News Analysis: "Safe zones" could be right step in Syria

The establishment of the agreed safe zones, or de-escalation zones, in Syria could be the most concrete step toward resolving the long-lasting conflict in the war-torn country, analysts said.

The idea of creating safe zones in Syria has for long been floated by Turkey, a main backer to the Syria rebels, and it has also been brought up by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Throughout the recent months, and the Turkish and U.S. remarks on the safe zones creation, the Syrian government couldn't hide its rejection to the idea.

But Russia, a main ally to Damascus, wasn't completely against the idea, particularly as some officials in Moscow previously spoke of the possible federalization of Syria as a way to resolve the crisis.

Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, commented on the remarks of Trump about imposing safe zones in Syria, saying if the idea was for helping the Syrian refugees, it could happen, but after the consent of Damascus.

All in all, Damascus wasn't okay with both the idea of federalization and safe zones, until recently.

During the forth round of talks between the Syrian government and rebels in Astana, Russia made a proposal for creating what it called as "de-escalation zones" in Syria.

Observers believe that the de-escalation zones are actually safe zones, but the change in the wording came possibly to allay the fears, or worries, of Damascus.

But for the administration of President Bashar al-Assad, Russia's involvement in any deal is trusted.

And for the over six-year-old conflict to end, such zones were deemed important to put down the confrontation between the Syrian army and the foreign-backed rebels, who are not considered as terrorist groups by the international community.

The al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) group are both excluded and the battles against them will continue even with the creation of the de-escalation zones.

On Thursday evening during the Astana talks, Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum on the creation of four or more safe zones in Syria.

"The ceasefire guarantor states announce that the memorandum on the establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria provide the creation of security zones to stop violence, improve humanitarian situation and create conditions for the advancement of the process and political settlement of the Syrian conflict," Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.

The four safe zones would be in the northwestern province of Idlib, areas in the countryside of Homs province in central Syria, in eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus, and in the south, namely in the provinces of Daraa and Qunaitera, where fighting between the Syrian government forces and the rebels would stop, and flights halted

The aim is to "put an immediate end to the violence," "provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees," and allow immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, the memorandum said.

Other leaks by Russian media suggested that the four zones will be flanked with safety lines along with checkpoints and monitoring centers, as Russia, Turkey and Iran could be sending armed factions for monitoring the cease-fire.

The safety lines and checkpoints should allow the entry of unarmed civilians, and facilitate the humanitarian delivery as well as monitoring the cease-fire as these areas will be created to avert confrontation between the warring parties in Syria.

The document emphasizes the necessity to create conditions to drive out IS and the Nusra Front from de-escalation zones with the help of the Syrian opposition.

The guarantor states would have to create conditions in de-escalation zones, in which the warring sides would allow a safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons, according to the leaked document.

Syria's Foreign Ministry announced the acceptance of the Syrian government to the safe zone plan.

The ministry said the Syrian government's approval comes out of its concern for the lives of the Syrians.

However, some factions of the Syrian opposition announced it would not accept it, saying the pact threatens Syria's territorial integrity.

Still, analysts say that if Turkey, the main backer of the rebels, signed the deal, the implementation will likely happen, as the rebels cannot survive without the crucial support of Turkey and Arab Gulf States.

They also protested the participation of Iran as a guarantor to the deal.

For his side, UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura also hailed the plan.

"Today in Astana I think we have been able to witness an important promising positive step in the right direction in the process of de-escalation of the conflict," he said.

Bashar Ja'afari, the head of the Syrian delegation to Astana, said that the fourth round of talks in the Kazakh capital constitutes a "qualitative leap" in terms of achievements.

He called on the Russian and the Iranian parts to discuss the details of the deal with Damascus "as soon as possible."

Ja'afari said the proposal will be conducive in bringing the bloodletting in Syria to an end.

Sharif Shehadeh, a Syrian political analyst and former lawmaker, told Xinhua that the Russian proposal of creating de-escalation zones in Syria will be "an important step toward reaching a political solution" to the Syrian crisis.

He pointed out that this plan will also help in separating the terrorist groups from other rebel factions who agreed to the need to resolve the crisis politically.

Despite the fact that the exiled opposition and some rebel groups opposed the deal, Shehadeh noted that Turkey's involvement in the deal is crucial to practice pressure on the rebels and other opposition factions to be onboard, particularly now that the Saudi-backed Higher Negotiation Committee (HNC) said the proposal to create the safe zones is "vague."

Maher Ihsan, a Syrian journalist and political analyst, told Xinhua that creating such zones with foreign groups monitoring it on ground will surely be conducive in bringing the violence rate to a low.

He, however, noted that the implementation is easier said than done, not on the side of the government, but the rebels.

"There are plenty of rebel groups whose alliances to the terror-designated ones are not yet clear," he said, adding that the different agendas and the de-centralization of command among the rebel groups will make this mission harder.

On Friday, the Syrian Kurdish PYD group dismissed the Russian proposal as encourages "sectarian partition" and could amount to dividing Syria on secretion basis.

Still, other voices in the Syrian opposition didn't share others' worries of the fragmentation of Syria.

Anas Joudeh, the head of the Nation Building Movement, told Xinhua that during the World War II Germany was divided into two countries, with the World's most powerful armies controlling every detail in its affairs

"But Germany returned to be a superpower."

"It's really bad and painful to see other countries controlling our decisions, but the most dangerous matter is when we don't learn from our crisis and when we don't have the determination to rise up and build our country," he said. Endit