Syria, a land of death

In recent years, Syria has come under the attack of anti-governmental conflict. The ongoing Syrian civil war has witnessed the most deadliest conflict in this Century. The clashes started in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa. Nowadays, there are many different coalitions fighting on the ground: on one side, there is President Bashar al-Assad supported by Russia, Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Shi’ite militias of Iraq while on the other side we can find the so-called rebels with a dozens of groups namely Free Syrian Army initially assisted by the Turkey and the United States, Jaish al- Fatah supported by the Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and the Islamic State (IS). The conflict has strongly been affected by the war against the IS under the US command in 2014. In general, Russia and Turkey are also combating against IS, but they follow different goals in this conflict. Practically, Russia has used bombing on the US supported groups in Syria in favor of Assad government. Turkey continues to play the role of tolerance towards the IS as it helps Turkey to prevent the rising of Kurdish minority in its border areas. So, the overall situation seems to be a new cold war among many groups. In reality, the result is a military and diplomatic deadlock where the Assad government cannot win the conflict nor even the rebels groups, just attempting to cause destruction for the innocent civilians.

Syria

Another surprising fact is the involvement of two giant superpowers: the US and Russia. However, the recent collaboration between the United States and Russia has made possible to some extent reaching out an agreement, and guarantee a ceasefire to prevent further victims in Aleppo. That city owns a strategic and symbolic value that represents the outcome of the conflict and it is considered as one of the centers of oppositions against Assad. The city was under attacked by the both Assad government in the west part and Free Syrian Army in the east part. There are other cities where the conflict is growing. For example, the recent US led bombing on the city of Al-Tanf on Tuesday, 6th of June 2017. The US claimed that the city is under deconfliction zones and the Syrian Army tried to advance inside the territory which compelled the US to take such kind of attack. In reply, Russian foreign Minister said that  such US strike against Syrian Military  positions is nothing but an act of aggression and Russia denied to consider such kind of deconfliction zone controlled by the allied forces of the US. Furthermore, Hasaka, the northeast part of Syria, has been under the interventions of two major groups: Kurdish militia and the Syrian Army. Finally, the Syrian army was capable of capturing the city which compelled to step back the Kurdish positions in the area. In general, it seems that several groups fight against one another and ultimately, the innocent people are the main victims.

 

The US diplomatic solution is feeble and weak and that sign is clear if someone looks at the failed Geneva summits of 2016. This weakness of the United States has paved the way for having the key solutions to Russia. Furthermore, the United States assumes that there remains a silent alarm in Syrian conflict due to the growing collaboration between Russia and Iran. Meanwhile, the Turkey which used to be a strongly opponent of Assad government, has decided to review its policy towards Syria as it has already taken 2.5 million of Syrian refugees in its territory. Erdogan’s, the president of Turkey, main aims to subdue the Kurdish minority. He has also been trying to settle the dispute with Russia after the downing of a Russian warplane in November, 2016. Again, the relations between Turkey and the United States are at a critical level where nothing can be assumed. In Geneva Talk over Syria issue, during May, 2017, the UN special representative for Syria has temporarily withdrawn a proposal to form a consultative mechanism on the Syrian constitution. In a word, day by day, the political environment is getting complicated as the parties involved in the war take continuous twist and turn roles in the conflict. Moreover, Syrian refugee crisis has made a significant impact on the political climate of the Europe. The recent political ideology in case of Syria held by different groups are a sign which represents that the world is in a new phase of social unrest.

Though, the use of chemical weapons has been banned by international law, the people of Syria have also been a victim of such kind of weapons whose liability has been denied both by the Assad government and the rebels’ groups. The result of the use of chemical weapons has led enormous destruction for the innocent civilians and properties. Syria has become a red zone where lives have no means of security and where death is quite usual.

However, there are some foreseeable affirmative solutions by which the conflict could be resolved.  For example, the recent meeting between the two presidents of Russia and France over the issue of Syria would take a step ahead to cease the war. Besides, the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, said on his first visit to Saudi Arabia on 21st May, 2017: “Terrorists do not worship God, rather they worship death”. During a meeting of over 50 Arab and Muslim leaders, he has also emphasized the role of Middle Eastern leaders to fight a “crisis of Islamic extremism”. These few but effective meetings and agreements show a hope for the world that the Syrian conflict must be wiped out as soon as possible to bring a  peaceful environment for the welfare of mankind.

 

Tanjil Hossain

I am Tanjil Hossain, Bangladeshi by birth and have completed my Bachelor of Law with Honours and Master of Law from one of reputed Universities of Bangladesh named BUBT (Bangladesh University of Business and Technology), Dhaka, Bangladesh. Now I’m pursuing my MA degree with Human Rights and Multilevel Governance at University of Padova. The main goal of Human Rights is to establish Fundamental rights for all and those fundamental rights which are reserved for human and these are neither destroyed nor can be abrogated by anybody. As Human Rights student I would like to reach my message to the general people through my article writing about different topics of human rights violation throughout the world so that I can raise awareness among people who are not concerned about the ongoing situation of their surroundings and promote of universalism of human rights. 

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