Russia, Turkey and Iran hold talks on Syria in Kazakhstan

Syrians from opposition-held Eastern Ghouta walk through a regime-controlled corridor in Hawsh Al-Ashaari, east of the Eastern Ghouta town of Hamouria, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, after escaping the enclave on Thursday. (AFP)

ASTANA/BEIRUT: The foreign ministers of Iran, Russia and Turkey were locked in talks on Syria in Kazakhstan on Friday, while Syrian regime and Russian airstrikes killed at least 46 people in a besieged town outside of Damascus on Friday.
In a related development, Turkish shelling and attacks on a Kurdish-held town in northern Syria has also left at least 22 dead.
The Astana meeting is being held almost a month after the Moscow and Tehran-backed regime began pounding an opposition enclave just outside of Damascus.
The dire humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the Syrian capital, is likely to be on the agenda as Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, Sergei Lavrov of Russia and Mevlut Cavusoglu of Turkey convened in the Kazakh capital Astana on Friday.
Speaking at the outset of the talks, Lavrov said that “millions of Syrians are looking in the direction of Astana” as the three power brokers work toward an end to the conflict. The meeting is expected to lay ground for a summit involving the presidents of the three countries in Istanbul on April 4.