Definition of Key · Web viewFirst protests took place in Tunisia upon the self-immolation of...

Issue: The situation in SyriaForum: Security CouncilPosition: President Name: M. Emir İşman

Introduction

Syria, a country that has been inhabited for thousands of years, is currently facing one of the largest civil wars ever: the wave of protests that began in Tunisia spread throughout the Arab world and invoked mass demonstrations against countries’ authoritarian governments. The protests in Syria began in March 2011, but they were quickly suppressed via violent means by the Syrian government, under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria. The violent suppression of protests sparked armed insurgencies throughout the country, and it has brought the opposition and the government against each other. The armed insurgencies eventually turned into the deadliest conflict in the 21st century: since the beginning of the conflict, more than 400.000 Syrians have lost their lives, and more than 12 million Syrians have been displaced from their origins. Today, the Syrian Civil War turned into one of the most complex conflicts in the world, involving countless factors and their state supporters in a near free-for-all setting. The conflict also allowed the rise of terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, and spillovers in neighboring countries are also widespread.

Definition of Key Terms

Terrorism – terrorist organization

There are various definitions of terrorism made by different governments and international organisations. The UN Security Council defined terrorism in its Resolution 1566 as “criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act, which constitute offences within the scope of and as defined in the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism, are under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature.”

Civil war

Although there is no authoritative document regarding the legal definition of the term “civil war”, a conflict including various factions in the same country is often classified as a civil war. The Geneva Conventions of 1949 includes the responsibilities of parties in “armed conflict not of an international character.” The commentary of the Geneva Conventions

Haarlem Model United Nations 2017 Research Report

prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) provides several indications and conditions for a civil war based on the aforementioned type of conflict. The indications include such as but not limited to an armed uprising against a government, control of territory by insurgent groups, the recognition of belligerents by the government, proclamation of a new state by the insurgent groups, et cetera.

General Overview

Brief History of Syria

The Republic of Syria gained its independence from France in 1946 as it was claimed at the United Nations Conference on International Organisation of 1945. However, it always featured an unstable atmosphere with the series of coups d’etat in 1949, ending the brief democratic rule in Syria. The following years of Syria were dominated by coups: a civil uprising against the military brought the control of the country back to civilians in 1954. As a result of the Pan-Arabism trend, Syria entered a political union with Egypt in 1958, and they together formed the United Arab Republic. The United Arab Republic only survived for three years as Syria exit the union with another military coup in 1961 and reestablished itself as the Syrian Arab Republic.

The Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party rose to power in 1963, directly after the establishment of the Syrian Arab Republic, with a successful military coup, also known as the 8th of March Revolution. Ba’athism, a pan-Arabist, nationalist ideology, was central to the party’s politics. However, the party also faced inner conflicts, and it resulted in an intra-party coup in 1966, which would remove the then-President Amin al-Hafiz from power. With rising tensions between the civilian and military wings of the party, Hafez al-Assad, then Minister of Defence, effectively seized the control of the Ba’ath Party and on 13th of November, 1970 he declared himself the President of Syria. The everlasting rule of al-Assad family and the Ba’ath Party in Syrian politics had begun.

Throughout his presidency, Hafez al-Assad turned the post of the presidency into a more executive role and increased his authority in the country. He led Syria during the Yom Kippur War of 1973, but he could not avoid the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights. As a member of the Alawite minority of Syria, he introduced a new, controversial constitution in 1973, which did not require the President of Syria to be a Muslim. The Sunni majority of the country did not welcome these changes (and the rule of Hafez al-Assad - an Alawite - in general), and his moves sparked a series of protests of Islamists throughout Syria. These protests eventually turned into a bloody civil uprising 1979 which would last until 1982. During the uprising, members of the Muslim Brotherhood revolted in major Syrian cities. The uprising was eventually suppressed by the Syrian government, and it resulted in more than 10.000 casualties.

Hafez al-Assad initially planned to leave the office to his eldest son, Bassel al-Assad. However, Bassel was killed in a traffic accident in 1994. Therefore, Hafez al-Assad decided to make Bassel’s younger brother, Bashar al-Assad, the heir apparent to the Syrian


presidency. During the last years of his rule, he prepared Bashar for the post. Bashar al-Assad first enrolled in Homs Military Academy in 1994, and he eventually rose to higher posts in the Syrian military, reaching the colonel rank in 1999. Hafez al-Assad died on 10 June 2000, and after a brief interim period, Bashar al-Assad was inaugurated as the President of Syria on 17th of July, 2000.

