Syria will “in principle” attend the Geneva Conference on Crisis in June

A conference on the crisis in Syria is scheduled to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in June and according to Russia, Damascus is attending. The official word from the government of President Bashar al-Assad is that they have agreed “in principle” to participate in the Syria will “in principle” attend the Geneva Conference on Crisis in June.

Russia is recognized as the nation that has the strongest influence on the regime in Syria. The two countries have a long history of cooperation stretching back to Soviet rule. Russia is very much satisfied with the response from Syria’s leaders.

The path to a solution

Alexander Lukashevich, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry said that the Syrian government would participate so that the people themselves can “find the political path to a solution” and end the long running conflict that is proving to be ruinous to both the country and the region.

The Syrian President has been warned by United States Secretary of State John Kerry to be ready to commit to finding the path to peace or his opponents would gain the support of the US and other countries concerned. Secretary Kerry said that if the Geneva conference is not to take place, Syria will only see more violence and further disintegration.

Geneva Conference on Crisis

The June conference in Geneva is sponsored by the United States and Russia. The main objective of this international conference is to work on a political solution to the Syrian conflict. The Action Group for Syria was formulated in 2012 with the backing of the United Nations and calls an end to violence immediately. This solution involves establishing a transitional government that is composed of both the opposition and officials of the incumbent government.

The civil war in Syria started in March 2011when the people sought to oust President Assad leaving almost 90,000 dead. One and a half million Syrian refugees are now in neighboring countries and 4.25 million citizens have been displaced.

A commitment to find peace

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Syria, Faisal Mekdad had a dialogue with Moscow on Wednesday. He said that their government will still decide on whether Syria will join the conference or not. The gathering is tentatively scheduled on June 10, 2013. However, Alexander Lukashevich said that reports on a specific date for the Geneva conference are still premature.

Detailed transition plan

In the meantime, the main opposition party entered Day 2 of talks with the objective of determining the right approach to the upcoming conference on Friday.

Moaz al-Khatib, the outgoing leader of the main opposition coalition has already put forward a plan for the Syrian transition. The proposal was presented at the very start of a three-day talk in Turkey. The objective of the Istanbul talks is to revamp the leadership and constituents of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. One of the main stipulations of the proposal is for President Assad to exit peacefully and his whole family is given safe passage.

The Coalition has made the demand on the government of Syria to confirm its attendance in the upcoming Geneva conference.

Photo Credit: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad