Syria regime and rebels swap prisoners: Turkish gov’t

ANKARA

The Syrian government and rebels swapped prisoners on Feb. 12 as part of a peace process brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey, the Turkish government said.

“Many people who had been detained by rebel groups and by the Syrian regime have been freed” in a reciprocal and simultaneous move, Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said each side had released 20 prisoners, with 11 women among those freed by the Syrian regime.

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Turkey, Russia, Iran and are working to bring about peace in Syria under what is known as the Astana process.  Each country plays a key role in the conflict that started in March 2011 and has left more than 360,000 dead and displaced millions more.     

Russia and Iran have intervened on the side of Syria’s government, ensuring its survival, while Turkey supports rebel groups in northern Syria.

All of them say they are fighting ISIL militants and other jihadists in the northern regions.

The Astana process has gradually come to eclipse a United Nations-sponsored negotiations framework known as the Geneva process whose participants include the United States and European powers that would be key donors in an international post-conflict reconstruction program for Syria.

The prisoner swap on Feb. 12 took place near the city of Al-Bab, in Aleppo province northwest Syria.