The death of Hafez al-Assad and the inauguration of Bashar al-Assad sparked the hope for political reforms in Syria: many Syrian intellectuals held seminars and forums in which possible reforms were discussed. The period has been dubbed as the Damascus Spring. The forums led to the issuance of the Statement of 99 and the Statement of 1.000, both which called for democratic reforms and the removal of the state of emergency, which was in force since 1963. Both statements did not explicitly ask for the end of the Ba’ath rule in Syria, but they managed to spark a reaction: many political prisoners were released in November 2000, and political parties other than the Ba’ath Party were allowed to issue their publications for the first time. However, the positive atmosphere could not survive for a long time: political forums were later blocked, and many intellectuals had been arrested for various charges.

The Arab Spring and Early Protests

The Arab Spring was a wave of demonstrations and related events taking place in the Arab countries. First protests took place in Tunisia upon the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor. In January, the protests spread to different countries, such as Yemen, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The protesters demanded the resignation of authoritarian leaders in their countries and an inclusive, democratic political system. The protesters often faced violent crackdowns which caused hundreds of deaths. The protests later evolved into unrests, uprisings, and in some cases, full-scale civil wars. As of 2016, Tunisia remains the only country that could adopt a new, democratic system as an aftermath of the Arab Spring.

The first protests in Syria began in Damascus in March 2011. Protestors, in line with the other demonstrations in other Arab countries, demanded reforms and the release of political prisoners. The protesters allegedly got together via a Facebook group (social media was a major way of communication throughout the Arab Spring) and gathered in the streets of Damascus. The police were authorised to use lethal force against protesters, and some of the protesters were detained.

The severity of the protests increased as the headquarters of the Ba’ath Party and several government buildings in Damascus were set to fire by protesters. Seven police officers and fifteen protesters were killed during the incident. The demands of the protesters eventually evolved into the removal of Bashar al-Assad from his post. As protests escalated, the government responded by deploying the army against the protesters: in early May 2011, the government used deployed more than a thousand troops to the southern city of Dera’a to suppress the protesters. The operation was led by Bashar al-Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad and it lasted ten days. During the operation, more than 200 civilians were killed. The


incident was later dubbed as “Dera’a massacre“ By June 2011, more than a thousand civilians were killed across Syria.

Escalation of Conflict in Syria

As a response to the increasing atrocities of the Syrian military, defecting officers and personnel of the Syrian Armed Forces formed the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on 29 July 2011. The FSA declared its aim as “to bring down the Assad government.” During the same month, the Syrian Army started a crackdown on protesters in the city of Hama, a city which was central to many other events in recent Syrian history, such as the 1963 Ba’athist coup. On 1 July 2011, Hama hosted one of the largest demonstrations in Syria against Bashar al-Assad, with more than 100.000 people attending. On the eve of Islamic religious holiday Ramadan, the Syrian Army initiated its then-largest crackdown on the opposition across Syria, and more than 100 protesters were killed alone in Hama. The event has been named “Ramadan Massacre” by various media outlets.

The violent suppression of protests increased throughout August 2011 and September 2011 saw the rise of armed insurgencies against the Syrian government. Also in August 2011, the Syrian National Council, a coalition of various opposition groups in Syria, was founded in Istanbul, Turkey. The Syrian National Council later got together with other opposition groups and formed the Syrian National Coalition. Since its foundation, it has been regarded as the “legitimate representative of the Syrian people” by anti-Assad governments.


In May 2012, the Syrian Government carried out the Houla massacre, in which more than 100 civilians were killed. After the incident, major Western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom expelled the Syrian diplomatic missions from their countries. In June 2012, the UN described the situation as a “civil war” for the first time, citing the

widespread nature of the conflict. The International Committee of the Red Cross followed the UN by a similar declaration in July 2012. By the end of the month, more than 16.000 people were killed, and the fights for the control of major cities such as Damascus and Aleppo had begun.

