Sputnik- Ozturk Yilmaz, a deputy chair responsible for foreign relations of the Turkish Republican People's Party claims that insignificant participation and contribution of the United States to Astana talks on Syria was aimed to undermine their importance for Syria crisis settlement.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)�� Insignificant participation and contribution of�the United States to�Astana talks on�Syria was aimed to�undermine their importance for�Syria crisis settlement, Ozturk Yilmaz, a deputy chair responsible for�foreign relations of�the Turkish Republican People's Party (CHP), told Sputnik on�Tuesday.


"In Astana talks the US position is also very important. They try to�downplay the role of�Astana meeting. So they did not actively participated in�these talks trying to�undermine the efforts being carried out�not under�their auspices," Yilmaz said.


Yilmaz stressed that although US Ambassador to�Kazakhstan George Krol participated in�Astana talks, he was not active and was just like�an observer. He added that from�now many issues will depend on�US President Donald Trump and his administration attitude toward�the Syrian crisis.

"They wanted to�cripple the process in�Astana, they stepped back from�participation fully � with�the view to�wait the process to�be transferred from�Astana to�Geneva, back on�track where the United States is strong," Yilmaz added.

The intra-Syrian talks, brokered by�Moscow, Ankara and Tehran, were held in�Astana on�January 23-24 and brought the Syrian government and opposition groups face to�face for�the first time since�the beginning of�the civil war in�Syria in�2011. The Astana negotiations will be followed by�a UN-mediated meeting in�Geneva expected to�take place on�February 8.