Syria, a Conflict Far from Seeing its End

Over 250,000 dead and 12 million people leaving the country; this is the still provisional record of the situation in Syria.

Corina Cristea, 23.10.2015, 14:15

Over 250,000 dead and roughly 12 million people who have left the country -
this is the still provisional record of the situation in Syria. A situation
that seems to grow more intricate by the day, with an impact on regional and
European security. A war zone for the rebels who have opposed the regime in
Damascus, such as Islamic State or
Al-Qaeda fundamentalists, but also the more moderate factions, and the forces
loyal to Bashar al-Assad, Syria, as a theater of military operations, got even
more complicated the moment Moscow gave a favorable answer to Syrian leader’
call for Russia to initiate air strikes in its support.

An important actor in the conflict, Washington
supports the rebels who oppose Bashar Al-Assad, having at the same time a
common enemy with the Damascus regime: the Jihadists of the self-proclaimed
Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda militias in the region. Despite being at
loggerheads with one another as regards their stance on Syria, Moscow and
Washington have nonetheless managed to reach an agreement, with the aim of
avoiding unwanted clashes on the Syrian front.

With details on the Syrian
conflict, here is Radio Romania’s Correspondent to Moscow Alexandru Beleavschi. The document is called ‘The Memorandum of
Mutual Understanding between the Defense Ministries of Russia and the United
States on preventing incidents and providing for aviation flights during
operations in Syria’. According to the Russian deputy defense
minister Anatoli Antonov, the document regulates the actions of manned and unmanned aircraft in the airspace
above Syria and contains a set of rules and limitations aimed at preventing
incidents between the air forces of Russia and the US. The Russian Defense
Ministry has also stated that the regulations
stipulated in the memorandum also apply to pilots of countries other
than the United States, but which are also part of the anti-ISIS coalition.

The Russian Defense Ministry says that Russia’s military is acting in Syria at the request
of the Syrian legitimate authorities, but the US-led coalition is not present
there on a legal basis. Russia’s military
operation in Syria has become more intense
as soon as the Syrian army started its ground offensive. According
to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian air forces have destroyed hundreds of
ISIS sites, as well as positions held by other terrorist organizations, which
are now riddled with confusion and defection. The success the Syrian army has
scored on the ground is rather insignificant in the cities, where the Russian
air forces have not taken action, harboring Islamist strongholds, benefiting
from developed underground communications networks.

But how is the situation in
Syria viewed in Washington? With details on that, here is Radio Romania’s
correspondent to Washington Doina Saiciuc: The US
administration is trying to re-launch peace talks for Syria with Russia,
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and potentially, even with Iran, talks that could lead to
a complete cessation of the fight between president Assad’s army and the
moderate opposition forces, enabling all parties involved to focus on the
defeat of Islamic State militants. At the State Department, spokesman John
Kirby emphasized that the agreement memorandum jointly signed by the US Defense
Department and the Russian Defense Ministry on the rules of safe navigation in
the Syrian airspace for the coalition pilots did not change the United States’
stated objective regarding a political transition in Syria, which would
translate into president Assad’s leaving power.

According
to John Kirby, if we take a look at the targets Russia has been hitting, and the support given to the Syrian
government on the ground, the only possible conclusion is that Russia intends
to support the Assad regime, which will only escalate the conflict, will ignite
sectarian tensions, thus leading up to more extremism there or elsewhere in the
region. The signing of the memorandum, which is something important for the
safety of the pilots, does nothing to appease the US’s concern regarding
Russia’s military action in Syria, John Kirby also said.

In
another move, the White House has criticized Russia after the rare visit
president Bashar Al-Assad has paid to Moscow this week, for a meeting with
president Vladimir Putin. We
view the red carpet welcome for Assad, who has used chemical weapons against
his own people, at odds with the stated goal by the Russians for a political
transition in Syria, White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters.
Bucharest believes that peace in Syria can only be re-established through
dialogue.

Here is Romania’s president Klaus Johannis: The
fact that as of late Russia has got involved in Syria militarily does not
provide a solution to the crisis, it only renders the situation more
complicated. This is Romania’s official standpoint and it is this standpoint
that we intend to make known
everywhere. It is not a merely theoretical point. Romania is one of the very
few countries left that has still kept its staff at the Embassy in Damascus. We
are not one of the great actors, yet because we are there, we can act as
facilitators in talks that can lead to peace in the region.

Some of the pundits
view Russia’s intervention in Syria as
an attempt from Moscow to change the strategic landscape in the Middle East,
with Vladimir Putin taking advantage of
the US administration’s weak reaction, in order to restore the role
Russia once had in the region in the
1970s,