Current situation in SyriaRed: Syrian government; Green: Syrian opposition; White: al-Nusra Front; Yellow: Kurdish forces

(SDF); Black: ISILhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Syrian_Civil_War_map.svg

Usage of Chemical Weapons

There have been several cases of the usage of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict: although it was initially not admitted by the Syrian government, Syria was believed to


possess one of the largest chemical weapon stockpiles in the world. The usage of chemical weapons has been documented and confirmed by the United Nations.

First allegations of usage of chemical weapons were reported in October 2012 by the French government. In March 2013, the United Nations Mission to Investigate Alleged Uses of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic was established by then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The Mission reviewed 16 allegations of chemical attacks. Regarding some of the alleged incidents, the Mission could not find sustainable evidence. Therefore, the Mission decided to remove 11 of the alleged incidents from the investigation and continue with the remaining seven incidents. The Mission published its report in December 2013 and concluded that chemical weapons such as the nerve agent sarin were used in at least five incidents to date, including the chemical attacks in Ghouta in August 2013, the deadliest incident with a death toll varying between 300 and 1.800 according to various sources.

In the wake of the Ghouta attacks, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) adopted a plan to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapon stockpile. The UN Security Council unanimously passed the Resolution 2118 which made the plan binding for Syria. Investigations in Syria by the OPCW began in October 2013, and by the end of the month, it was declared that the destruction of chemical weapon production facilities was complete. Syria also acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) the same month. By August 2014, most of the Syria’s declared chemical weapon stockpile were destroyed.

The destruction of Syria’s stockpile did not stop the usage of chemical weapons in the conflict: many attacks involving chlorine gas were reported throughout Syria. Chlorine is widely used for industrial purposes, and it is not classified as a chemical weapon by the CWC. Therefore, its production, trade, and usage are not subject to any international convention. However, when released en masse, chlorine gas can be used as a chemical weapon, as it has been the case in Syria.

The Refugee Crisis

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, there has been a constant flow of refugees fleeing to neighboring countries or seeking asylum in different parts of the world. First refugees started to arrive in Turkey and Lebanon in May 2011. By June 2011, Turkey was already hosting more than 10.000 refugees. With the offensives of the government forces, the number of refugees reached 25.000 in Turkey by April 2012. By December 2012, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported more than 500.000 registered refugees. As of December 2016, there are approximately 4.8 million registered Syrian refugees.

Turkey 2.814.631

Lebanon 1.017.433

Jordan 655.675

Iraq 228.894


Egypt 115.284Number of Refugees in Neighboring Countries (Data: UNHCR)

Turkey is hosting the largest population of Syrian refugees with more than 2.5 million registered by the Turkish government, which makes it the country with the largest refugee population in the world. Lebanon, a bordering country, is hosting 1 million refugees registered by the UNHCR. Only 10 percent of the registered refugees live in designated refugee camps while most of the refugees are settled in dense, urban areas.

Many Syrian refugees seek asylum in various European countries: Germany and Sweden are the countries with the most Syrian asylum applicants. Germany is currently the largest host of Syrian refugees in the European Union (EU) with more than 500.000 Syrian refugees. Many refugees try to cross the Aegean Sea for the Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea and to seek asylum in the EU. However, there has been many cases in which refugees have drown in water while trying to cross the Aegean Sea with often overloaded boats. The crossings from Turkey to Greece have significantly dropped since April 2016 due to the adoption of the EU-Turkey Statement in March 2016, in which the EU and Turkey agreed to cooperate to stop the irregular flow of migrants from Turkey to the EU.

Major Parties Involved

Syrian Government

The Syrian president Bashar al-Assad holds the post since 2000. The Syrian government began to suppress the protests beginning March 2011, and the violent suppression led to the escalation of the conflict. The Syrian government currently controls 35 percent of the Syrian territory which accounts for the majority of the country’s population.

The Syrian government is actively supported by Russia, Iraq, and Iran: with the help of the Russian military intervention, government forces managed to recapture many areas, most recently Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syrian Opposition

The main group of the opposition factions, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), was founded in July 2011 by defecting officers of the Syrian Army in the wake of violent oppression of protests throughout


Bashar al-Assad, President of Syriahttp://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/

50533/photos

the country. Initially, the FSA had a central structure. However, the FSA today is mostly a label used by various armed groups, which includes Islamist alongside the initial ‘moderate’ groups. The rise of jihadists groups such as ISIL and the Al-Nusra Front beginning 2014 contributed to the dissolution of the command structure of the FSA and some groups in FSA have reportedly joined ISIL.

