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Students observe Syria as peace talks develop

January 27, 2014
	<p>Mourners pray over the coffin in Tartous, Syria, of Ibrahim Yeya Issa, a 32-year-old Army soldier killed fighting Islamist rebels, near his grave in an unused plot of city-owned land. So many young men from Tartous, which is fanatically loyal to President Bashar Assad, have been killed fighting in Syria&#8217;s civil war that there is no more room in the city&#8217;s cemetaries. (Jonathan S. Landay/MCT)</p>

Mourners pray over the coffin in Tartous, Syria, of Ibrahim Yeya Issa, a 32-year-old Army soldier killed fighting Islamist rebels, near his grave in an unused plot of city-owned land. So many young men from Tartous, which is fanatically loyal to President Bashar Assad, have been killed fighting in Syria’s civil war that there is no more room in the city’s cemetaries. (Jonathan S. Landay/MCT)

Photo by Jonathan S. Landay | The State News

Although the intent of the Syrian peace talks is to bring resolution to the conflicts occurring in Syria, not everyone thinks these peace talks will be the missing puzzle piece to a desired outcome.

Small amounts of progress are being made each week in Syria, with the latest being the outcome of the peace talks, facilitated by the United Nations, that were held on Sunday in Geneva. The results reached on Sunday granted women and children the allowance to leave the barricaded area in the city of Homs. But with other issues, however, the opposing sides appear to be deadlocked.

Associate professor of Arab studies Russell Lucas said the peace talks might not lead to a major breakthrough in the Syrian civil war, but he thinks the talks are a positive development in working towards resolving the ongoing conflict.

“They are successful in that the regime and its opponents are actually talking to each other in the same room,” Lucas said. “However, a full resolution of the issues that divide the Syrian regime and its various armed opponents is not likely.”

Construction management senior and Syrian native Osama Basal is hopeful that the peace talks will bring about a resolution, but the issue of compromise still worries him.

“I don’t think they (peace talks) will succeed,” Basal said. “There’s too many things at stake. Somebody has to compromise and nobody is willing to compromise.”

The Syrian civil war is affecting the lives of those in the Middle East and the lives of the students who face constant worry about their families being in the war-prone area. Basal said about 85 percent of his family is still in Syria and the conflicts have forced some of his family members to flee from Homs.

International relations senior and Lebanese native Isis Al-Alam said she still has family in Lebanon and she fears that there will be a spillover effect to other countries surrounding Syria if the conflicts don’t end soon.

Al-Alam said she thinks it’s diplomacy and politics that determine whether the peace talks will succeed.

“The sooner that a political settlement is reached the sooner Syrians will be able to start rebuilding,” Lucas said.

Many people believe that the full effect of the peace talks will not be reached as long as President Bashar al-Assad is still in power. Lucas said it is clear that President Assad will need to leave for a full settlement, but the regime does not feel that it has to comply with that demand yet.

“It saddens me that after three years of constant killings and bloodshed there’s still talks about Assad being in power and running for re-election,” Al-Alam said. “This is the dictator who has killed or caused the deaths of his people, and for us with liberal values and human rights, it’s completely unacceptable.” ?

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