For Speeding up the Implementation of 2254

It was the "good luck" of the Syrian people that this internationalization took place under the new international balance of power, which is consistent with this right. The series of initiatives from Geneva and its successive rounds, through the Vienna Accords, Security Council resolution 2254 and the Astana Accords concerning De-escalation Zones, the formation of the one delegation of the Syrian opposition, up to the National Dialogue Conference to be held in Sochi – all these are the product of the role of the emerging international powers, mainly the Russian role, which was characterized by clarity, realism, flexibility and stability. Holding to the principal that no party should be excluded, and no party should be the dominant on the others, the Russians were able to be strongly present with a pivotal inclusive role, gathering all of the relevant parties, and that’s why the Russian role has encountered distortion and discrediting by all extremists belonging to the various parties.

The accumulation that took place during this difficult process, the process of political solution, as an input to the restoration of the Syrian sovereignty, is considered a great progress and constitutes, in its entirety, a reliable fulcrum to rest on, which is not allowed to be wasted. On the contrary, efforts should be focused on bridging the remaining gaps, and completing the political process on this basis, despite all the recent field escalation on the ground.

This escalation, regardless of its manifestations and the forces involved in, is due primarily to the attempts of the war forces in the U.S. administration to restore its eroded role on the international level, and in the Syrian field in the first place, by turning a blind eye to Al Nusra Front, which is internationally classified as a terrorist group, and implicate some Syrians and give them an illusional sense of being supported, exploiting again the delay of the political solution, because of the extremists’ delusions of “Quell” vs. “Overthrow”.

Thus, it is very important to reap the maximum benefit of the Dialogue Conference in Sochi, which is scheduled to take place within the next few days, as a supporting course for the Geneva negotiations and the implementation of resolution 2254. And apart from being a solution’s supportive step, it has an extraordinary importance in the current circumstances. It can be a realistic concrete response to the attempts of aborting the experience of the De-escalation Zones, which play an important role in mitigating the situation on large areas of the Syrian territory. This step can also play a role in preventing turning of the Syrian arena into a field of settling accounts between regional and international powers, or establishing a future influence of them in the country.

It is therefore necessary to show the highest degree of seriousness towards the National Dialogue Conference, in terms of participation and support, in order to provide the possibility for the participation of wider groups of Syrians in the political process on the basis of a consensual solution through which all parties make the necessary concessions, which became a national necessity that cannot permit any delay or procrastination, in light of the new emerging dangers surrounding the country, and the necessity of restoring the national sovereignty, which has been violated on a large scale, and completion of the war on terrorism, and stopping the humanitarian disaster, leading to radical and comprehensive national democratic change.

Kassioun Editorial, Issue No 846, Jan. 21, 2018