The opposition groups have received substantial support from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States; and Turkey and the United States have conducted military operations in cooperation with the opposition groups.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL / ISIS / Daesh)

The rise of the Salafist-jihadist terrorist group, the Islamic State, began in 2014 with the capture of various territories in Iraq and Syria. The group follows a fundamentalist, Wahhabi interpretation of the Sunni branch of Islam and it aims to establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq, ruled with Sharia law. Today, ISIL still controls a significant portion of the Syrian territory, and it is the largest group in the conflict. ISIL aims to bring down the Assad government and establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria and Iraq. The group currently controls nearly a third of the Syrian land. ISIL is responsible for major human rights violations, beheadings of prisoners of war, and destruction of cultural heritage sites such as Palmyra in central Syria.

The group is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many member states. Countries that are active in Syria such as the United States, Russia, and Turkey have launched military operations against ISIL.

Kurdish Militias - Syrian Democratic Forces

Kurdish groups such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are active in northern Syria, along the Turkish border. The SDF consists of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) which was founded by Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and other minor Kurdish militant groups. The SDF made significant gains in northern Syria as the conflict escalated in major urban areas of Syria and the Syrian government relocated its forces to conflict zones, thus leaving Kurdish-populated areas to the control of the


SDF. However, with the rise of ISIL in 2014, the SDF lost the control of many Kurdish towns to ISIL such as Kobanî (Ayn al-Arab), an important Kurdish city adjacent to Turkish territory. With the help of state allies such as the United States, the SDF recaptured Kobanî along with many towns in northern Syria. Therefore, it is regarded as one of the most successful groups against ISIL.The Kurdish groups are actively seeking political autonomy in northern Syria, and they have made significant progress: Rojava (used colloquially - the West in Kurdish language), a de facto autonomous region in Syria, declared its autonomy in November 2013 and in March 2016, it declared the establishment of a federal system under the name the Federation of Northern Syria. The Rojava constitution has been updated in December 2016, and it is now known as the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria, and it controls the vast majority of northern Syrian territory.

Army of Conquest - al-Nusra Front

The Army of Conquest (Jaish al-Fatah) is an alliance of Islamist rebel groups in Syria. The group also includes the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist rebel group which was founded in 2012 as the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda. In July 2016, the al-Nusra Front announced that it had split from al-Qaeda, and it will be named as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front of the Conquest of the Levant). The al-Nusra Front is one of the largest parties to the conflict, and it has been one of the most active groups throughout the conflict.

The Army of Conquest and affiliated groups are active in northwestern Syria, especially in Idlib province. The group aims to bring down the Assad government, and it is an opponent of ISIL and SDF. The group is designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council.

Turkey

As a country with a 900-kilometre-long border with Syria, Turkey was involved in the Syrian conflict from the very beginning. The Turkish government was one of the first entities to back the Syrian opposition, and the Syrian National Council is also based in Turkey and received significant political support from Turkey. As a bordering country, Turkey is the largest host for Syrian refugees, hosting more than 2.5 million displaced persons. Turkey also provides the opposition with military training, weapons, and various resources.

In June 2012, the Syrian government forces shot down a Turkish F-4 Phantom reconnaissance jet after it allegedly violated the Syrian airspace. 2 Turkish pilots were killed, and the Turkish government issued a change in its engagement rules against Syria, stating that any incoming Syrian unit would be treated as a military threat.

During 2012 and 2013, shells fired from Syrian territory often landed in Turkish settlements near the border, which caused civilian casualties in some incidents. In September 2013,


Turkish Air Force shot down a Syrian helicopter. The helicopter allegedly violated the

Turkish airspace with 2 kilometres. In March 2014, the Turkish military shot down a Syrian MiG-23 jet. Turkey launched a military operation in Syria to relocate the Tomb of Suleyman Shah, an exclave of Turkey within Syria, to a territory adjacent to the Turkish border. The operation took place in February 2015. Starting from 2015, Turkey saw a rise in terrorist attacks in its territory, with several bombings taking place in major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, the capital. Most of the attacks were allegedly carried out by ISIL, with the Turkish government holding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group, responsible for some of the attacks. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.

