BICOM

1,500 delegates attended the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi yesterday.

The meeting, sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran was announced in November, with Russian President Vladimir Putin declaring that the intention was to gather “delegates from various political parties, internal and external opposition, ethnic and confessional groups at the negotiating table”.

The main Syrian opposition group, the Higher Negotiations Committee (HNC), announced they would boycott the talks. Several other opposition bodies followed suit including the Kurdish National Council

Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “We believe… that the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi will be able to create conditions for staging fruitful Geneva talks, taking into consideration that the part of the Syrian opposition that constantly makes preconditions, including for regime change, will be talked into sense by those who control it.”

In related news, there were clashes overnight between Turkish forces and the Assad regime in Syria, with Syrian forces continuing to bomb multiple escalation zones, including in East Ghouta and Idlib.

Reports yesterday said that Turkey deployed 40-60 vehicles (including tanks) through Atareb & Sarmada into al-Eis to reinforce the de-escalation zone and to deter Assad regime violations. The regime responded with artillery fire, with Ankara subsequently deploying F-16 escorts.

On Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to clear Turkey’s entire 900-km-long border of the presence of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Speaking to members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara, Erdogan shrugged off US calls on Turkey to limit its incursion, saying the next town to be targeted after the Kurdish enclave of Afrin will be Manbij, raising the possibility of US troops being drawn into the fight between Turks and Syrian Kurds.

Erdogan said: “Operation Olive Branch will continue until it reaches its goals. We will rid Manbij of terrorists, as we promised before. Our battles will continue until no terrorist is left right up to our border with Iraq.”

He also vowed that the operation will prevent the Kurds from forming a corridor and reaching the Mediterranean.