NATO Defense Ministers Have Difficult Discussions Of Syria In Brussels
Faizan Hashmi Published October 25, 2019 | 06:04 PM
Defense ministers of the NATO member states gathered on Thursday for a two-day meeting in the Belgian capital of Brussels to discuss matters of common interest, primarily, to have a difficult discussion of the situation in Syria amid the ongoing Turkish operation in the country's north
On October 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria to clear the area of Kurdish units the and Islamic State terrorist group (IS banned in Russia). The United States and Turkey reached an agreement on October 17 on a 120-hour ceasefire in the area to allow the withdrawal of the Kurdish fighters.
As the five-day ceasefire came to an end, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached a deal late on Tuesday to pull the Kurdish fighters back and establish joint patrols in the operation zone in northeastern Syria along the Turkish border.
DIFFICULT AND 'FRANK' DISCUSSIONS
With the tensions between Turkey, the United States and the Europeans, it seems that the conversations were far from being easy.
"There are different views among Allies, and we had a frank and open discussion. But we focused on the way forward," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Thursday.
He tried to find ways to present in a favorable light the relations between the allies within NATO, without details, but it sounded very much like political wooden tongue.
"We agree we must build on this to make progress in our efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria. And we fully support UN-led efforts to reach a political solution," Stoltenberg noted.
With the sudden US withdrawal from the conflict area and the agreement between the Kurdish Syrian fighters and the Syrian government of Bashar Assad to deal with the Turkish operation and common enemies, NATO realizes that the alliance cannot actually do anything on the ground to restore peace and security. As the Russian units were deployed to the border area, there has been a significant reduction in violence, even after the end of the short ceasefire negotiated between Turkey and the US.
NATO ministers want to safeguard the gains made against the common enemy, IS, which has been defeated in Syria but might have dormant cells ready to surge again. NATO has an important training mission, ongoing in Iraq, to train the troops that must ensure that IS will not return. NATO is also present in Afghanistan, but cannot play any role in Syria, because it is absent from this territory, with the notable exception of Turkey, a member of NATO, which is leading a solo campaign in northeastern Syria.
Thus Stoltenberg's words lacked solid grounding when he said that the defense ministers "agree that we need to maintain commitment to our missions and operations in the region ... All of our missions and operations, from the Western Balkans to the middle East, play a key role in our collective security.
So I welcome that many Allies have announced that they will maintain or increase their commitments to what we are doing together."
Stoltenberg still insisted that the talks, held by the defense ministers, were useful.
"There are different views, and allies also stated in the meeting views that are publicly known. But this was an open and frank discussion among friends and Allies. And I think it's useful, in itself, that when there are different views, that we bring Allies together to sit around the same table, and that they address the challenges we all see in northeast Syria," the secretary general said.
Stoltenberg reaffirmed NATO's commitment to looking for a political solution of the crisis in Syria and recognized the legitimacy of Turkish security concerns over the situation in northeastern Syria.
"The main focus was on the way forward. It was a strong support for a political solution and a strong support for stronger international engagement, political engagement, to support a political solution in northeast Syria and the whole of Syria. There are different views, but we agree on several things, including that Turkey has legitimate security concerns. Also, the need of not jeopardizing, but preserving the gains we have made in the fight against our common enemy, ISIS [IS]. That's extremely important," Stoltenberg said.
The NATO chief also marked some progress in the reduction of violence in northeastern Syria.
"So I think that we recognized that we have seen some progress. We have seen reduction in violence. We have seen some progress. And we shall have to build on that to try to find a more lasting political solution," he added.
GERMAN INITIATIVE ON PEACEKEEPING MISSION IN SYRIA
On Monday, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that she would propose to the NATO member states to create an internationally-controlled safe zone, with the involvement of Turkey and Russia, in northern Syria.
"I welcome that NATO Allies have ideas, proposals on how we can try to address a very difficult situation in northern Syria. At the end of the day, we need a political solution and therefore, also, we strongly support the UN-led efforts to find a political solution," Stoltenberg said, commenting on Kramp-Karrenbauer's initiative.
The secretary general added that any forces on the ground - regardless of the country of their origin - have to be responsible to prevent possible escape of the IS prisoners from the jails in the area.
Along with the situation in Syria, Stoltenberg also spoke briefly about the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and mentioned the NATO commitment to disarmament efforts.
Stoltenberg also expressed satisfaction with NATO's readiness initiative to counter Russia, called the "Four Thirties." That means that the allies are committing 30 battalions, 30 air squadrons, and 30 combat ships to NATO within 30 days. He thanked the member states for their contribution.
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