Turkey, Russia, Iran to monitor Syria cease-fire

Russia, Iran and Turkey, the sponsors of peace talks between Syrian rebels and Damascus, agreed on Jan. 23 to establish a joint "mechanism" to monitor the frail truce in the war-torn country, at the end of the two-day talks in Kazakh capital Astana.

The sides will "establish a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the cease-fire, prevent any provocations and determine all modalities of the cease-fire," according to a final statement read by Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov following the talks in Astana.

The Turkish delegation's head, Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Sedat Önal; Russia's special envoy on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev; Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari; and U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura sat alongside the Kazakh foreign minister at the press conference in Astana on Jan. 23. 

Rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran also support the presence of the armed opposition at political negotiations under U.N. auspices set to take place next month in Geneva, the statement said.

Rebel spokesman Yahya al-Aridi said earlier in the day that the group would not sign a declaration coming out of the talks, saying it would be issued by its sponsors, rebel backer Turkey, regime ally Russia and possibly Iran.

Al-Aridi added that the final declaration was a "general statement" that is "not meant to be signed by the parties."
 
The rebel delegation said earlier that they would agree to have Russia serve as a guarantor of the current cease-fire but not Iran, another backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The head of the Syrian opposition delegation to talks in Astana, Mohammed Alloush, said on Jan. 23 that he had...