The Geneva II Conference on Syria (also called Geneva II Middle East peace conference or simply Geneva IIUN News Center. ''Preparations for upcoming Syria peace conference 'on track,’ says UN chief''. "The goal of the so-called "Geneva II" conference is to achieve a political solution to the conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué, adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on 30 June 2012, which called for the creation of a transitional government that would lead to holding elections.

/ref>) was a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

-backed international peace conference on the future of Syria with the aim of ending the Syrian Civil War, by bringing together the

Syrian government The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succ ...

and the

Syrian opposition Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

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 Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, on 23–31 January 2014 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

), and again on 10–15 February 2014. This conference was pursued by UN peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in

cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...

with the United States and Russia. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 1,870 people died across Syria during the nine days of the conference. New peace negotiations took place in 2016 in the new

Geneva peace talks on Syria (2016) The Geneva peace talks on Syria, also known as Geneva III, were 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 s ...

Background

June 2012 Geneva "action group"

An "action group" conference (now referred to as ''Geneva I Conference on Syria'') was held on Saturday 30 June 2012, in Geneva, initiated by the then UN peace envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, and attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, a representative of China, British Foreign Secretary Hague, and Kofi Annan. Mr Annan, issuing a ''

communiqué A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

'', said that the conference agreed on the need for a "transitional government body with full executive powers" which could include members of the present Syrian government and of the opposition. William Hague said that all five permanent members of the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

– the US, Russia, China, France and the UK – supported Mr Annan's efforts. Clinton however suggested that Syrian president Assad could, in such transitional government, not remain in power, which immediately was contradicted by Lavrov. The final communiquéAction Group for Syria Final Communiqué
30 June 2012 states that any political settlement must deliver a transition that: * Offers a perspective for the future that can be shared by all in Syria. * Establishes clear steps according to a firm time-table towards the realization of that perspective. * Can be implemented in a climate of safety for all, stability and calm. * Is reached rapidly without further bloodshed and violence and is credible. The key steps in the transition should include: * Establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive powers that could include members of the government and opposition, and should be formed on the basis of mutual consent. * Participation of all groups and segments of society in Syria in a meaningful national dialogue process. * Review of the constitutional order and the legal system. * Free and fair multi-party elections for the new institutions and offices that have been established. * Full representation of women in all aspects of the transition.

Brahimi Initiative

After the June 2012 meeting,

Lakhdar Brahimi Lakhdar Brahimi (Algerian Arabic, Algerian pronunciation: ; ; '; born 1 January 1934) is an Algerian United Nations diplomat who served as the United Nations and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria until 14 May 2014. He was Ministry of Foreign Aff ...

, who was appointed as the new UN peace envoy to Syria in August 2012, started to prepare an international conference on ending Syria's civil war, in close cooperation with the Russian Federation and the United States. Two Syrian delegations, both the government and opposition, would be brought together at the conference. In May 2013, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to try to "bring both sides to the table" to end the bloodshed. Their initiative gained greater impetus after

Ghouta chemical attack The Ghouta chemical attack was a chemical attack carried out by the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the early hours of 21 August 2013 in Ghouta, Syria during the Syrian civil war. Two opposition-controlled areas in the subur ...

on the outskirts of Damascus killed hundreds of people, on 21 August 2013.

Aims

The objectives of the Geneva II conference are to bring one delegation representing the Syrian Ba'athist government and one representing the Syrian opposition together to discuss how to implement the Geneva Communiqué of 30 June 2012 (a "transitional government"), end the war, and start a process toward a New Syrian republic. Attitudes by Syrian groups and by the US and Russia towards the role of President Bashar al-Assad in a transitional period differ and are expected by

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

magazine to constitute a major issue at the conference.

Obstacles before 'Geneva II'

Brahimi said in August 2013 that the main problem was getting the different groups in Syria and their different international supporters to accept the "very principle of a political solution." He said that this has been the UN approach to the Syrian civil war since the war began. Brahimi said that his

main message to the Syrian parties ... sthat there is no military solution to this devastating conflict. Only a political solution will put an end to it. And the basis for such a solution does exist. It is the Communiqué issued on 30 June 2012, after the meeting, in Geneva, of the so called 'Action Group' of countries convened at the initiative of Kofi Annan.

