Will Geneva talks help resolve Syrian crisis?

The peace talks, brokered by the UN on the Syrian crisis commenced in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 01 this year and are supposed to be continuing for a long time. The Syrians are very hopeful of success of the talks, and other related parties too feel about the dialogue in the same vein. No sooner had the talks been launched, the Syrian government and Russia were accused of killing at least 300 civilians, as reported by Reuters and Al-Jazeera on February 03. So, the peace talks, in view of this incident, have plunged into a new crisis when the UN envoy declared the talks suspended until February 25. But then the organisation's special envoy Staffan de Mistura insisted that the negotiations had not failed and would resume. He was referring to decisions of the Syrian representatives and the opposition delegations.
However, during the course of discussion killing of so many civilians by military actions by Russia and the Syrian government appeared to this writer to be a ploy to mount pressure on the opposition delegations in Geneva. Now the opposition has set conditions for return to the Geneva negotiations. The conditions are to lift sieges and allow humanitarian aid into famine-stricken areas, release political prisoners and end all attacks and air strikes on the Syrian people and these are reasonable to be accepted by the Syrian authority in order to keep the talks ongoing.
On the eve of the peace talks, what a sizeable section of the rebel groups of Syria want prior to any dialogue is revoking of all the sieges that the Syrian troops have imposed on areas controlled by the rebels. That's why these blockaded areas are barred from any foreign aid and pose a human crisis for their dwellers. The Syrian troops often apply such an inhuman approach with a view to perpetuating their misdeeds by encircling the innocent civilians.
In our opinion, the peace talks, though still a long way to go, may not be fruitful to the last as long as all the parties related to the issue are not duly represented on the table of discussion. But Turkey, one of the most important parties, firmly said it would boycott the talks if the Democratic Union Party (POID) join the discussion, but the US and Russia want the POID to be present. As is generally the case, Saudi Arabia, along with the Gulf States, still intends to go without Iran and Bashar Al-Assad in this regard. However, there is no likelihood of getting an effective result through any military or forcible actions.
Those who all along want to keep Israel safe apparently want the discussion fail lest Israel's interest is harmed somehow or the other if Assad and Iran remain important actors. But international power-play around Syria has been changed. In the bygone years, America, along with its allies (European Union), was the dominant authority in making any decision and taking any action on the Syrian crisis, but late last year Russia with its heavy armaments and air force  rushed with consecutive attacks on IS in Syria although the main thrust of Russia's involvement in the battlefront of Syria was to protect President Bashar Al-Assad just as he was about to fall. Iran began  to help Assad more openly than ever. As a result, the calculation of the Western alliance on Syria got confused. So, as of now, the reality is that Russia and Iran have become parties to the issue of Syria, as opposed to America and its alliance.
The US wanted  a regime change in Syria in the interest of Israel's security, but the EU can no longer concur with America in this policy because its member-states are worried themselves over the overwhelming flow of refugees from Syria into Europe in view of constant war in  the country. The EU wants relief from refugee trouble. That's why the US and the EU, at last, couldn't but turn back from their rigid position to do away with Bashar Al-Assad for making a political resolution. Accordingly, the UN-arranged peace talks included Bashar Al-Assad at the initiative of the US and Russia in defiance of what Saudi Arabia and Israel expect.    
However, Saudi Arabia faces a number of counter-strikes from the Houthi rebel group, which is backed by Iran in Yemen where Riyadh, along with its alliance, is fighting. On the other side, Hezbollah is all along a big threat to Israel as this armed group has been helped by Iran through  Syrian territories with the consent of Bashar Al-Assad. So, Saudi Arabia, along with the Gulf States, oppose Iran's Shia agenda in the Middle East and wants Bashar Al-Assad to be toppled by any means and so does Israel for having its safety more assured.
The Islamic State (IS) is another vital issue in the peace talks. The IS has yet to be destroyed despite ceaseless attacks of the US and Russia on this terrorist outfit.
The first discussion in Geneva over the Syrian crisis between government representatives had began in 2012 and continued until 2014, but there was no effective resolution of the conflict and civil war in Syria. So recalling the former discussion, all the participants in the current talks should be determined to see that whatever resolution they will make must be acceptable to Syrian people. Else, the dialogue will fail to click.
The writer is Executive Director, Alif Marine & Engineering Services Ltd.
[email protected]