In Syria comes after almost eight years of civil war movement in the political process. At the beginning of next year, the constitutional committee will meet in Geneva for the first time, the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey announced after consultations with UN mediator Staffan de Mistura. The ministers had presented „the positive results of their consultations with the Syrian parties on the composition of the Committee“, it said in its statement.
The panel „should be characterized by an understanding of compromise and constructive approach,“ said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. However, it remained unclear how the dispute over the composition of the constitutional assembly can be resolved. The outgoing UN Special Envoy for Syria, de Mistura, said that in the negotiating marathon an „extra mile“ must be taken to ensure the formation of a credible and balanced constitutional assembly.
The committee was agreed in January at a meeting in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi. He should pave the way for a political solution to the conflict. The panel is to be filled by 50 representatives each from the government and the opposition as well as another 50 independent members appointed by the United Nations. While Assad and the rebels have already submitted a list of names, Russia, Iran and Turkey could not agree on the candidates for the remaining third of the panel. In the civil war, Iran and Russia support Assad, while Turkey assists as relatively moderate rebels.
De Mistura was optimistic: „A constitution, for example, is about the power of the president, it could and should also be about how elections are held and power distribution,“ he said.
The panel has the support of all the major powers. At a four-man summit in late October in Istanbul, the heads of state and government of Turkey, Russia, Germany and France said it should start work later this year.
Opposition calls committee a „Russian product“
The Syrian civil war broke out in March 2011 with protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. His troops used force against the demonstrators. In recent months, the army and its allies have been able to bring strategic areas under their control. They now dominate most of the country, including all major cities. The main reason for the rebels remains the Idlib province in northwestern Syria.
All diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict have failed in recent years. The negotiations for the Constitutional Committee also dragged on. From diplomatic circles it was said, especially the Syrian government block the committee. She had designated a new constitution as a sovereign affair of the country. Questions would be decided by the Syrians without foreign interference.
Syrian opposition spokesman Yahya al-Aridi told Arab broadcaster Al-Hadath that the committee was „a Russian product,“ but could be a path to a political solution. Russia is Iran’s most important ally of the Syrian government. Turkey in turn supports the opposition.
It was initially unclear how Syria’s Kurds are being integrated into the constitutional committee. The Kurdish militia YPG controls large areas in the north and east of the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a new offensive against the YPG last week. Turkey sees in the militia an offshoot of the banned Kurdish workers‘ party PKK and fights them.
For the US, the YPG in Syria is the most important ally in the fight against the terrorist militia „Islamic State“. The US-led international coalition supports them from the air. The US Army also has its own troops in Syria.
