( CNN ) -- The Syrian National Coalition voted Saturday to attend next week 's peace talks in Geneva . The secret balloting among 75 representatives of Syria 's main opposition group , which have been meeting this week in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Istanbul , resulted in 58 votes in favor and 14 opposed , with two abstentions and one person who handed in an unmarked ballot , the coalition 's media office told CNN . But the tally masked deep divisions within the opposition : another 44 members of the group refused to vote at all . And some of those doing the fighting in Syria have said that participation in the talks would be an act of treachery . Nonetheless , U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry applauded what he called `` a courageous vote in the interests of all the Syrian people who have suffered so horribly under the brutality of the ( President Bashar al- ) Assad regime and a civil war without end . The top U.S. diplomat promised that he 'd engage `` directly with the Syrian opposition and the international community '' when the conference starts next Wednesday . `` By voting to go to Geneva 2 with a mission to negotiate an end to the war , the opposition has chosen a path that will ultimately lead to a better future for all Syrians , '' Kerry said in a statement Saturday . The goal of the talks -- dubbed Geneva 2 in recognition of a similar effort in the Swiss city in 2012 -- is to set up a transitional government that would end the violence that has wracked the country since March 2011 , killing more than 100,000 people . Kerry explained late last week that the meeting 's goal is to implement the communique that was the fruit of the first such meeting . `` It is about establishing a process essential to the formation of a transition government body -- governing body -- with full executive powers established by mutual consent , '' he told reporters . Any names put forward for leadership of Syria 's transition must , according to the terms of Geneva 1 , be agreed to by the opposition and the regime led by President Bashar al-Assad , according to Kerry . `` That is the very definition of mutual consent , '' he continued . `` This means that any figure that is deemed unacceptable by either side , whether President or a member of the opposition , can not be a part of the future . '' In addition , he said , it `` defies logic that those whose brutality created '' the current situation could lead Syria toward a better future . The peace conference would not be the end , but the beginning of a process , he said . Al-Assad has said he does not look at the talks as a way for him to transition out of power . On Friday , his foreign minister announced that he 'd given his Russian counterpart a proposal `` to determine the time and date where there will be an end to the military operations '' in Aleppo and urged him to help broker its passage . `` We will wait for Minister ( Sergey ) Lavrov to tell us the time and the date , the hour , and we will commit ourselves to these arrangements -- if he has enough guarantees that the other side will accept and commit themselves as well , '' Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said . If that succeeds , he said , Damascus is prepared to extend the plan to other areas of the country . Meanwhile , state-run Syrian media reported Saturday that the first shipment of aid has reached the Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp outside Damascus , where dozens of people have died of starvation and lack of medical attention since the camp was cut off by warring factions last November . PHOTOS : Haunting images of Syria 's abandoned homes . CNN 's Nick Paton Walsh and Raja Razek in Beirut , plus Tom Watkins , Greg Botelho and Saad Abedine in Atlanta contributed to this report .
NEW : Top U.S. diplomat calls opposition 's vote to attend conference `` courageous '' Representatives of the country 's main opposition group vote 58 to 14 in favor of attending . The goal of the talks is to set up a transitional government to end the violence . Score: 6