The Group of Friends of the Syrian People [1] (sometimes Friends of Syria Group, Friends of the Syrian People Group, Friends of Democratic Syria or simply Friends of Syria) is an international diplomatic collective of countries and bodies convening periodically on the topic of Syria outside the U.N. Security Council. The collective was created in response to a Russian and Chinese veto on a Security Council resolution condemning Syria. [2]
The group was initiated by then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy, with the purpose to find a solution to the Syrian conflict, after Russia and China had vetoed a 4 February 2012 UN Security Council resolution. [3] Its first meeting took place on 24 February 2012 in Tunisia. [4] The second meeting took place the same year on 1 April in Istanbul, Turkey. [5] The third meeting of the Friends of Syria took place in Paris in early July 2012. [6] The fourth summit took place in Marrakesh in December 2012.
On 24 February 2012, the Friends of Syria met for the first time, in Tunis. Then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. officials Anne-Marie Slaughter and Michael Hirsh advocated that Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan would be able to create "no-kill zones", and argued that Syria was more central to American interests than Libya had been. [7] The Syrian National Council featured prominently at the conference, and issued a seven-point list of demands, among which, [8]
If the regime fails to accept the terms of the political initiative outlined by the Arab League and end violence against citizens, the Friends of Syria should not constrain individual countries from aiding the Syrian opposition by means of military advisers, training and provision of arms to defend themselves.
Seventy nations participated in the conference held on 1 April 2012 to support Syrian opposition and increase pressure on the Syrian government. The Syrian National Council claiming the opposition is now united called for "serious action" and said they will "take charge of the payment of fixed salaries of Free Syrian Army". The Turkish PM defended what he called "Syrians' right to self-defence" and demanded the international community to speak up for the Syrian people. "We also believe the international community has a moral obligation to act. The bloodshed in Syria must stop," He added. Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani (Qatari Prime Minister), Arab League Secretariat and contemporary US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported taking stronger measures against the Syrian government. [5]
The Government-owned Syrian Arab News Agency denounced the meeting calling it "a series of related circles of conspiracy against Syria" and identified participants as "enemies of Syria". [5]
The third meeting of the Friends of Syria group opened on 6 July 2012 in Paris, France. Speakers addressing the meeting included William Hague, Laurent Fabius, Ahmet Davutoğlu and Hillary Clinton. [6]
The fourth meeting of the Friends of Syria group opened on 12 December 2012 in Marrakesh, Morocco. [9]
On 28 February 2013, only 11 members of the Friends of Syria held their meeting in Rome. [10]
On 22 May 2013, a conference in Amman was opened to discuss the US-Russian proposal for peace talks. [11]
On 22 June 2013, a conference in Doha was opened to discuss how to organise the delivery of military and other kinds of aid for Syrian rebels. [12]
The conference in Marrakech, on 12 December 2012, was attended by delegates of 114 states. [13]
In 2013, however, the number of nations represented at the meetings fell to 11. [10] [14]
Current members of Friends of Syria, which met in 2013 in Rome, Istanbul [10] [14] and London, are often referred to as the 'London 11'. [15]
International organisations participating in the Friends of Syria conference included: [16]
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states, with 48 being Muslim-majority countries. The organisation states that it is "the collective voice of the Muslim world" and works to "safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony".
The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided civil war in Syria fought between the Syrian Arab Republic led by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and various domestic and foreign forces that oppose both the Syrian government and each other, in varying combinations.
International reactions to the Syrian Civil War ranged from support for the government to calls for the government to dissolve. The Arab league, United Nations and Western governments in 2011 quickly condemned the Syrian government's response to the protests which later evolved into the Syrian Civil War as overly heavy-handed and violent. Many Middle Eastern governments initially expressed support for the government and its "security measures", but as the death toll mounted, especially in Hama, they switched to a more balanced approach, criticizing violence from both government and protesters. Russia and China vetoed two attempts at United Nations Security Council sanctions against the Syrian government.
The Libya Contact Group group was an international collective established to support the Libyan National Transitional Council in their effort to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. It was hosted by western nations and members of the Arab League, and known by a variety of other names including the Friends of Libya and the International Contact Group for Libya.
