Syria’s new rulers have kicked off a long-awaited national dialogue conference as an “exceptional and rare historical opportunity” to rebuild the country after nearly 14 years of cvil war and the fall

Hundreds of Syrian politicians and activists gathered Tuesday in Damascus to endorse the opening steps of the country’s political transition, a milestone event after decades of ironfisted one-family rule.

About 600 delegates attended the national dialogue conference in Syria, although about a thousand were originally planned to attend. In particular, the Kurdish factions did not receive invitations, their representatives told Izvestia.