Turkey, Russia, Iran ramp up efforts for peace in Syria

An important turning point in the seven-year Syrian civil war was observed in Geneva on December 18 as relentless efforts of United Nations’ Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura made significant progress for the establishment of a council tasked to write a new constitution for Syria…Agreements on establishing security zones in different parts of Syria and avoiding a massive Syrian operation against jihadists in Idlib province are just a few results the Astana Process yielded in the last two years. In addition, Turkey’s insistence on linking the Astana Process with the Geneva Process so that the required settlement could be implemented in line with the 2015 article 2254 of the U.N. Security Council provided an internationally approved transparent road map for the future of Syria…The Syrian regime, the opposition and civil society are being represented each with 50 members in the Syrian national dialogue committee. The council will draft the constitution and will, thus, pave the way for fair, democratic, transparent and inclusive elections in Syria so that the Syrian people will choose who will run the country. Of course, it’s easier said than done. The road ahead is still full of problems and requires more commitment than ever. But it offers a very big opportunity not only for Syria and for the region. Many problems the European countries are facing today, like terrorism and migration, are stemming from the quagmire of Syria. That’s why Europeans should be much more engaged with this process and its guarantor countries…At the end of the day, the reconstruction and normalization of Syria will require billions of euros, which can only be delivered with the participation of the EU.