Astana

About 10 Syrian rebel groups announced Jan. 2 they were suspending talks about planned peace negotiations this month in the Kazakh capital Astana, due to "violations" by Damascus of a four-day old truce.

A cease-fire held across most of Syria on Jan. 1 as Russia and Turkey secured unanimous passage of a United Nations resolution backing their efforts to "jumpstart" talks aimed at ending the nearly six-year conflict.

The Security Council resolution aims to pave the way for talks next month in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, under the aegis of Turkey, Russia and Iran.

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the nearly six-year conflict in Syria and jumpstart peace negotiations.

Turkey's foreign minister said Dec. 30 that the recent diplomatic tension between Russia and the United States "will serve nothing but add to the existing problems".

FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters in southern Antalya province that such a tension "between the global actors" will be no good "for both of the countries and for the region."

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has described the truce reached between the Syrian regime and the opposition groups as a "base for negotiations on a lasting peace" in the war-torn country, reiterating Ankara's call for other prominent actors to join the Turkish-Russian efforts. 

Turkey and Russia will establish joint monitoring centers in the Eskişehir Main Air Base in Turkey and Hmeimim Air Base in Syria to closely follow the implementation of a cease-fire between the Syrian regime and opposition groups, a senior Turkish official has said. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Dec. 30 that the U.S.-led international coalition struck Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets in northern Syria's al-Bab province for the first time in a long while.

Çavuşoğlu also said Ankara would welcome the U.S. at upcoming Syria peace talks in Astana, saying "no parties were excluded" from the Astana process.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a cease-fire agreed by Bashar al-Assad's regime and opposition groups, as well as the upcoming Astana talks, in a phone conversation on Dec. 29, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke on Thursday over the telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin to express his condolences over the fatal Black Sea plane crash and the assassination earlier this month of Moscow's ambassador to Ankara.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's statement on Dec. 28 that expanding the cease-fire to evacuate Aleppo across Syria was "at hand" thanks to talks with Russia has raised hopes and questions in equal measure.