ANKARA, December 13. /TASS/. The 2015 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254 on resolving the situation in Syria through political means is no longer in line with the country’s realities, Sedat Ergin, political commentator for Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, said.
According to him, the developments that took place in Syria in the past two weeks "have rendered the settlement mechanism laid out in the resolution obsolete, which was never implemented." The reason is that the UN resolution took note of three forces in Syria, which were expected to make agreements: ex-President Bashar Assad’s government, the opposition, and civil society. However, Assad and his Ba’ath party have now withdrawn from the political arena.
The Constitutional Committee, formed based on the resolution, also considered the three parties, with each having 50 representatives in the body. This balance of power is also no longer relevant. Moreover, the process of developing a new constitution was halted in 2022 after failing to produce results, Hurriyet notes.
Since the resolution no longer reflects the situation in Syria, the need arises "to find another method to develop a constitution, as well as offer at least a new interpretation of the resolution" or adopt a new document. This "will not be an easy task, though not unachievable," the commentator emphasized.
The paper points out that talks are going to be very difficult as they involve parties with various levels of influence in Syrian society and military might. Besides, there are also external powers beyond the Syrian negotiating table that have their own interests. According to Hurriyet, those include "Turkey, which has strengthened its positions, as well as the US, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries."
In late November, armed opposition units launched a large-scale offensive on positions held by Syrian government forces in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces. On December 8, they entered Damascus, prompting government troops to withdraw from the capital. Bashar Assad stepped down as Syrian president and left the country, issuing instructions to ensure a peaceful transition of power. On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who had led the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Idlib Province since January 2024, announced his appointment as head of Syria’s interim government. The interim period is expected to last until March 1, 2025.