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Russia: Syria agrees to take part in talks

TheDemSocialist

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Russia says the Syrian government had agreed in principle to attend an international peace conference proposed by Russia and the US, and criticised what it called attempts to undermine peace efforts.The summit has been suggested by the US and Russia and could take place in the Swiss city of Geneva.
"We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from Damascus to attend the international conference, in the interest of Syrians themselves finding a political path to resolve the conflict, which is ruinous for the nation and region," Alexander Lukashevich, Russian foreign ministry spokesman, said on Friday.
The statement comes ahead of a meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister, due on Monday, where the two countries will continue discussions about the peace conference.
Faisal Mekdad, Syrian deputy foreign minister, said after talks in Moscow on Wednesday the government would soon decide whether to take part in the conference aimed at bringing government and opposition representatives together for talks


Read more @: Russia: Syria agrees to take part in talks - Europe - Al Jazeera English

The big question is what does it mean to attend "in principle ? Does that mean they actually plan on attending? Do they just wanna act like they are there but arent really there? However stating that i do think the Syrian gov should attend all talks. Its clear nothing is going to come of it without the Syrian gov.
 
It's becoming a Sunni-Shiite war. Nothing the Americans or Russian can do to stop it.
 
So, Assad is reaching out for peace and Hamas has agreed to elections.

Mideast crisis solved.
 
The war is already a sectarian war. I think the only workable peace model that might work is Lebonn's model with limited democracy combined with mandatory sharing of power between sects, but to be honest I can't see Sunni rebel's agreeing to this. Why would they agree to share the country when with support of Saudi and Qatari governments they can eventually have the whole country all to themselves?
 
The big question is what does it mean to attend "in principle ? Does that mean they actually plan on attending? Do they just wanna act like they are there but arent really there? However stating that i do think the Syrian gov should attend all talks. Its clear nothing is going to come of it without the Syrian gov.

The agreement to attend in principle merely reflects general agreement to attend such a conference. The conference's agenda has yet to be defined and acceptance in principle allows a party to back out if disagrees with the terms. For example, if the conference is about launching negotiations for a path forward, a party might attend. If, however, the agenda is defined with preconditions such as a party's yielding the possibility of having a role in a future government, the party could back out.

The anti-Assad movement has been insisting on tying diplomacy to President Assad's stepping down almost immediately. However, there is no agenda that has been created that calls for such an outcome required to pursue diplomacy and the anti-Assad movement lacks the battlefield position to make that a credible demand. Therefore, if that were a precondition for launching talks, the Assad regime would very likely reject that precondition, even if that meant there would be no negotiations. In the outside event that Russia and the U.S. insisted on such terms, the regime would probably choose not to participate in the conference. In contrast, pursuing a transition to post-Assad rule is, however, a legitimate aspect for negotiations.

At this time, I suspect that the Assad regime will attend the conference, if it is held, unless the kind of precondition I cited above is sought by Russia and the U.S. (cosponsors of the conference who will largely shape the agenda). The Assad regime is trying to restore international credibility and attending the talks serves that end.

That leaves the anti-Assad movement with a tough position. To date, that movement has insisted on a near immediate resignation by Assad. That is not going to happen. Whether that movement will attend the talks under such circumstances is an open question. I believe that it will, as well, as that movement is trying to bolster the case for receiving more outside arms. Its failure to attend could undermine prospects of increasing the level of support from outside states.

Having said that, the differences among the two parties to the sectarian conflict are very large. The battlefield position remains relatively close to a stalemate with neither party in imminent prospect of knocking out the other. If that were the case, the party on the brink of victory would choose to pursue the military solution to the end.

Nonetheless, the anti-Assad movement has adopted an attitude that it should be given what amounts to full authority over Syria's future. It sees itself as the inheritor of the future of post-Assad Syria. However, that demand is disproportionate to its actual on-the-ground position, which might even have eroded a little in recent weeks, so the Assad government is not going to accept such a starting point. The anti-Assad movement is also comprised of elements with widely diverging interests, and that might hobble its unity. As a result, even if the conference is held, it is highly unlikely that there will be a major breakthrough. The minimalist idea of reaching agreement to hold further talks and perhaps develop a modest agenda for those talks might be the most that is attainable. In the meantime, the battlefield will likely remain the major venue in which Syria's future is shaped and, unfortunately, barring a newfound respect for civilian welfare by one or both parties to the conflict, the terrible human toll will likely continue to mount.
 