The Syrian National Council, sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, is a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad.
The modern history of Syria begins with the termination of Ottoman control of Syria by French forces and the establishment of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration during World War I. The short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria emerged in 1920, which was however soon committed under the French Mandate, which produced the short-lived autonomous State of Aleppo, State of Damascus, Alawite State and Jabal al-Druze (state); the autonomies were transformed into the Mandatory Syrian Republic in 1930. Syrian Republic gained independence in April 1946. The Republic took part in the Arab-Israeli War and remained in a state of political instability during the 1950s and 1960s.
The Syrian National Council (SNC) is recognised by 7 UN members, the Republic of Kosovo and the European Union as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people in the midst of the Syrian Civil War, with three of those being permanent members of the Security Council. One country, Libya, recognises the SNC as the legitimate government of Syria.
The Syrian opposition is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian government.
The Syrian peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans to resolve the Syrian civil war, which has been ongoing in Syria since 2011 and has spilled beyond its borders. The peace process has been moderated by the Arab League, the UN Special Envoy on Syria, Russia and Western powers. The negotiating parties to end the conflict are typically representatives of the Syrian Ba'athist government and Syrian opposition, while the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is usually excluded at the insistence of Turkey. Radical Salafist forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have not engaged in any contacts on peaceful resolution to the conflict.
The Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria or the six-point peace plan for Syria was launched in March 2012 by the Arab League and the United Nations (UN), when the violent Syrian conflict or civil war had raged for a year.
Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War refers to political, military and operational support to parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Syria that began in March 2011, as well as active foreign involvement. Most parties involved in the war in Syria receive various types of support from foreign countries and entities based outside Syria. The ongoing conflict in Syria is widely described as a series of overlapping proxy wars between the regional and world powers, primarily between the US and Russia as well as between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), or the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC) is a coalition of opposition groups in the Syrian civil war that was founded in Doha, Qatar, in November 2012. Former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Moaz al-Khatib, considered a moderate, was elected the president of the coalition, and resigned on 21 April 2013. Riad Seif and Suheir Atassi, both prominent democracy activists and the latter a secular human rights advocate, were elected vice presidents. The post of a third vice president will remain vacant for a Kurdish figure to be elected. Mustafa Sabbagh was elected as the coalition's secretary-general. The coalition has a council of 114 seats, though not all of them are filled.
The Syrian Interim Government(SIG) is an alternative government in Syria, formed by the umbrella opposition group, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. The interim government indirectly controls some areas of the country and claims to be the sole legitimate government on behalf of the Syrian opposition in defiance of the Council of Ministers of the Syrian Arab Republic. The interim government's headquarters in Syria are located in the city of Azaz in Aleppo Governorate.
A number of states and armed groups have involved themselves in the ongoing Syrian Civil War as belligerents.
The Geneva II Conference on Syria was a United Nations-backed international peace conference on the future of Syria with the aim of ending the Syrian Civil War, by bringing together the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition to discuss the clear steps towards a transitional government for Syria with full executive powers. The conference took place on 22 January 2014 in Montreux, on 23–31 January 2014 in Geneva (Switzerland), and again on 10–15 February 2014.
The Rojava conflict, also known as the Rojava Revolution, is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava.
The Conference for Change in Syria, or Antalya Opposition Conference, was a three-day conference of representatives of the Syrian opposition held from 31 May until 3 June 2011 in Antalya, Turkey. Since the early days of the Syrian civil uprising, it was the second of its kind, following the Istanbul Meeting for Syria that had taken place on 26 April 2011.
The foreign relations of Syrian Opposition refers to the external relations of the self-proclaimed oppositional Syrian Arab Republic, which sees itself as the genuine Syria. The region of control of Syrian opposition affiliated groups is not well defined. The Turkish government recognizes Syrian opposition as the genuine Syrian Arab Republic and hosts several of its institutions on its territory. The seat of Syria in the Arab League is reserved for the Syrian opposition since 2015.
Relations between France and Syria have a long and complex history. The contemporary relationship largely dates back to the French mandate (1923–1946) over the region established in the midst of the defeat and subsequent Partition of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I.
