Will The Syrian Peace Talks Succeed?

The Guardian: Millions displaced and 500,000 dead – will new peace talks end Syria’s agony?

The latest attempt to end the six-year conflict has been organised by Russia and Turkey and begins in the Kazakh capital.

Key parties in Syria’s brutal civil war, now stretching towards the end of its sixth year, will meet in the Kazakh capital of Astana this week for a new round of peace talks.

Organised by Russia and Turkey, and backed by Iran, these are the latest in many attempts to shift Syria’s conflict from battlefield to negotiating table.

The conflict has already claimed up to half a million lives and displaced half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes. But past efforts to end the fighting have come to little, hindered by everything from a lack of trust or any real interest in talks to the absence of powerful Syrian players and their foreign backers.

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WNU Editor: I have no reason to believe that these talks will succeed. The rebels are not united .... Syrian rebels bitterly divided before new peace talks (Reuters). Iran is really not on board .... Tehran and Moscow at loggerheads over Syria peace talks: Russia (Middle East Eye). And the Gulf states that have been supporting the rebellion are not even invited.