The image of Astana as an international platform for holding peace talks on the solution of the armed conflict in Syria

Abstract

Astana - the capital of Kazakhstan, has become a venue for negotiations on the peaceful resolution
of the armed conflict in Syria with the participation of a single delegation of the armed opposition of Syria
and representatives of official Damascus, with the mediation of the guarantor countries of the agreement
on armistice in the country - Russia, Turkey, Iran - since January 2017. Just from that period, the Republic
of Kazakhstan became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, which gave the country
new international obligations and powers. Kazakhstan is known to the international community for voluntary
renunciation of nuclear weapons, which always creates a positive image for it.
The purpose of this study is to show how the image of Astana is indirectly positioned as a consequence
of attracting international media attention to it as an international platform for peace negotiations
in Syria, which led to an increase in the mention of the key word “Astana”, “Kazakhstan” in information
and analytical materials in world publications of countries Asia, Europe, the United States as the New
York Times, CNN, Al Jazira, Washington Post, Reuters, VOA, BBC, etc. The methodology of the study is
a quantitative and qualitative analysis of texts in the New York Times for January-May 2017.
Key words: Astana, image, armed conflict, peace talks, The New York Times, Syria, Kazakhstan.