On December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the possibility of a meeting between the Syrian conflicting parties in Astana. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has said the Astana talks will be useful to the United Nations. He also intends to convene negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva on February 8.
"[No one] has contacted us," Makdissi told RIA Novosti, adding that the opposition group has learned about the talks from media reports.
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.
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 High Negotiations Committee (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.
