Syria's Shaky Peace Talks

Pakistan Observer: Syrian Peace Talks Take Place in Astana

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad convened with opposition groups in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, from September 14 to 15 for the sixth round of peace talks on the Syrian Civil War. Present alongside the Syrian government were Iran, Russia, and Turkey, all of which have been working together to end the six-year-long civil war. For the first time, Ahrar al-Sham, the Sunni Salafist militant group that leads opposition against Assad, was also present. The meeting finalized plans for the fourth de-escalation zone within Syria. The new zone will include Idlib and Aleppo, both held by rebel forces, as well as government-controlled Latakia and Hama. With over one million civilians, this area has been specially targeted by Al-Qaeda affiliates. The zone’s borders were designed in light of the jihadist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s victory in Syria’s western city Idlib in late July. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is an Al-Qaeda affiliate that has been gaining control in Western Syria recently. In the two days leading up to the fall of Idlib, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham overtook thirty one towns across the province. The organization is now looking to spread north from Idlib. Turkey, Iran, and Russia plan to establish a joint coordination center in this fourth zone through which they can deploy monitoring forces. The three other de-escalation zones established last spring have already seen a decrease in violence by lifting sieges and instituting prisoner swaps. Currently, the fourth zone is divided in a power struggle between the government, moderate opposition, and extremists like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Following the September 14-15 talks, Russian delegation leader and Putin’s Special Envoy for a Syrian Settlement Alexander Lavrentyev suggested that moderate opposition groups aid with de-escalation by aligning with the central government to fight extremism. Despite this pressure, moderate opposition groups have upheld their resistance to the Assad regime. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a broad umbrella term for moderate opposition groups who oppose both the Assad regime and extremist ISIS affiliates. Various factions of the FSA within and around the fourth de-escalation zone have heightened calls for a unified national army. Discussion between the Syrian Interim Government, established by moderates in 2013 as a potential alternative to Assad, and opposition forces in Syria’s south and west has increased dramatically over the past month. FSA coordinator Yahya Mayo confirmed 44 out of the 63 FSA factions have announced themselves willing to unite and called upon “dissident officers in Syria, neighboring countries, and abroad to be part of this national formation.” On September 27, Russia disregarded the pursuit of peace in Astana and initiated a bombing campaign that killed over 150 civilians in Idlib. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the raid targeted extremist Islamic militants after an Al-Qaeda-affiliated faction spread north earlier in the week. Nevertheless, moderate opposition in the fourth zone see this as an act of aggression to force them to surrender to the Assad regime. In less than two weeks following the peace talks, the tension between Syria’s warring sides has already made cooperation seem improbable.