GENEVA
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is to meet a Turkish official and the envoy for the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (SNC) this week during talks on Syria in Geneva.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry's Director General for the Middle East and North Africa, Can Dizdar will meet Mistura on Tuesday, May 12.
The office of UN Special Envoy for Syria said in a statement on Monday: "Mistura has taken note of the decisions taken by SNC and he looks forward to the arrival of the SOC (Syrian Opposition Coalition) envoy to Geneva.
"De Mistura is indeed interested in receiving the SNC points of view on the Geneva Consultations. This is indeed the whole purpose of the exercise in itself."
"The Special Envoy for Syria remains appreciative of ongoing efforts by the SNC to contribute to a long overdue peaceful solution in Syria," the statement added.
Scores of groups invited to talks
More than 40 Syrian groups including Syrian opposition armed groups have been invited to attend the talks in Geneva.
The Syrian government, neighboring countries of Syria and members of the UN Security Council have all been invited for the low key, separate discussions on the current crisis in Syria.
The statement added: "The Geneva consultations are a rolling process to seek views of all Syrian and relevant regional and international parties on the operationalization of the Geneva Communique."
The Geneva consultations on Syria started on Tuesday, May 5 and are expected to last up to six weeks, although there is no cut-off date.
Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has led to the deaths of more than 220,000 people and forced almost four million to flee the country.
