By Christine Schweitzer,
Federation for Social Defense (BSV)

It is very difficult to imagine what a peace solution for Syria could look like. The fighting is too heavy, the suffering too immense and the number of people involved too great. Nevertheless, we will try to name a few points here that could be the prerequisites and/or content of a peace solution. Our starting point is that the conflict has at least five dimensions that extend geographically far beyond Syria, indeed beyond the entire region.

Dimension 1: The uprising against Assad's rule and for the democratization of Syria

The uprising was sparked by police violence and torture against protesting youths in March 2011. Inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, among others, hundreds of thousands took to the streets within a few weeks. However, the resistance quickly lost its purely civilian character when the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed, which initially only claimed to "protect" the protesters, but soon became the catalyst for the formation of numerous other fighting groups.

BSV position: The decision on the future of Syria lies solely with the Syrian people. Neither international negotiators, who strengthen one coalition or the other by deciding who to invite to talks and who not (e.g. the Syrian-Kurdish PYD was excluded from the Geneva negotiations in 2016), nor military intervention on either side are helpful here.

Instead, the so-called international community should limit itself to negotiatingwith all parties to the conflict (including radical Islamist groups and, in any case, including the Syrian Kurds) as an honest broker. Such mediation efforts do not have to mean all meeting in one place - mediators can travel back and forth or hold meetings with only a few groups at a time to explore possibilities for a real solution.

Local ceasefires and the creation of weapons-free zones (the former exists, the latter does not yet) could help to ensure that fewer and fewer areas of Syria are talking. Furthermore, it must be ensured that humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance reaches these zones.

Dimension 2: Syria as a battlefield for foreign militaries and militias

The longer the conflict has lasted, the more it has become internationalized. It may be worth recalling the sequence of events: As early as the fall of 2011, there was weapons aid and military training for the FSA and other militias by Sunni Arab countries and by the USA. The latter stepped up their involvement in 2013 with a CIA-led program. At the beginning of September 2014, an international military alliance against IS was launched at the NATO summit in Wale. In addition to the USA, the founding members were Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Australia, Canada and Turkey. This alliance, expanded to include several Arab countries (today the coalition comprises 64 states), began attacking IS in Syria and Iraq shortly afterwards, with the bombings initially being carried out by the USA and some Arab countries alone. As part of this coalition, Germany has been supporting the Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq with weapons since 2014. France and the UK joined the bombing campaign in Syria at the end of September 2015, practically at the same time as Russia. It quickly became clear to Russia that not only IS positions, but all armed opposition groups were targets.

The next escalation took place when France and, shortly afterwards, the UK stepped up their bombing campaign in November/December 2015 following a series of terrorist attacks in Europe, and other EU states, including Germany, also provided military support for the operation from this point onwards as part of EU solidarity, without carrying out attacks themselves.

The most recent escalation to date has been Turkey's intervention with ground troops in northern Iraq since August 2016, which appears to be directed more against the Kurdish opposition forces than against IS, and Russia's open military support for Assad's troops in the battle for Aleppo.

Today, at least 26 countries are directly or indirectly involved in the war in Syria. However, they are not the only international participants in the war: shortly after the FSA was formed, more and more foreign fighters from all over the world, from Libya to Chechnya, from Sudan to Western Europe and North America, entered the country and formed fighting units or joined existing ones. The so-called Islamic State is just one of them. The Assad government also sought support - it primarily turned to Shiite fighters - the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and soldiers from Iran.

BSV position: The military intervention of the anti-IS alliance in Syria must end, and not only it, but the entire war on terror. Every drone that kills innocent people, every secret or open military operation does one thing above all: it creates new terrorists. And if we succeed in bringing IS to its knees militarily, then it will continue to fight in other countries and underground and will also increasingly spread terror to the West.

Protecting the civilian population does not happen through aerial bombing. It needs courageous humanitarian engagement both directly in the war zones and in the areas of Syria where there is currently no fighting. At least in the latter areas, unarmed civilian peacekeeping could be used, as the Nonviolent Peaceforce is currently offering in the form of training from Beirut.

Any peace plan for Syria must include the withdrawal of foreign troops and fighters, not just an end to aerial bombardment. It will be particularly important to offer fighters who are not part of an "official" army the opportunity to reintegrate into civilian life in their home countries. Otherwise they will simply move on to a new theater of war.

Dimension 3: The conflict between the Turkish government and the Kurdish movement

Syria is one of several countries in the region (alongside Turkey, Iraq and Iran) where there is a significant Kurdish population. The Kurdish PYD took part in the uprising against Assad and, like the Iraqi Peshmerga, is fighting IS. It maintains good relations with the PKK in Turkey. Turkey fears a Kurdish-controlled area south of its border. It has therefore begun to attack PYD positions. In doing so, Turkey has turned against one of the groups supported by the alliance against IS with weapons and training.

BSV position: A peace solution for Syria must also include a settlement for the Kurdish population in northern Syria - perhaps in the form of autonomy arrangements similar to those enjoyed by the Kurds in Iraq. However, this will probably only be feasible if the Kurdish-Turkish conflict can be dealt with constructively. This requires the work of mediators who are recognized by all sides, e.g. from the ranks of the international organization of 57 Islamic countries, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which already helped to settle the civil war in Mindanao (Philippines), among other things.

Dimension 4: The proxy war between Sunni and Shiite countries

Like the war in Yemen, the war in Syria is also a proxy war between Saudi Arabia on the one side and Iran on the other as the leading powers of the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. The Sunni countries support the opposition to the Assad regime, with some not even stopping at (unofficial) support for IS. The Assad government, characterized by the Alevis, who are close to the Shiites, has in turn obtained support from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, among others.

BSV position: The conflict between the two denominations will not be resolved in the short term, but there are constructive approaches to dealing with the religious dimension of this conflict: Dialogue between the denominations, strengthening the aspects that unite both denominations, reconciliation work at the grassroots level. As the conflict has a political and economic dimension as well as a religious one, there is also an urgent need for a conference of all Middle Eastern states along the lines of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now the OSCE) to address and overcome the political and economic competition between the states involved, which ultimately determines this conflict.

Dimension 5: The proxy war between Russia and the West.

The conflict between the West and Russia did not just begin with the Ukraine crisis. Russia has been supporting the Assad government in diplomatic forums, including the United Nations, since 2011. Syria was an important trading partner for Russia and also home to the only naval base on the Mediterranean. In 2013, when the UK and the US threatened military intervention over Syrian poison gas, Russia played a constructive role in persuading the Syrian government to withdraw and destroy its stockpiles under UN supervision. However, following the imposition of sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea and support for the rebels in eastern Ukraine and the military build-up on both sides, the war in Syria has also developed into a proxy war between Russia and the West.

FSIA position: The key to reconciliation between Russia and the West lies more in Ukraine than in Syria. The FSU has made various proposals in this regard - referendums, protection of minorities, disarmament and troop withdrawal, common security, etc.

Conclusion

A peace solution for Syria can probably only succeed if all five dimensions mentioned are addressed. This requires a rethink on the part of the governments involved. Pressure from below, from the peace movements, is the only hope that such a rethink will take place.

This article was first published in November 2016 as a handout by the Bund für Soziale Verteidigung
(www.soziale-verteidigung.de ) published.