Displaying items by tag: Syrian Crisis

Positive developments continue at the international and regional levels, and there are indications that they will soon be reflected on the Syrian arena. While the general tendency is still constantly moving towards further retreat of the Western powers, at the heart of which is the US, and with it the entire old world order, in parallel there is continuous progress of the rising powers that have taken significant steps in expanding their alliances as well as in working to settle regional crises that have been unresolved for decades, the Saudi-Iranian settlement being one example.

Press Statement

Moscow Platform

Representatives of the Moscow Platform for the Syrian Opposition in the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) - Alaa Arafat, Youssef Salman, Sami Betinjane, Mohannad Dlykan - are heading to attend the SNC's next meeting on 2-3-4 June, in Geneva. This comes after an over 3.5 year interruption in the Platform's participation in any SNC activity, as a result of several pending controversial issues, especially since an arbitrary and illegal decision was taken against the Platform. The decision was to revoke the membership of one of the Platform's representatives in the SNC and its representative to the Syrian Constitutional Committee's Small Group, Mohannad Dlykan, after calling for transferring the Constitutional Committee's work to Damascus while securing the necessary guarantees for that, a position the Platform continues to see as the correct one and continues to demand it.

On Tuesday, April 18, the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) published a document entitled “An initiative to solve the Syrian crisis”. Those who issued the document called on the various Syrian forces to consider it.

The People’s Will Party (PWP) welcome the important Agreement announced today between Saudi Arabia and Iran, sponsored by the People’s Republic of China. PWP believes that it is a good beginning for resolving a number of regional crises, including the Syrian crisis.

US House of Representatives member Matt Gaetz introduced on February 21 a bill pursuant to the War Powers Resolution of 1973. The brief bill states that “Congress directs the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from Syria by not later than the date that is 15 days after the date of the adoption of this concurrent resolution”. Later, on March 1, Gaetz introduced a modified copy of the bill, in which the period was changed from 15 days to 180 days. The bill is still in the early stages, where it has been referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and it has not yet been put to vote.

It has now been three weeks since the earthquake catastrophe. While the space the disaster occupies in the media and politically is gradually receding, the reality reveals every day new depths of the disaster, as well as tremendous pain and suffering that is crushing the bones of (survivors), if it is correct to describe those who were not killed by the earthquake as survivors.

(The following article was originally published on geopolitika.ru website)

On Tuesday, February 14, a Russian MFA media release about a meeting between Mikhail Bogdanov, the Special Representative of the Russian President, and Kadri Jamil, one of the Syrian Opposition leaders, stated: “the Russian side stressed the need to establish practical cooperation between Damascus and Ankara in order to overcome the consequences of the earthquake on February 6.”

This statement confirms Russia’s pursuit of a Syrian-Turkish settlement, which over the seven months preceding the earthquake, was the main item on the agenda of the Astana Format (for Syria peace talks).

Nearly two weeks after the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey, seismographs are still recording aftershocks that usually occur after every major earthquake, the strength of which gradually decreases until it fades away. This is the opposite of what is happening on the humanitarian level, where the strength of the aftershocks increases on the humanitarian side in all the areas affected by the earthquake, especially those in Syria.

For the Syrian public, inside and outside Syria, the humanitarian aspect related to the earthquake disaster and the deep pain it left behind, as well as to their crisis that erupted 12 years ago, is always the most valued and important aspect, at least in its emotional and national side. For the political sides, especially the extremists, as well as for the external powers, especially the Western ones, the humanitarian aspect is the least important, and it is just a tool to pass policies.

(The following article was originally published by CGTN, on the 17th of February 2023)

The U.S. Treasury announced a decision on February 9 claiming to allow an easing of sanctions imposed on Syria for the ensuing six months until August 8, as part of "earthquake relief efforts."
The decision allows for "third parties" to transfer aid to Syria without fear of U.S. sanctions, but should only be intended for aid to earthquake-effected areas. Nonetheless, the sanctions programs applied to Syria for many years, the most severe of which are the Caesar Act (2019) and Captagon Act (2022), provide for "humanitarian exceptions," but are conditional on U.S. approval.