In August 2016, Turkey launched its first direct military intervention in Syria which is named as Operation Euphrates Shield by the Turkish military. With the help of the fighters under the banner of Free Syrian Army (FSA), Turkish military first entered Jarabulus, previously held by ISIL. Turkey insisted that the Kurdish factions should retreat to the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. Nevertheless, Turkey also confronted the Kurdish forces such as the SDF


in the area. As of January 2017, Turkish Army is still fighting for the control of ISIL-held al-Bab, an important point held by the group.

The intervention has been acclaimed mostly positive by Western allies. However, the Turkish stance against the Kurdish forces has been long criticised by Turkey’s allies. Since some factions of the Kurdish militias, such as the Democratic Union Party (PYD), are members of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organisation in which also the PKK is present, Turkey views the Kurdish groups as an “extension” of the PKK. The PKK has been long reported of various terrorist acts within Turkey. Kurdish factions also fight against ISIS: therefore, they accused Turkey of “helping ISIL” with its campaign against them.

Russian Federation

Russia has been an avid supporter of Bashar al-Assad since the beginning of the conflict. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power, Russia vetoed many resolutions on the issue, thus preventing possible UN sanctions against the Syrian government. The Russian government acknowledged the Syria must undergo some reforms, but in contrast to many Western governments’ beliefs, it has always been an advocate of the presidency of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Russia was the drafter of various ceasefire and peace resolutions, but its plans were often rejected by the Syrian opposition due to the inclusion of Bashar al-Assad in the process.

A major supplier of the Syrian military, Russia continued to sell military equipment to Syria throughout the war. Various military equipment was transferred to Syria, such as helicopters and missile systems. Several Syrian government military personnel have also received training from the Russian military.

In September 2015, Russia launched its military intervention in Syria, starting a campaign against ISIL and opposition forces. The Syrian government requested Russia to deploy its forces in Syria and provided access to Latakia air base, which is since October 2016 a “permanent” installation of the Russian Air Force. The beginning of the Russian military intervention is seen as a major turning point in the conflict, and with the help of the Russian military, Syrian government forces had major gains, most recently the complete control of Aleppo.

Russia has been accused by various governments and international organisations for supporting the atrocities of the Syrian government and its airstrikes on civilian targets: the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, has reported that 3.800 civilian have lost their lives in Russian airstrikes.

Saudi Arabia & Qatar

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been major supporters of the opposition forces: earliest reports dating from 2012 state that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were financing weapons for opposition forces, which were


transferred via Turkey. Opposition forces have also received training in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Initial Saudi aid to the opposition was aimed at the groups under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) banner. However, Saudi Arabia was later accused of supporting Islamist groups: several resources have reported Saudi weapon shipments to the al-Nusra Front. After the Russian military intervention, Saudi Arabia increased its support with more advanced weapon supplies, such as anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft systems.

Saudi Arabia hosted a conference of various opposition groups in December 2015, after the first two rounds of the Vienna Peace Talks. The conference took place in the Saudi capital Riyadh, and it saw the foundation of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which consists of various rebel groups. Although the move was mostly welcomed, there has been critics of the group, citing the inclusion of Islamist factions in the HNC.

United States

The United States initially refrained from taking a side in the conflict. However, as the violence escalated throughout the summer of 2011, then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that the Syrian government “had lost its legitimacy.” In August 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama, along with several European leaders, called on Assad to step aside. The U.S. government also froze Syrian government assets in the U.S. and imposed sanctions on Syrian products. The United States maintains a heavy military presence in the region with an active naval fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, an airbase in Incirlik, southern Turkey, and various military installations throughout the Middle East.

It was reported in 2012 that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had started supplying the opposition forces with weapons. The United States is also organising a train-and-equip program for Syrian opposition forces. Under the program, opposition fighters received training in neighbouring US-allied countries such as Turkey and Jordan. The program was made official in 2013 with Obama’s approval.

American military intervention in Syria began in September 2014 when the United States started the Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. US Central Command later established the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF), a coalition of allied countries against ISIL. The task force is active in both Syria and Iraq, and it carried out airstrikes on ISIL-held targets. The United States also started to arms Kurdish militia groups such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to help them against ISIL. The supplies to Kurdish groups had been criticised by Turkey, an ally of the United States.

