Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister reveals Astana process agenda

ASTANA. KAZINFORM The fifth round of the Astana process will be held today and tomorrow in Astana. And Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Abdrakhmanov told journalists about its agenda, Kazinform correspondent reports.

"First of all, we are talking about how to implement the memorandum on the creation of 4 de-escalation zones, which was signed by the guarantor countries (Russia, Turkey, Iran) at the meeting in May. No doubt, in terms of implementing this memorandum, issues such as defining the borders of these zones, as well as defining and discussing the issue of control over the functioning of de-escalation zones, are of key importance. As you remember, this memorandum mentions the establishment of checkpoints and observation posts along the borders of de-escalation zones," he said on the sidelines of the Government session.

According to him, it is also planned to discuss the issues of mine clearance of cultural objects in Syria, which are protected by UNESCO and are included in the list of World Heritage.

Abdrakhmanov added that according to the Russian coordination center for reconciliation of opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, about 65 armed opposition groups joined this regime of truce.

"All the delegations that planned to participate in this important stage of the talks have arrived (...) This time, as far as I was informed, 9 representatives of the armed Syrian opposition arrived and are currently in our capital," the minister said.