Syria remains fragmented: UN envoy
“Syria remains fragmented into several areas that seem to be drifting apart."
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen on Monday told UN Security Council members that Syria remains fragmented.
“Syria remains fragmented into several areas that seem to be drifting apart, as de facto authorities entrench their control on the ground, and five foreign armies continue to jostle in the theatre,” he said.
He added that a strategic stalemate on the ground has now continued for 21 months, with no shifts in front-lines.
“(This) – making it increasingly clear that no existing actor or group of actors can determine the outcome of the conflict, and that a military solution remains an illusion,” he added.
Pedersen went on to state that it is now time to explore whether a political process can meaningfully move forward in 2022.
“The status quo has many dangers, and it would be folly only to manage an unacceptable and deteriorating stalemate,” he said.
“Equally, the realities facing all parties should promote an interest in compromise, and open opportunities for concrete steps forward on the political track,” he added. “No one should expect miracles or quick solutions – the path forward will be necessarily incremental.”
He expressed his hope that in the coming year “we can work on concrete steps towards the implementation of Security Council resolution 2254.”
UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2254 was adopted in 2015. It calls for a ceasefire and a political settlement in Syria.
But so far, there has been no clear move towards a political settlement in Syria, despite attempts by the UN to reach an agreement between the Syrian opposition and the Syrian government through the Geneva talks.
“Without change in political calculations in both Ankara and Washington, Syria is indefinitely divided,” Nicholas Heras, Deputy Director of the Human Security Unit at New Lines Institute in Washington, D.C., told Kurdistan 24.
“And the longer Syrian opposition in NW (Northwest) Syria and in NE (Northeast) Syria live under their own authorities, apart from Assad's government, it is unlikely they will ever go back under him,” he said.