The civilian casualties during US-led strikes remain a question: a group of independent journalists reported more than 400 civilians killed in US-led coalition airstrikes. In contrast, the coalition forces reported only 2 civilian deaths.


Timeline of Key Events

July 2000 Bashar al-Assad inaugurated as the President of SyriaMarch 2011 Start of anti-government protestsMay 2011 Army deployed against protesters in major cities, 200+ killedJuly 2011 Free Syrian Army (FSA) foundedAugust 2011 Opposition group Syrian National Council (SNC) foundedNovember 2011 Syrian membership in the Arab League suspendedMarch 2012 Kofi Annan proposes his peace plan for Syria, endorsed by SC June 2012 United Nations described the situation as “civil war”June 2012 First Geneva Conference on Syria (Geneva I)June 2012 Syrian military shoots down a Turkish military aircraftAugust 2012 Kofi Annan resigns as UN Special Envoy to SyriaAugust 2012 Battle of Aleppo begins as the FSA captures east AleppoDecember 2012 US, UK, France, Turkey recognise the SNC as the “legitimate

representative” of SyriaMarch 2013 UN begins to investigate allegations of chemical warfareAugust 2013 Syrian government carries out Ghouta chemical attacksOctober 2013 Destruction of Syria’s chemical weapon stockpile beginsJanuary 2014 Second Geneva Conference on Syria (Geneva II)February 2014 Geneva II talks collapseMay 2014 Lakhdar Brahimi, Envoy to Syria, resignsJune 2014 The removal of chemical weapons in Syria complete, UN saysAugust 2014 Raqqa Province falls to ISILSeptember 2014 United States forms anti-ISIL coalition, starts airstrikesJanuary 2015 Kurdish SDF recaptures Kobanî from ISIL on Turkish borderMarch 2015 Army of Conquest captures Idlib Province from governmentMay 2015 World Heritage Site Palmyra falls to ISIL, landmarks destroyedSeptember 2015 Russian airstrikes in Syria begin, helping government forcesOctober 2015 Vienna Peace Talks beginFebruary 2016 Third Geneva Conference on Syria begins (Geneva III)February 2016 Partial ceasefire announced in Geneva III ConferenceMarch 2016 Syrian government recaptures Palmyra from ISILJuly 2016 Ceasefire effectively not in forceAugust 2016 Turkish military launches military intervention in Syria, captures

Jarabulus from ISILSeptember 2016 US-Russian brokered ceasefire announcedSeptember 2016 US-led coalition airstrikes hits Syrian government forces,

ceasefire declared void by Bashar al-AssadDecember 2016 With extensive Russian support, Syrian government captures

Aleppo after four years of fightingDecember 2016 Russian-Turkish brokered ceasefire announced, peace talks

are to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan


Previous attempts to resolve the issue

Since the very beginning of the conflict, various parties proposed many different peace proposals in Syria. However, most of them saw little to none implementation. The Arab League was the first organisation calling for an end to the violence and conflict in Syria and invited both parties to the negotiation table starting autumn 2011. On 2 November 2011, the Syrian government accepted an Arab League proposal. The proposal required the Syrian government not to deploy the armed forces against demonstrations. However, it was reported that following the deal, many protesters were still being killed by the government forces. As a response of not implementing the deal, the Arab League suspended Syria’s membership on 19 November 2011.

On 19 December 2011, the Arab League proposed another peace plan to the Syrian government. The latter plan also explicitly included the cessation of rebel hostilities and it was accepted by the Syrian government. According to the plan, the Arab League sent 50 monitors to Syria to observe the process and engage in dialogue with different parties. However, once again, the plan could not be implemented due to the escalating violence in Syria, and the Arab League withdrew its monitors in January 2012.

Kofi Annan Peace Plan

Kofi Annan Peace Plan for Syria was a peace proposal launched by the United Nations and the Arab League in March 2012. It was drafted by Kofi Annan, 7th UN Secretary-General and the UN-Arab League Envoy to Syria. The plan included six main points; thus it is also known as the six-point peace plan. The six points were:

1. Collaboration with the Envoy for an inclusive Syrian political process,2. Commitment to halt fighting and a UN-supervised cessation of violence,3. Ensuring timely provision of humanitarian assistance to affected areas,4. Speeding the process of release of arbitrarily detained persons,5. Freedom of movement for journalists in Syria,6. Respect to the freedom of association.

