Turkey says four thresholds surpassed in Astana talks on Syria

Two days of talks in Astana that brought Syria's government and opposition groups around the same table helped in surpassing four key thresholds in efforts to resolve the five years of unrest in the war-torn country, according to Turkish officials, which believe the upcoming Geneva negotiations will be based on a more solid ground. 

"We deem the talks in Astana a success. The Astana talks constituted an important stage on Syria. We were able to pass four key thresholds in Astana which will make the upcoming Geneva talks on Feb. 8 more efficient," a high-level Turkish official told the Hürriyet Daily News on Jan. 25. 

Representatives of the Syrian government and opposition groups came together in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana on Jan. 23 and 24 with the participation of Turkish, Russian and Iranian diplomats, as well as the United Nations' special representative for Syria, Staffan de Mistura. 

A joint communiqué released in the aftermath of talks underlined the need for the continuation of the nationwide cease-fire in Syria and noted that talks would be held once more under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva on Feb. 8.

The four key thresholds that were surpassed in Astana, according to Turkey, are as follows: 

U.N. process: The Astana talks made it clear that efforts to find a peaceful and political solution to the Syrian question must undisputedly occur under the U.N. regardless of where the meetings are held. 

Regime and opposition meet: It was the first time in the six-year unrest that representatives of the Syrian government and armed opposition groups sat around the same table, albeit in a ceremonial fashion. Both sides' agreement to listen to each other in the first session of the meeting was...