The Syrian government said on 3 November 2013, that the comments of

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

could cause the peace talks to fail, because they are "an aggression against the Syrian people's right to decide their future."

Participants

The list of the participant countries of the Geneva II Conference on

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

was determined on 20 December 2013. ;International organizations: * * * * ;States and subjects of

public international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

Syrian participation

On 22 July 2013 Russian Foreign Minister

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...

said that the Syrian government was ready to engage in the conference without preconditions. On 25 November 2013, UN Secretary-General

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

announced that on the planned conference on 22 January 2014, members of the Syrian government and of the opposition will be present. Following the publication of the list of participants on 20 December 2013. Hassan Abboud, the leader of

Ahrar ash-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, was a coalition of multiple Sunni Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bas ...

, has said that it not be bound by the outcome of the talks. The Islamic Front has rejected the talks. The

Syrian National Council The Syrian National Council (SNC), sometimes known as the Syrian National Transitional Council or the National Council of Syria, was a Syrian opposition coalition, based in Istanbul, Turkey, formed in August 2011 during the Syrian civil upris ...

has withdrawn from the

Syrian National Coalition The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, commonly named the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), or the Syrian National Revolutionary Coalition (SNRC) was a political organization founded in Doha, Qatar, in November 2012 ...

in protest at the decision of the coalition to attend the talks. The

Syria Revolutionaries Front The Syrian Revolutionaries Front (, ''Jabhat Thowar Suriya'', SRF, also translated Syrian Rebel Front) was an alliance of 14 relatively moderate religious and some secular armed groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, formed in ...

and the

Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union The Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union (, "Islamic Union of the Soldiers of the Levant") was an alliance of Sunni Islamist groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. It was active in the Rif Dimashq Governorate during the Syrian Civil War. His ...

have supported the talks and want to be represented at the conference. On 20 December 2013, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party requested a delegation to the conference, citing the fact that Kurdish forces had created a semi-Autonomous state in northern Syria but were not invited. The opposition delegation is headed by

Hadi al-Bahra Hadi al-Bahra (; born 1959) is a Syrian politician who is the current president of National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Syrian National Coalition, SNC), an umbrella Syrian opposition group founded during the Syrian ci ...

Iranian participation

In May 2013,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaee said that Iran would decide on its participation in the conference, depending "on the details that we will consider when we receive them." On 19 January 2014, the

threatened to leave the talks after a ''last minute'' (by measure of days) invitation to the Iranian government by the UN Secretary-General

to participate in the conference in

, 22 January. The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

viewed the invitation to

to attend the Geneva II conference as conditioned on Iran's explicit and public support for the full implementation of the Geneva I communiqué. Following nearly 24 hours of confusion

rescinded the invitation to Iran; the Syrian National Coalition announced that it would attend the conference shortly afterwards.

Proposed dates

The conference was initially proposed for the end of May 2013, with participation expected by representatives of the

, the president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

government of Syria, the United States and Russia, and coordination by

, the UN peace envoy for Syria. In late June, the United States postponed the conference. In mid-August 2013, UN diplomats tentatively proposed mid-October 2013 for the conference date. On 5 November 2013, Brahimi said that US and Russia could not reach an agreement over the date for the conference, and further deliberation over the pursued conference would take place 25 November 2013. As a November date could not be agreed, Brahimi still hoped to get a meeting before the end of 2013. On 14 November, it was reported the conference may take place beginning 12 December 2013. The report allegedly quoted a message from the US Secretary of State John Kerry to his French counterpart

Laurent Fabius Laurent Fabius (; born 20 August 1946) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party, he previously served as Prime Minister of France from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. Fabius was 37 years old when he was a ...

. On 25 November 2013, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that the conference would be held on 22 January 2014.

