More talks to come on Syria as the terrorists’ days are numbered in the country

As the battles are still ongoing in different parts of Syria to liberate the territories under terrorists’ control, the United Nations has declared the new round of Syrian peace talks to be held within a month. Meanwhile, reports indicate that most part of the country has already been retaken from ISIS.

کد خبر: ۷۴۲۰۲۷

تاریخ: ۰۵ آبان ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۲:۰۱

Tabnak – As the battles are still ongoing in different parts of Syria to liberate the territories under terrorists’ control, the United Nations has declared the new round of Syrian peace talks to be held within a month. Meanwhile, reports indicate that most part of the country has already been retaken from ISIS.

According to a Press TV report, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has announced that a new round of talks aimed at ending the Syrian crisis will open in a month’s time.

De Mistura said Thursday that the talks, to be attended by representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition, would begin on November 28 in the Swiss city of Geneva. "We need to get the parties into real negotiations,” said the diplomat during a UN Security Council meeting.

He said the talks on Syria, seven rounds of which have been held since the start of the war in 2011, had now reached a "moment of truth” as ISIS, the main terrorist group fighting the Syrian government, was technically purged from its strongholds of Raqqa and Dayr al-Zawr in the east of the country.

Also on Friday, De Mistura’s spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing that the Envoy had stated that "the time has come to launch a political process for resolving the crisis in Syria.”

Haq talked about De Mistura’s visit to Moscow and his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during which they discussed developments of the crisis in Syria, adding that the Envoy will be discussing his talks in Russia with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin hailed Russian forces’ contribution to Syria’s counterterrorism campaign, saying over 90 percent of the Syrian territory has been liberated from the grip of militants.

Speaking on Thursday, Putin thanked Russian military servicemen who are involved in Syria’s anti-terror fight, saying they have made a change in the overall situation.

"It was possible to radically reverse the situation thanks to their courage, precise and professional actions and valor, ” he said. "More than 90% of Syria’s territory is already free from terrorists,” he added.

In the same vein, Xinhua reported that the Syrian government forces are advancing in the countryside of Deir al- Zawr province in eastern Syria in fighting ISIS in al-Bukamal, the last major IS stronghold near the Iraqi border.

The Syrian troops are now fighting to retake the T2 oilfield all the way to reach al-Bukamal, just days after the government forces dislodged ISIS from the city of al-Mayadeen, which was deemed as the ISIS' capital in Deir al- Zawr, a military source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Therefore, with the latest military developments in mind, one could conclude that the time is finally coming for the different parties involved in the Syrian crisis to start a real process of depicting a plan for the post-war Syria.

In this vein, the UN-mediated talks, noted by De Mistura, will follow another round of meeting between Iran, Turkey and Russia, which together act as guarantor states in peace talks for Syria, in the Kazakh capital of Astana next week. The three have helped set up de-escalation zones across Syria to reduce fighting on the ground.

Previous rounds of talks mainly failed due to the opposition’s insistence for the departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. But, the demand seems no bargaining chip in talks any more due to Syria’s continued victories against terrorists.