Tabnak – As fierce fighting against ISIS terrorists is still going on in different parts of Syria, the United Nations Special Envoy has expressed hope for the upcoming political talks to be fruitful. Meanwhile, Syrian officials are talking about the prospect of ending the conflict in the war-torn country.
Iranian news outlet Press TV reports that the United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura has hoped for a "serious negotiation” between the Damascus government and the opposition. This comes as the global body expects to convene a next round of talks on the crisis in the Arab country in October or November.
De Mistura said Thursday that the time remaining to another round of UN-backed negotiations on Syria would be a "major opportunity for the opposition to take stock of the realities on the ground.”
The UN diplomat was clearly referring to intra-Syrian talks between the so-called High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which serves as an umbrella group for militants and opposition groups, and two more moderate opposition alliances. The three have been discussing ways to set aside differences and establish a united front in the next round of negotiations on Syria’s future.
On the other hand, the political and media adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said that the six-year militancy in her country is nearly over as foreign states cut their backing for Takfiri terrorist groups, vowing that government troops would fight against any "illegitimate" forces, whether Turkish or American.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network on Friday, Bouthaina Shaaban said the inauguration of Damascus International Fair and regional participation proves a "U-turn was achieved” in the foreign-sponsored crisis.
The senior Syrian official later criticized Turkey for sponsoring terrorists, arguing that Ankara government says one thing but does another. Shaaban accused Turkey of playing with all parties in order to win a major regional role through destruction of Syria.
Her criticism of Turkey as well as the US come as Damascus has urged the United Nations to take on its responsibilities concerning the establishment of international peace and security to put an end to the crimes against Syrians by the US-led coalition purportedly fighting the ISIS terrorist group.
The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, in two separate letters sent to UN Secretary General António Guterres and rotating President of the UN Security Council Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta on Thursday, pointed to the loss of 17 civilian lives in US-led aerial attacks against residential neighborhoods in Raqqa on August 16.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry also accused the US-led coalition of using guided bombs and internationally-banned white phosphorus munitions in flagrant violation of international law and human rights principles.
The US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be ISIS targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate.
It should be noted that Syria has been fighting different foreign-sponsored militant and terrorist groups since March 2011. The Damascus government has repeatedly blamed certain foreign countries for the spread of the devastating militancy.
