(Beirut) The Syrian opposition on Sunday called for the resumption of talks with the regime of Bashar al-Assad under the aegis of the UN, following the return of Damascus to Arab rule after years of isolation.
“The international and regional contexts” and the situation in Syria “are conducive to the resumption of direct negotiations […] within the framework of a specific program and timetable,” said the High Negotiations Committee (HCN), which brings together the main representatives of the opposition to the Syrian regime, in a press release.
Negotiations aimed at resolving the Syrian crisis have stalled since the adoption in 2015 of UN Security Council resolution 2254, providing, among other things, for a new constitution and elections.
At the end of a two-day meeting in Geneva, the HCN called “to support the efforts of the United Nations” to take the necessary measures for a “comprehensive political solution”, in accordance with this resolution of the UN.
In a regional context of diplomatic rapprochement, the Arab League reintegrated the Syrian regime in May, ostracized since 2011 due to the repression in 2011 of the popular uprising triggered in the wake of the Arab Spring and which degenerated into civil war. Involving regional and international actors, the conflict claimed around half a million lives.
Since then, the Syrian opposition has lost much of its influence and the support it enjoyed from countries in the region.
Riyadh, which initially supported Syrian rebel groups at the start of the conflict, has reestablished its ties with Damascus. Turkey, the main backer of rebels controlling parts of northern Syria, has also shown signs of rapprochement with Mr Assad.
The HCN considered that the reintegration of the regime into the Arab fold carried “the risk” of seeing the regime reject any political solution.
On May 19, the Arab summit, in which President Assad took part, stressed the “need to take effective and efficient measures to reach a settlement” of the conflict in Syria.
In a speech before the Security Council at the end of May, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, considered for his part that the “new diplomatic activity” in the region since April “could represent an opportunity if it is seized”.