GENEVA
The UN’s special envoy to Syria is to visit Turkey to meet Syrian opposition members, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.
No date has yet been set for Staffan de Mistura’s meeting with representatives of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC).
"Mistura has responded positively to the invitation received… to visit Istanbul, within the framework of the ongoing Geneva consultations," spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told Anadolu Agency.
"The purpose of the visit would be essentially to follow-up on the Geneva consultations but no date has been set yet.”
Talks in Geneva started two weeks ago ahead of next month’s three-year anniversary of the Geneva Communique, which laid out a six-point plan to stop the violence and move the belligerent factions towards a political settlement.
Turkey has been pushing for the full implementation of the communique.
More than 40 Syrian groups have been invited to attend the talks in Geneva. The Syrian government, neighboring countries and members of the UN Security Council have been asked to separate discussions on the crisis.
The talks began on May 5 and are expected to last up to six weeks, although there is no cut-off date.
Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has led to the deaths of more than 220,000 people and forced almost 4 million to flee the country, according to the UN.
