Germany Difficult talks about the future of Syria
Following the fall of long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, international diplomacy sees opportunities for peaceful development in the battered country, but also risks.
20.12.2024, 05:41
SDA
At a summit meeting in Brussels, the leaders of the EU member states called on the EU Commission and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas to develop options for possible measures to support Syria.
However, UN Secretary-General António Guterres is also concerned about further developments in the country: "Although the situation in parts of Syria has stabilized, the conflict is far from over," he warned in New York.
Baerbock speaks in Ankara about the Syrian crisis
Meanwhile, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to Turkey today for talks on the situation in Syria. The Green politician is scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara. Baerbock is likely to call on Turkey to contribute to stability in Syria. Turkey has been considered the most important foreign player in Syria since the uprising. It has relations with the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), under whose leadership a rebel alliance overthrew ruler Assad on December 8.
HTS is currently still on the United Nations terror list and is subject to EU sanctions. In their summit declaration, the EU heads of state and government did not say whether they could envisage a rapid lifting of sanctions against the Islamist group. They called on the new rulers to guarantee respect for human rights and the protection of members of religious and ethnic minorities.
Syrians in Damascus demonstrate for women's rights
Critics are already warning that the EU risks huge damage to its image if it turns out in a few months' time that the new rulers are not as moderate as they currently appear. In the Syrian capital Damascus, hundreds of people demonstrated for democracy, women's rights and a secular state. Statements made by HTS spokesperson Obaida Arnaut on Lebanese television regarding the role of women had led to criticism. Arnaut said, among other things, that women were unsuitable for the office of defense minister or for roles in the judiciary due to their "biological nature".
Christians, Alawites and other minorities fear possible repression after the fall of Assad. HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who until recently went by his battle name Mohammed al-Julani, has recently adopted a moderate stance and promised a Syria for all. Baerbock wants to talk about the protection of minorities in Syria during her visit to Ankara.
Turkey takes action against Syrian Kurdish militia
Before her trip to Turkey, Baerbock had also praised the role of the Kurds in the fight against the toppled Assad regime in the Bundestag. Turkey is accused of wanting to use the power vacuum in Syria to break up the areas in northern Syria under the administration of Kurdish militias. Rebels supported by Turkey have advanced against the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG in recent weeks. Ankara considers the YPG to be an offshoot of the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and therefore a terrorist organization.
The Kurds have been fearing a major offensive against the Syrian-Kurdish border town of Kobane for days. At least 100,000 people have been displaced in the north since the attacks by the pro-Turkish militias. UN chief Guterres has called for an end to the fighting in the north. Many EU member states hope that Syria will become a safe country again under a new leadership and that Syrian refugees will be able to return home voluntarily or otherwise be deported.
EU prepares possible support for Syria
The options for possible measures to support Syria, which the EU Commission and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kallas are now to develop, could include lifting the existing economic sanctions and reconstruction aid for the destruction caused by the long civil war. So far, only humanitarian aid has been provided to civil society, as the EU did not want to support Assad's tyranny.