The plan was endorsed by the Security Council with a non-binding presidential statement, and the Syrian government accepted the plan on 27 March 2012 and announced that the forces were to be withdrawn within weeks. The ceasefire officially entered into force on 12 April 2012. In accordance with the plan, the Security Council unanimously adopted its Resolution 2043 (S/RES/2043), which established the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) on 21 April 2012. However, various sources had reported the continuation of Syrian Army attacks after the deal, which eventually led to the collapse of the plan. UNSMIS commander Robert Mood suspended the mission due to the escalation of violence, and the UNSMIS was officially disbanded in August 2012. Kofi Annan announced his resignation as the UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria, citing the refusal of the implementation of the plan by the parties and the lack of substantive work on the issue in the Security Council as reasons.


First Geneva Conference on Syria (Geneva I)

On 30 June 2012, representatives from Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Turkey, the Arab League, and the European Union met with the then-UN Special Envoy Kofi Annan in Geneva, Switzerland. The group of parties is also known as the “Action Group for Syria.” During the conference, the participants issued a communique which states the need for a “transitional government body with full executive powers.” Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that “Assad would not have a place” in the new government, which was immediately denied by her Russian counterpart. The focus of the communique is to determine the steps that will ensure the implementation of Kofi Annan Peace Plan and the UN Security Council Resolutions 2042 and 2043 by all parties. However, as with any other proposal, the implementation has faced severe obstacles as the violence further escalated in Syria and no negotiations between the parties could take place. The resulting communique is usually referred as the Geneva Communique in further talks.

After the meeting and the resignation of Kofi Annan, Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed as the new UN Envoy to Syria. He proposed a new ceasefire deal, which would start on the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. The holiday was on 26 October 2012 at that time (Islamic holidays follow lunar calendar), and both the government and the opposition initially agreed to the terms. The conflict escalated again as each party accused the others of not abiding by the conditions of the ceasefire.

Geneva II

The Second Geneva Conference on Syria (Geneva II) was an international peace conference took place in Geneva in early 2014. The conference was held with the aim of bringing the Syrian government and the opposition to the negotiation table. After the collapse of the Geneva Communique and the peace plan proposed by Lakhdar Brahimi. The Syrian government confirmed its participation on 29 November 2013. Wide participation to the conference took place: the United Nations, the Arab League, the European Union and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation all attended the meeting. Major parties such as but not limited to the United States, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia were also present in the conference. The first meeting took place on 22 January 2014 in Montreux, Switzerland, with later meetings taking place in Geneva between the 23rd and the 31st of January 2014, and again between the 10th and the 15th of February 2014.

A significant missing party was Iran: Syrian National Coalition (SNC), the coalition of various opposition groups and recognised as the “legitimate representative of Syrian people” by countries allied against Bashar al-Assad, objected to the Iranian participation and stated that they would not attend the conference if Iran participates. Then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon withdrew the invitation to Iran days before the conference, preventing possible problems with the SNC. However, the participation of the SNC in a meeting in which also Syrian government officials present was not unopposed in the Coalition: the Syrian National Council, the largest group within the SNC, did not accept a meeting until Bashar al-Assad left the office. Therefore, to protest, the Syrian National Council withdrew from the SNC.


Before the conference, the Syrian government made it clear that it would not accept the presidency of Bashar al-Assad as a topic of negotiations. This position was challenged by the US and its allies, stating that Bashar al-Assad had no role in the future of Syria. Syrian government officials accused the supporters of the opposition of “supporting and funding terrorists.” The opposition demanded the release of political prisoners and free access to areas held by the government. After days of meetings, a deal could not be reached among the parties. Lakhdar Brahimi, like his predecessor Kofi Annan, announced his resignation in May 2014 due to the failure of the Geneva process. Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura succeeded him as the new Envoy to Syria.

