Geneva talks for Syrian Constitution concluded with a deadlock

Pedersen said that there has not been an agreement on the agenda.

In a press briefing on Friday, UN Special Representative for Syria Geir O. Pedersen announced a failure in the Geneva talks of the so-called Constitutional Committee for Syria.

“We have just concluded the second session of the Constitutional Committee. It was not possible to call for a meeting of the small body of 45 because there has not been an agreement on the agenda,” said Pedersen.

Pedersen did not mention if the delegates would convene again and said; “We have been trying to reach a consensus, but we are not there yet.”

Asked by a journalist if the failure was an outcome of the Turkish occupation of North-East Syria, Pederson recalled the ceasefire negotiations made between the US-Turkey and Russia-Turkey, and called for the ceasefire to be respected.

“It is very important that we protect the Constitutional Committee and that we continue to work with the spirit that we have managed so far, with the spirit of compromise and the willingness to listen to each other” he added.

Pedersen said they have been following the developments in the North-East and emphasised, once again, the importance of respecting Syria’s sovereignity, independence and territorial integrity. He said that is the core part of the UN Security Council’s resolution 2254.

During the recent UN Security Council briefing on the Syrian talks, Geir Pedersen declared that the Turkish invasion was an obstacle to the negotiations.

On the other hand, the representative of the Syrian regime, Ahmad Kuzbari defined the ‘opposition groups’ as Turkey’s delegation and remarked that Turkey’s invasion attacks constituted an obstacle to the Constitutional Committee talks.