Under Turkish pressure, transitional government in Syria refuses to attend Paris meeting again

Today, the Syrian transitional government announced its refusal to participate in the upcoming meeting in Paris to negotiate with representatives of NE Syria.

The new position came in a statement carried by the transitional government's official news agency, SANA, citing what it called an "official government source." The source claimed that the conference, held in the city of Hasaka under the title "Unity of Position of the Components of North and East Syria," does not represent a "comprehensive national framework," and that it constitutes "an attempt to internationalize Syrian affairs, attract foreign intervention, and reimpose sanctions." The source considered its convening to be inconsistent with the March 10 agreement between Ahmed al-Sharaa and the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi.

The source claimed that the conference "dealt a blow to ongoing negotiation efforts," stressing that "the government will not participate in any meetings scheduled in Paris," despite the fact that the negotiations were intended to discuss mechanisms for political reconciliation and the future of the constitutional process under international auspices. Contrary to this position, the source called on international mediators to move the negotiations to Damascus.

At the time of writing, the sponsors and initiators of the meeting (France and America) had not issued any comment on the situation.

This announcement of its absence and refusal to participate in the meeting is the second of its kind in as many weeks. The previous absence was justified by the events in Sweida, where the two sides were scheduled to meet in Paris on June 25.

Karim Qamar, the representative of the Democratic Autonomous Administration in France, told ANHA agency in a special statement that the meeting between representatives of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and a delegation from the transitional government in Syria, which was scheduled to take place, had been postponed without further explanation.

In an interview with ANHA agency on August 5, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, explained that the first meeting "was postponed at the last minute. The French side officially informed us that the meeting had been postponed. Later, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called me and said, 'We were ready, but we were also surprised. The Damascus government is busy with the Sweida issue, so they asked for a postponement.'"

Analysts believe that this refusal, procrastination, and pretext are due to Turkish pressure aimed at obstructing any rapprochement between the transitional government and representatives of North and East Syria. They assert that the latest refusal came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's surprise visit to Damascus, during which he met with Ahmed al-Sharaa and his foreign minister, just one day before the Hasaka conference.

Sh-S

ANHA