Preparations

In August 2013, Lakhdar Brahimi moved his headquarters from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in order to prepare for the conference. Brahimi stated that his office kept "communication channels open" with the al-Assad government through an office in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, with the civilian and armed opposition groups in Syria and in exile, and with "various groups representing civil society, including women, both inside and outside Syria." He said that the UN is encouraging all groups to guarantee the participation of

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

and other components of "civil society" in the peace and reconstruction process. In early August 2013, meetings took place in Paris between US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and

members to plan for the conference and discuss the chances of reaching a consensual political balance for all involved groups to meet together for negotiations. Elements of a "shared political platform" to be discussed by a pre-Geneva-II meeting of up to 25 members of various opposition groups included a "civil democratic transitional period" that would begin with the conference, preparing drafts of documents with constitutional principles and

transitional justice Transitional justice is a process which responds to human rights violations through judicial redress, political reforms and cultural healing efforts and other measures in order to prevent the recurrence of human rights abuse in a region or countr ...

for a transitional period, reorganisation of security and military forces, cooperation rather than competition between opposition groups, post-war reconstruction,

media policy Media policy or media politics refers to decisions regarding legislation and political actions that organize, support, or regulate the media, particularly mass media and the media industry. These actions are typically driven by pressures from pub ...

, and the balance between difference opposition civilian and military components. A pre-Geneva-II meeting in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

by senior US and Russian diplomats was planned for 28 August 2013 but postponed by the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

because of "ongoing consultations" relating to the 2013 Ghouta chemical weapons attacks. A Department of State representative stated that the US "would work with Russia to reschedule heplanned meeting and that the alleged chemical weapons attack demonstrated the need for a 'comprehensive and durable political solution'."

Conference

On 22 January 2014 the conference started in

Foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

s from forty countries made statements. US Secretary of State

stated the US view that Assad is obliged to step down as part of any transitional Syrian administration: "There is no way, no way possible, that a man who has led a brutal response to his own people can regain legitimacy to govern". Syrian National Coalition leader Ahmed Jarba called on the government to immediately transfer power to a transitional authority. In response to Kerry, the Syrian Foreign Minister

Walid Muallem Walid Mohi Edine al Muallem ( ''Walīd Muḥīyy ad-Dīn al-Muʿallem''; 13 January 194116 November 2020) was a Syrian diplomat and Ba'ath Party member who served as foreign minister from 2006 to 2020 and as deputy prime minister from 2012 to 202 ...

stated: He accused a number of states of supporting terrorism and deliberately attempting to destabilize Syria. On Friday 24 January 2014, the opposing sides would hold their first face-to-face talks, in the presence of United Nations mediators. It was later said in the talks that Assad's position as president is non-negotiable. Still later on 24 January, United Nations spokeswoman, Alessandra Velluci, told a news briefing in Geneva, "This process is being shaped at the moment. It has to take time for the preparations. There are no Syrian-Syrian talks at the moment. I cannot tell you anything about what will happen in the next few days." The first round of talks ended on 31 January. The second round of negotiations took place on 10–15 February 2014, but yielded no tangible results. The two weeklong rounds produced no actual negotiations on resolving a conflict or even what to discuss and how to do so. A third round of negotiations was planned, though no dates were set.

Reactions

Ahmed Jarba, president of the

, stated in late July 2013 that he expected the conference to take place, doubted its success in ending the conflict, and hoped for a transitional government to end the civil war. The

which was part of the Syrian National Coalition withdrew from the coalition on 20 January 2014 in protest at the decision of the latter to attend the Geneva talks. On 22 January, in reaction to the UN Secretary General's withdrawal of the invitation to his country to participate in the conference, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani stated that the "lack of influential players" attending meant that he doubted the ability of Geneva II to solve the crisis.

References

External links

Official website (United Nations)

Final communiqué of the Geneva I Conference (2012)
{{Portal bar, Asia, Politics 2013 in Syria 2014 in Syria Middle East peace efforts Syrian peace process Diplomatic conferences in Switzerland