Geneva peace talks on Syria (2016)
| Geneva Peace talks (2016) | |
|---|---|
| Status | Suspended |
| Genre | Peace talks |
| Location(s) | Geneva |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Organized by | United Nations |
The Geneva peace talks on Syria, also known as Geneva III, are intended peace negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition in Geneva under the auspices of the UN. Although formally started on 1 February 2016, they were formally suspended only two days later, on 3 February 2016.
The talks, prepared by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), were intended to resolve the Syrian Civil War.
After preparations by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) and the UN Security Council, the initial targeted date for the start of the talks was 1 January 2016. Later, the UN targeted 29 January 2016.
For the opposition side, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura invited the Saudi Arabia-backed coalition of 34 groups, the 'High Negotiation Committee' (HNC), which did not include Syrian Kurdish groups; he also invited some moderate opposition members, supported by Russia but not part of the Saudi-supported coalition.
Turkey objected to the participation of the main Syrian Kurdish party, the PYD, from the talks.
On 28 January, the Saudi-backed HNC still refused to come to the Geneva talks, alleging the Assad government had failed to stop air strikes and have supported them and sieges of rebel-held towns, and refused to release detainees before the talks would start such ceasefire being part of the understanding of the ISSG peace plan of 14 November 2015. On 29 January, the Saudi-backed HNC changed their minds and decided to travel to Geneva, not to negotiate with the Syrian government but to talk with UN representative Staffan de Mistura and press their humanitarian case to the public.
The HNC was dominated by Mohammad Alloush of the Salafist group Jaysh al-Islam, a cousin and brother-in-law of Zahran Alloush, who had been killed in December 2015 in a missile attack claimed by the Syrian government. Russia and Iran deem Mohammad Alloush a terrorist.
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