Turkey and Russia are close to brokering a new agreement that would expand a cease-fire between the government and opposition groups to all of Syria. Turkey and Russia have already secured the safe evacuation of civilians and fighters from eastern Aleppo two weeks ago and have been working to expand the cease-fire that is going to be discuss in Astana. There are still talks ongoing on who will participate in the Astana talks. The Minister stated that terror organizations would be excluded from the cease-fire. He also added that the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) would not attend the Astana talks. The PYD is considered a terror organization by Turkish government due to its link to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with which it has been fighting against since mid-1980s.
