Syria before a new dialogue: government demands disarmament of the rebel groups!

The Syrian government team explained on Friday, February 16, 2025, that armed groups that refuse to resign their weapons are excluded by future national dialogues. According to a report by Epoch Times A seven -member preparatory committee for an upcoming conference on the national dialogue was set up. The spokesman for the Committee, Hassan al-Dughaim, emphasized that the Syrian democratic forces (SDF) have to hand over their military power to the government in Damascus to take part in the conversations about a new constitution.

al-Dughaim expressed that groups that do not lay down their weapons and do not transfer responsibility to the Ministry of Defense will have no place in dialogue. Syria has experienced a civil war in the past fourteen years in which rival groups, including the former troops led by Bashar al-Assad, were involved. Furthermore, sectarian acts of violence are a serious problem, which is documented by current reports.

background to the military situation in Syria

The new transitional government, which largely consists of Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTS), is a Sunni-Islamist group that is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States. HTS has sprung the Syrian al-Nusra front, which is considered part of al-Qaida. Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of HTS, tries to present a moderate government model in Damascus. At the same time, the Syrian democratic forces and other Kurdish groups are conflicting with forces supported by Turkey in the east of Syria. Turkey considers the Kurdistan workers' party (PKK) as a terrorist organization and accuses that parts of the SDF have connections to the PKK.

Although HTS has strengthened its authority, the risk of a large -scale rebeling of conflicts and the fragmentation of Syria remains high. According to a report from Le Monde Ahmad al-Charaa promised the resolution of all armed groups on December 14th to create an army based on voluntary calls. The recapture of areas held by rebels by the BASHAR al-Assad regime was promoted by the support of Russia, the Lebanese Hisbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.