Al-Shaibani-Dormer meeting marks deep shift in Syria’s role – opposition figure
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The meeting between Syria’s transitional government Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris reflects a profound shift in Syria’s regional position, Anas Joudeh, head of the opposition National Building Movement, told North Press on Thursday.
Joudeh said the meeting reflected the shift in Syria’s position from being a central negotiating state to a troubled authority seeking desperate solutions.
Joudeh stressed that al-Shaibani’s meeting with Dermer in Paris on Aug. 19 was “the first official announcement of its kind in 25 years,” adding that it cannot be viewed as “a routine diplomatic incident, but rather a clear indication of a fundamental change in Syria’s regional role.”
The Syrian politician explained that the transitional government is “plagued by confusion, successive internal breakdowns, and ongoing crises from south to north, while Israel has expanded its control over occupied territories.”
“Under pressure over its responsibility for the events in Suwayda and its failure to achieve internal consensus, the Syrian authority has proven incapable of managing national crises,” Joudeh added.
This has pushed it into negotiations limited to security arrangements aimed at calming the southern front. This deterioration reflects not only the strength of the adversary, but also the performance of an authority that sees its people not as partners, but as bargaining chips.”
Joudeh, who resides in Damascus, noted that “the Syrian government has lost the trust of its own people. The path to stability does not run through Paris or Tel Aviv, but through national reconciliation that rebuilds confidence among Syrians and ends both internal divisions and unilateral decision-making.”
He concluded by saying that the current developments “do not signal the beginning of a solution, but rather another step in the ongoing process of erosion.”