Gained but never missed opportunity
The 11th round of talks on the crisis in Syria is concluded in the Kazakh capital, Astana today with a final statement, exactly up to the expectations and demands of the majority of Syrians. However, the wording of the statement is never enough as to meet the badly needed for deeds and measures on the ground, particularly regarding the presence of occupation troops on the sacred territories of Syria, not to mention the undiminished backing for terrorists on the ground by some countries, including USA, Britain, France, Turkey and some Gulf ewes!
The majority of the Syrians are indeed happy and satisfied regarding the wording of the statement, particularly as regards commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” ”rejecting all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighbouring countries”.
The final statement by the guarantors of Astana Framework underscored determination to fully implement the Memorandum on Stabilization of the Situation in the Idlib De-escalation Area of 17 September 2018, stressed the importance of a lasting ceasefire while underlining the necessity to continue effective fight against terrorism, emphasized that under no circumstances the creation of the above-mentioned de-escalation area should undermine the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic”.
Furthermore, the guarantors’ statement strongly condemning any use of chemical weapons in Syria, and demanded that any reports in this regard should be investigated promptly and professionally in full compliance with the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, underlined firm conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that the conflict could be resolved only through the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated political process in line with the UN Security Council resolution 2254.
The statement underlined determination by the guarantors to step up joint efforts to launch the Constitutional Committee in Geneva, that would enjoy support of the Syrian parties, in accordance with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi and decided to intensify their consultations on all the levels to finalize its establishment at the soonest possible time, and welcomed the successful development of the “pilot project” within the framework of the Working Group on the release of detainees/abductees and handover of the bodies as well as the identification of missing persons.
The guarantors stressed the need to continue all efforts to help all Syrians restore normal and peaceful life as well as alleviate their sufferings. In this regard, they called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, to increase their assistance to Syria by providing additional humanitarian aid, restoring humanitarian infrastructure assets, including water and power supply facilities, schools and hospitals”.
As for deeds and concrete measures, Dr. Bashar Al-Ja’afari, the veteran Ambassador of Syria to the UN and head of her delegation to Astana talks, directly called for accurate translation of the statement on the ground, particularly through the withdrawal of all occupying forces of all foreign forces to immediately leave the Syrian sacred soil. The Syrians do pertain every right to deal with the occupiers but as invaders. The US, Turkey and Westerners occupation of Syria is but a new colonialist aggressive occupation for exploitation, robbery, and slaughter! “There is a clear discrepancy in the stances taken by the US, France and Britain who have already agreed on the UN Security Council resolutions on commitment to Syria’s sovereignty; meanwhile these countries have been deploying their troops illegally in Syria,” Dr. Ja’afari outlined.
Syrians do remember Mr. Erdogan’s repeated threats against Syria, especially his notorious declaration on November 29, 2016, as quoted by Hurriyet daily, at the first Inter-Parliamentary Jerusalem Platform Symposium in Istanbul: “We entered [Syria] to end the rule of…. al-Assad. [We didn’t enter] for any other reason.” What a satire, recklessness and Don Quixote policy-maker !
Another important success for Astana , as I think, is the failure of Mr. de Mistura! For many observers, de Mistura’s failure means but the success of intra-Syrian political track. De Mistura has never been a balanced objective UN envoy for peace, as much as being a supporter of US, Gulf ‘moderates’. Mr. de Mistura’s unbalanced and biased statement at the end of Astana talks is another black and dirty spot. Syrians gained but never ‘missed opportunity’, Mr. de Mistura!
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Mohamad Abdo Al-Ibrahim