Syria

07/10/2014
by Wilhelm Langthaler
YPG Syrian Kurdish militia
Since September 16, 2014, ISIS is attacking the town of Kobani which has been serving as the capital of the de-facto autonomous region self-administered by Syrian Kurds. Although their fierce resistance does matter and got a political impact, eventually they are doomed to fail for ISIS is disposing over far superior equipment. Turkey is idly standing by as the PYD/YPG is being defeated while US air strikes only symbolically target ISIS around Kobani -- different to their claims.
04/06/2014
Haytham Manna is a spokesperson of the National Co-ordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB), the main democratic leftist force in Syria. Following extract is a free translation of a text published on the NCB’s website.
19/05/2014
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Ayman and Zeinat Akhras
The Syrian government is celebrating its apparent victory over the armed insurgency in its former capital. But Syrian society pays a price too high. One only needs to look at the appalling pictures of destruction caused by years of siege and indiscriminate artillery bombardment. It stands as symbol for the ravaging of the Syrian social fabric which is even worse than the physical one and without perspective to be healed.
26/03/2014
By Wilhelm Langthaler, Co-convener PeaceinSyria.org
Bild
Now that the “All sides Consultation for a Political Solution in Syria” is accomplished and is being recognized by all the participants as a success that deserves continuation, the time has come to draw a balance not only of the conference itself, but also of its wider significance. The very fact that around two dozen people from the most diverse and conflicting backgrounds of Syrian society came together and consulted how to overcome the civil war tearing apart the country is extraordinary. But the spirit emerging from the debates reaches far beyond the objective of this single event, giving hope that a movement for a political solution is gaining momentum.
21/03/2014
Initiative for a Political Solution
Participants All Sides Consultation for a Political Solution
Syrians coming from most diverse social, educational, political and national backgrounds have gathered on March 8th and 9th in the Castle of Schlaining, Austria, in the framework of an “All Sides Consultation for a Political Solution in Syria” organized by the International Initiative www.peaceinsyria.org.
25/01/2014
by Haytham Manna
"We call together with a large number of forces and national democratic voice for a gathered Conference to restore to the free Syrians their natural right to independent decision-making and to take a political stand together, to build a road map bringing back the role of the political solution as the only way to put an end to the plight faced by the country."
09/01/2014
International Peace Initiative for Syria
Every day it becomes clearer that the Syrian war cannot be won by anybody with a positive outcome for the Syrian people. With its internal divisions on every side the civil war has reached the state of an unprecedented bloodshed increased by external interventions. Its continuation will only wreak havoc and spread destruction on all levels of society.
31/12/2013
Bild
Actually we deliberately want to stress the reciprocity and similarity of the phenomenon of sectarianism from both sides of the Syrian civil war though the more suitable notion would be communalism built on a specific group identity.
27/12/2013
by Wilhelm Langthaler
Starving residents leave govt-besieged Moadamiyeh. Truces remain short-lived.
1. Chemical arms deal reinstating Assad as an interlocutor of the west acknowledging that he will not be toppled any soon by military means. 2. US-Iran rapprochement. 3. Military advances by the Assad side. 4. Weakening of the popular support base of the insurgency as it falls under Jihadi control. 5. Marginalisation of pro-western military forces. 6. Radical opposition of Saudis to a settlement with Iran expressed in continued support for Jihadism. 7. Assad’s reinforced refusal of any democratic reform or any power sharing compromise with Russian backing.
15/09/2013
by Wilhelm Langthaler
We are relieved that the imminent threat of an US aggression on Syria is preliminarily put on hold and a diplomatic channel has been opened up. But the US military power projection remains in place and the bloody civil war continues. We therefore need to continue and step up the campaign against foreign intervention and especially the western one. But at the same time we ought to help to pave the way for a transitional government fulfilling the demands of the original democratic popular movement.

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