ANKARA
The Syrian regime has confirmed it will attend the second round peace talks planned to be convened Monday in Geneva.
Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Syria’s official news agency, SANA, on Friday that the regime’s delegation would make the same efforts it did in the first round of peace talks.
The first round of the talks, which are known as Geneva II and are aimed at resolving the ongoing crisis in violence-wracked Syria, opened in Switzerland on Jan. 22 under the guidance of UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi.
They wrapped up Jan. 31 without reaching a deal.
The earlier Geneva I talks were initiated in 2012 by Kofi Annan, who was the UN peace envoy to Syria at the time.
Syria has been in the throes of conflict since 2011 when a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad escalated into civil war following a violent government crackdown.
According to the UN, more than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
