Since 2011, there have been seven rounds of UN-brokered peace talks aimed at finding a solution to the Syrian conflict. All of them were abject failures. However, as the UN prepares to launch the latest round of talks in Geneva on Tuesday, it will be hosting a unified opposition delegation for the first time. If the UN doesn’t want its efforts at brokering peace to be overshadowed by the recent “peace efforts” exerted by Russia, Turkey and Iran in the Russian resort town of Sochi, there must be “real negotiation”, as its mediator Staffan de Mistura put it.
It is clear that the regime of Bashar Al Assad has the upper hand, mainly as a result of the massive support it has received from Iran and Russia. The situation on the ground doesn’t favour the rebels who have fought to topple Al Assad. The regime will be going into the negotiations keeping this in mind.
However, Russia, the main international backer of the regime, is smart enough to realise that for its diplomatic push to get an international stamp of approval, it is very important that there is approval of international organisations. And the pre-eminent international organisation is the United Nations. So one can expect Moscow to exert some pressure on the Al Assad regime to be flexible during the UN-sponsored Geneva talks.
No peace process can succeed in the long term if people do not find closure. And that can only come when those responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in the brutal conflict are held accountable. After almost seven blood-soaked years, this is the minimum that the Syrian people deserve.
