Turkey, S. Arabia Not Interested in Syrian Truce: Opposition Leader
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) – Secretary of Syria’s opposition People’s Party Sheikh Nawaf Abdel-Aziz al-Melhem said the ongoing Syrian ceasefire is not what Ankara and Riyadh want as they prefer continuation of the bloodshed and carnage in Syria.
“There is no doubt that many countries do not want peace and stability in Syria or the political resolution of the crisis in this country,” Melhem told the Tasnim News Agency on Monday.
“Such countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Turkey, do not favor the ceasefire, because a truce means a cessation of armed groups’ attacks on the Syrian people and public institutions, and this is not in their interest, because they want to see growing carnage and destruction in Syria,” he said.
“The ceasefire tests the goodwill of different sides,” he noted, stressing that the Syrian government has accepted the truce first to test the opposition groups and second in reaction to those who claim President Bashar al-Assad’s government has no interest in protecting the Syrian nation’s lives and ending the bloodshed.
“We believe the Syrian leadership and army are committed to the ceasefire, and the army will target armed groups only when they violate the truce by attacking civilians or army positions,” the opposition leader said.
“We believe the ceasefire has many positive points,” Melhem said, expressing the hope that peace and security would be restored to the war-torn country.
A cessation of fighting in Syria that took effect on February 27 was part of a negotiated deal, based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, passed in December 2015.
The deal that contained three main commitments around humanitarian access, a negotiated ceasefire and a political transition was reached in Munich by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), a group of international actors mandated to find a resolution to the Syrian conflict.
In theory, the ceasefire should apply to all of Syria. However, Russia has insisted that, along with its allied forces, it reserve the right to attack the Daesh (ISIL) group and al-Nusra Front forces as these two groups are outside the framework of the ceasefire, as are other groups labelled as “terrorist” by the UN.
There are efforts to strengthen the ceasefire, increase humanitarian access and build confidence before the resumption of peace talks in Geneva on March 7.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists, including the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group, currently controlling parts of it, mostly in the east.
The Syrian conflict has killed at least 260,000 people, according to the UN, and more than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or fled abroad.