Vienna Peace Talks

The Vienna Peace Talks for Syria began in October 2015 in Vienna, Austria. On 23 October 2015, John Kerry, US Secretary of State, met with Sergei Lavrov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs. They together decided to hold the talks in which as parties will be represented. The first meeting was held with the participation of various parties: representatives of the United States, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, Iran, Germany, Turkey, France, China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Jordan, Qatar, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, the European Union, and the United Nations were present at the meeting. The group is also known as the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), and it is jointly chaired by Russia and the United States. The parties agreed on some basic principles: the adopted declaration states that “Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity and secular character are fundamental.” However, they failed to reach a compromise on the future role of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

On 14 November 2015, the ISSG met again in Vienna. The Arab League also joined the ISSG and participated in the meeting. In the meeting, the parties made commitments to the 2012 Geneva Communique and decided to begin negotiations with the Syrian government and opposition in January 2016. The role of Bashar al-Assad was mostly unmentioned during the meeting.

The Security Council unanimously adopted its Resolution 2254 titled “Road Map for Peace in Syria” on 18 December 2015. The resolution endorses the 2012 Geneva Communique and the plans laid by the ISSG during Vienna Peace Talks and calls for an immediate end to all attacks carried out on civilian targets. It suggests a UN-supervised, fair, and free election in Syria within 18 months. The attacks carried on terrorist targets such as the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front shall continue, the resolution states.

Geneva III (2016)

After the Vienna Peace Talks of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), the ISSG decided to restore the Geneva process starting February 2016. Among the invitees were the member of the ISSG, various rebel groups included in the “High Negotiation Committee” (HNC) which was formed in December 2015 at Saudi capital Riyadh, the Syrian government and the opposition. The talks officially started on 1 February 2016. The unwillingness of the


Syrian government and the opposition to sit at the same table hindered the process, and it was suspended only two days later. Some UN officials cited the recent Russian airstrikes on Aleppo as a reason. Envoy Staffan de Mistura stated that the talks would continue on the 25th of February 2016.

February 2016 Ceasefire

Following the talks in Geneva and Vienna, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) met on 11-12 February 2016 in Munich, Germany. The ISSG reaffirmed the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and called upon all parties to implement it. On 22 February 2016, the ISSG, co-chaired by Russia and the United States, announced a negotiated ceasefire deal starting on 27 February 2016. The Security Council adopted Resolution 2268 in accordance with the deal on 26 February 2016. UN-designated terrorist groups are not included in the deal. As one of the longest surviving deals, it shattered the power of ISIL in Syria: the government forces backed by Russia managed to capture Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and some significant gains by other groups were also made. The violations of the ceasefire gradually increased and by July 2016, it was effectively not in force.

September 2016 Ceasefire

On 10 September 2016, Russia and the United States agreed to a ceasefire deal between the Syrian government and the opposition rebel groups. The strikes on terrorist groups are not included in the deal. However, some Russian strikes targeted the US-backed opposition groups, and a joint American-British-Danish airstrike on ISIL targets killed 60 troops of the Syrian government. There have also been cases of humanitarian aid convoys being hit by Syrian government airstrikes. After the airstrike of the Coalition forces on Syrian government forces, Assad government declared the ceasefire as void.

December 2016 Ceasefire

In December 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had reached a ceasefire deal with Turkey and the deal was agreed by the Syrian government and the opposition. The ceasefire entered into force on 29 December 2016. As a part of the agreement, peace talks are scheduled for January 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Possible Solutions

The unique nature of the conflict has rendered many previous attempts void. The uprisings, which initially began against the authoritarian Syrian government, evolved into a civil war and saw the rise of jihadist terrorist organisations. The initial, moderate rebels have been overshadowed by terrorist organisations such as ISIL. The ethnic-religious dynamics of the country has also been an important factor in the development of the conflict.


The disagreements on the future role of Bashar al-Assad is one of the key factors on the failures on diplomatic proposals: the Syrian government usually does not want to give compromises on the issue, while the opposition did not accept any plan which included Bashar al-Assad so far. The member states should unite for the fight against terrorist groups in Syria while paving the path for a democratic, Syrian-led transition in Syria.

Appendix/Appendices

Since the issue is an ongoing conflict, it is essential that you should follow the latest updates regarding Syria.

- https://syria.liveuamap.com : Online map of the Syrian Civil War with newsfeed.- http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/un-documents/syria/ : Here you may find

previous UN documents regarding Syria, such as Security Council resolutions, presidential statements etc.

- https://www.reddit.com/r/syriancivilwar/wiki/index : Reddit can be a useful source of recent updates and the wiki pages can be helpful. However, it is possible that you encounter partisan news and comments. Use with caution.

- http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14703995 : Detailed timeline of Syria by BBC.

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