the six-year conflict in the Arab state, with senior diplomats from Iran, Russia and Turkey mediating the process. The two-day talks opened at Astana’s Rixos President Hotel on Monday with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov delivering the keynote speech. The negotiations, which are backed by the United Nations, will be held behind closed doors. At the event, Iran and Russia will be mediating on behalf of the Syrian administration, while Turkey will be siding with the opposition. Syria’s UN ambassador and head of the Damascus delegation Bashar al-Ja’afari (R) speaks with Syrian ambassador to Russia Riad Haddad prior to the first session of Syria peace talks at Astana’s Rixos President Hotel on January 23, 2017. (Photo by AFP) On the eve of the negotiations, delegates from the three countries held long-hours talks in Astana. They discussed...

Syrian security forces have prevented an attempt to supply militants operating in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus with US-made TOW anti-tank guided missiles. According to reports, last weekend, security forces seized a batch of at least 12 TOW units (some sources say that over 20) en route to the region. Most likely, the missiles were set to be delivered to the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam militant group, operating in the area. A Twitter user, WithinSyriaBlog, released alleged photos of the captured missiles:

A logo of the Turkish-backed police Some 450 members of “police units” trained, backed and supplied by Turkey have been deployed to the Syrian border town of Jarabulus, controlled by pro-Turkish militant groups and the Turkish Armed Forces. General Abdel Razaq Aslan, a defector from the Syrian Army is a commander of the Turkey-led police in the town. The logo of the so-called “Jarablus police” includes the word “police” written in Turkish. Abdel Razaq Aslan In 2016, reports appeared that Turkey was recruiting Syrian refugees (males aged between 20 and 35 years) in order to create police and security units in the Turkish-controlled area in northern Syria. The deployment of police units to Jarabulus is the first public result of this effort.