Too Early to Speak About Astana as Venue for Next Intra-Syrian Talks' Round

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — At the moment it is too early to speak if Kazakhstan's capital could serve as the host of the next round of talks on Syrian settlement between Damascus and opposition groups, the deputy head of the Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee (HNC) told Sputnik on Friday.

"It is premature to talk about this, it is not about Kazakhstan or any other country, it is an issue that concerns the Syrian people and their will to choose who represents them," George Sabra said, when asked whether HNC would agree on Astana as the talks' host.

The so-called Arab Spring protests shook the Middle East in 2011. In Syria, the protests resulted in clashes between the government forces and opposition. Since then, the Middle Eastern country has been mired in a war, which involves Syrian army, numerous opposition factions, as well as terrorist groups.

The opposition and Damascus, along with the mediators, have been engaged in UN-brokered settlement talks. The latest round of intra-Syrian talks took place in Geneva in April. The Riyadh-formed HNC opposition group walked out of the negotiations, citing the continuous fighting in Syria and the lack of progress on humanitarian issues. HNC transition plans included constitutional revision in its final stage.