Kerry Announces Delay in Start of Syria Talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hopes the next 28 to 48 hours will bring “clarity” on the peace talks that were due to start in Geneva on Monday, Reuters reports.

Kerry said that it was better to delay a few days than to have the talks fall apart at the start. He told reporters that he and the U.N. special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura agree that invitations to the talks would not be sent out until “you have pieces lined up.”

Kerry said the future of the talks was in Syrian hands, and that it was up to the Syrian parties to move things forward.

“They have to be serious. If they are not serious, war will continue,” said Kerry. “Up to them – you can lead a horse to water; you can’t make it drink.”

“We have created a framework; the Syrians have the ability to decide the future of Syria,” he said. “ We will have to see what decision Staffan makes as to exactly how he is going to begin; but we don’t want to decide and have it crumble on day one. It’s worth taking a day or two, or three, or whatever.”

The first round of peace talks between Bashar al-Assad’s government and the opposition was set to begin Monday in Geneva, but an anonymous Western diplomat told Reuters on Sunday they were unlikely to begin before Wednesday.

While the Syrian government has declared itself ready to attend, the opposition’s negotiating body has said no dialogue can happen until the government takes humanitarian goodwill steps, like halting its bombardment of civilian areas, lifting blockades and releasing detainees – all steps mentioned in a U.N. Security Council resolution last month.

Kerry dismissed what he viewed as posturing on both sides of the table.

“They are the negotiators; so they will decide the future. What I did tell them is that it’s by mutual consent. You have a veto, so does he, so you are going to have to decide how to move forward,” the secretary of state said.

“The position of the United States is and hasn’t changed, that we are still supporting the opposition politically, financially and militarily.”

Air Raids Pound ISIS-Controlled Eastern Syria

Airstrikes over the weekend killed scores of people in the provinces of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor in northeastern Syria, areas primarily controlled by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) group, Reuters reports.

Raids by the Syrian and Russian air forces on Saturday killed 29 people in the town of Khasham near Deir Ezzor city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Air raids in two towns outside the city killed another 44 people, according to the Britain-based observatory.

In the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa city, Syrian and Russian airstrikes killed at least 32 people.

The wave of airstrikes over the weekend comes just one week after ISIS launched a major offensive in northeastern Syria, killing some 50 pro-government fighters and 85 civilians.

Government Recaptures Last Rebel-Held Town in Latakia

Pro-government forces on Sunday recaptured the last major rebel-held town in the coastal province of Latakia, AFP reports.

Syrian state television reported the army and allied militias took control of the town of Rabia after heavy fighting with rebels.

The take-over of Rabia is the second strategic victory for pro-government forces in Latakia in less than two weeks. They retook the town of Salma on January 12.

“In the coming weeks, we will be able to announce that all of Latakia – city and province – is free from armed groups,” said a Syrian army commander in Latakia.

The town of Rabia has been controlled by opposition forces since 2012.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, after Rabia fell on Sunday, government forces took another 20 villages in the area.

U.S. and Turkey Prepared to Seek Military Solution to ISIS

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the United States and Turkey are prepared to seek a military solution against ISIS if the political path falls apart, the BBC reports.

Biden said a political solution “would be better” but “if that’s not possible” the U.S. would seek other options.

U.S. officials said that Biden was referring to the peace talks due to begin in Geneva this week and that his reference to military action applied only to ISIS.

“We are neither optimistic or pessimistic. We are determined,” the vice president said, at a news conference after meeting with Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Biden said he and Davutoglu also discussed ways the two NATO allies could further support Sunni Arab rebel groups fighting to oust Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey and the U.S. have had major differences over which of the militant groups operating in Syria should be characterized as a terrorist group. This weekend’s meeting seemed intended to close the gaps between the two.

Davutoglu said they had agreed on “a united front against terrorism,” mentioning ISIS, the Kurdistan Works Party (PKK) and the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front.

“We believe we should be acting against all these terrorist organizations in harmony,” Davutoglu said.

Turkey remains adamant that Syrian Kurdish groups should not attend the upcoming peace talks in Geneva due to their connection with the outlawed PKK party in Turkey.

Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Kurdish political party in Syria, said the talks were doomed to fail without Kurdish inclusion.

The PYD’s military wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), have proven to be the U.S.-led coalition’s strongest ground partner in its battle against ISIS in Syria.

According to Al-Jazeera, U.S. troops last week took over a Syrian air base near the Turkish border with the help of the YPG.

Recommended Reads

• Al-Monitor: Are This Week’s Geneva Talks on Syria Doomed to Fail?
• The Seattle Times: Saudis, the CIA and Arming of Syrian Rebels
• Newsweek: Putin Asked Assad to Step Down as Syrian President
• The Washington Post: Islamic State Strikes Back in Syria After Losing Ground
• The Wall Street Journal: Russian, U.S. Troops Edge Closer in Northeastern Syria

Top image: Syrian soldiers stand at a pickup truck with a gun mounted on top in Salma, Syria, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. Syrian government forces relying on Russian air cover have recently seized Salma, in Syria’s Latakia province, from militants. The Syrian government offensive has given Assad a stronger hand going into peace talks with the opposition that are planned for this week in Switzerland. (AP Photo/Vladimir Isachenkov)