Syria talks in Geneva to resume April 13

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA

The next round of Syria peace talks in Geneva will start next week, on April 13, “to lead to a real beginning of political transition,” the UN envoy on Syria said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at the UN’s Geneva offices on Thursday, special UN Syria Envoy Staffan de Mistura said, "The next round of the talks needs to be quite concrete in the direction of a political process leading to a real beginning of political transition."

Saying that he will visit both Damascus and Tehran before the talks begin, de Mistura added that he would also meet with Turkish and Saudi authorities to reach a common understanding on political transition.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to the UN.