ASTANA (Sputnik) — More than 300 foreign journalists have applied for obtaining accreditation to cover the intra-Syrian talks in Astana, head of the press service of Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry Anuar Zhaynakov said Friday.
"So far, over 300 foreign mass media journalists have applied for accreditation for the upcoming meeting on Syrian settlement in Astana," Zhaynakov told RIA Novosti.
He said a press center for reporters would be established that would start working at 9 a.m. local time (15:00 GMT) on January 23. The journalists will get accreditation badges. The accreditation process began on January 19 and finished Friday evening.
The intra-Syrian talks, set to begin on January 23 in the Kazakh capital, were initiated by Russia, Iran and Turkey. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev endorsed the idea of Astana as a platform for the negotiations which was proposed in December. The talks are considered to supplement the Geneva talks slated for February 8.