Nonetheless, the anti-Assad movement has adopted an attitude that it should be given what amounts to full authority over Syria's future. It sees itself as the inheritor of the future of post-Assad Syria. However, that demand is disproportionate to its actual on-the-ground position, which might even have eroded a little in recent weeks, so the Assad government is not going to accept such a starting point. The anti-Assad movement is also comprised of elements with widely diverging interests, and that might hobble its unity. As a result, even if the conference is held, it is highly unlikely that there will be a major breakthrough. The minimalist idea of reaching agreement to hold further talks and perhaps develop a modest agenda for those talks might be the most that is attainable. In the meantime, the battlefield will likely remain the major venue in which Syria's future is shaped and, unfortunately, barring a newfound respect for civilian welfare by one or both parties to the conflict, the terrible human toll will likely continue to mount.

In the long run with the help they are getting they can drive out all Shia, Christian, Kurd and any other minority from Syria.
What they are demanding is effectively for all Syrian minorities to realize the inevitable and self deport.
 
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Read more @: Russia: Syria agrees to take part in talks - Europe - Al Jazeera English

The big question is what does it mean to attend "in principle ? Does that mean they actually plan on attending? Do they just wanna act like they are there but arent really there? However stating that i do think the Syrian gov should attend all talks. Its clear nothing is going to come of it without the Syrian gov.

Russia: Syria has "agreed in principle" to peace talks - CBS News
Agreement in principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't expect much to come out of the talks myself. There are too many interests involved. Have been from the start.
 
In the long run with the help they are getting they can drive out all Shia, Christian, Kurd and any other minority from Syria.
What they are demanding is effectively for all Syrian minorities to realize the inevitable and self deport.

At last check, the Syrian regime is also receiving aid.

Finally, the demand for 'self-deportation' is an unreasonable one.
 
At last check, the Syrian regime is also receiving aid.

Finally, the demand for 'self-deportation' is an unreasonable one.

Since the country has a majority of Sunni population, and countries aiding the rebels have vastly more financial, military hardware, and personel to contribute than Iran and Hezbollah have, in the ling run (5-10 years) rebels are going to win one way or another.

The self deport comment was tongue in cheek. Rebels are not going to publicly demand ethnic cleansing, but after a while under a harsh Sharia government most minorities and even the more Secular Sunnies are going to want to leave the country.
As a small example look at the wave of immigration of Iranian minority religious believers and also upper middle class and more educated Iranians (class and education correlate with secularism in Iran) under the Islamic government, even though Iran's version of Sharia is much milder than the Wahhabi one.
 
And now it appears that the anti-Assad side has, in effect, rejected the conference by seeking preconditions it knows Syria's existing government will not accept.

Reuters reported:

Syria's opposition coalition said on Wednesday it would only take part in a planned peace conference in Geneva if a deadline was set for an internationally-guaranteed settlement based on President Bashar al-Assad leaving power...

The declaration said "the removal of the head of the regime and the security and military command" was paramount.


Syrian opposition says peace talks must guarantee Assad's exit | Reuters

The anti-Assad party should properly raise its position at the conference, not as a condition for attending the talks. The reality is that it does not have the battlefield position to impose its terms and the battlefield situation is very likely to be a material element that could shape the outcome of any conference. The magnitude of the differences between the parties might also preclude a firm deadline.

All said, on account of those differences, I don't expect any breakthroughs should the conference be held. Agreement on a ceasefire and possibly a modest agenda for a subsequent round of bilateral talks is probably about as far as things can currently progress. In terms of the anti-Assad group's end goal, a political path that leads to elections, perhaps to adopt a new constitution or to choose a new government, might offer a means for inducing Assad to allow himself to be eased from power (he has offered hints in that direction in the past, but his battlefield position has improved since then). Tangible guarantees of amnesty for him and for his senior officials might be required. Of course, a political path along those lines does not assure that a post-Assad Syria would be stable, liberal or democratic in nature.
 
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