Syria: six years of war
24 March 2017 | In the Media
From a popular revolt, framed in the context of peaceful demonstrations that in 2011 called for political and social reforms throughout the region, to a conflict that has lasted for six years. Where is Syria after all this time? What can be expected from the ongoing international peace negotiations, promoted by various actors and multiple interests?
Lurdes Vidal, Head of the Arab World and Mediterranean department at the IEMed, spoke about this in an interview on the program El matí on Ràdio 4 on the occasion of the six years of war in Syria.
Vidal reviewed the actors in an extremely complex conflict, from Russia’s dual role as international mediator and al-Assad’s ally on the ground, to Turkey’s entry into the conflict, “nervous about the support that the US is giving to the Kurdish forces “, as well as Al-Assad’s strategy of grouping opposition groups, as a whole, as radicals. In this sense, Vidal explains, “with democratic activists eliminated, the regime can already make this narrative as convincing” and “make the fight against Daesh the central point of the peace negotiations.”