Syrian solution depends on many external factors

What the Arabic press says about the Syrian civil war

Fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are seen in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa (AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN)Show less

After numerous negotiations on the Syrian crisis and many failed peace talks, it appears that any solution in Syria will heavily depend on external factors and influences.

Writing in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, columnist Moataz Hisso remarked that the structure of the Syrian state is “affected by the nature and objectives of internal and external conflicts between countries in the region and other key players”.

Although the interests of the Russian leadership drive it to support the Assad regime, the columnist noted, the same applies to many other countries, adding complexity at different levels, prolonging the conflict and extending the life of extremist groups above the worsening political deadlock.

Also, writing in Al Hayat, Zouheir Kseibati said that Moscow did not really need to declare Aleppo “off limits” as it will not allow Ankara and Syrian opposition factions to topple the regime. The Russian air strikes in recent days are a clear message that there is no chance of Russia withdrawing its support to the regime.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov seemed confident that the US military action in Syria would not go beyond the bombing of ISIL targets.

Therefore Russia feels confident in support of the regime and believes that the United States will not go against their interest in stopping the collapse of the remnants of the regime and its army in Aleppo.

“Al Assad gets the message and announces a few hours later his intention to ‘liberate every inch of Syria from the hands of terrorists’, which in the language of the regime means the ‘traitors’, especially the opposition. It also means ISIL and Jabhat Al Nusra”.

Kseibati explained that Mr Al Assad’s speech, before the parliament elected in areas under the “regime influence”, highlighted three messages.

“The first was addressed to the Russians. It underlined that ‘victories’ achieved with their help would go on to crush all those who took arms, while distinguishing between moderate and ‘terrorist factions’.

“The second emphasised the absence of differences between the Russian and the Iranian regime, and the third message stemmed from Al Assad’s desire to gloat before his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is shaking from bomb attacks while facing a trust crisis with the Americans and hostility towards the Russians ”.

He remarked that “Al Assad was encouraged by the promise of Mr Lavrov, which means Aleppo will not be allowed to fall to the ‘sultan’. But he is also reassured by the fact that the American intervention is but a show of strength against ISIL alone”.

Kseibati concluded that this new diplomacy practised by Mr Al Assad is the result of the complexities faced by Mr Erdogan internally and externally, some of which result from a wrongful understanding of exceptional events as regional conflicts reached their peak.

Translated by Carla Mirza