TSG makes key Syrian dialogue outcome papers available online

These dialogues have included figures from within the (armed and civilian) opposition and from regime-linked circles, but have also focused on the large spectrum of Syrian opinion that falls in between those two poles – groups that have social weight but have often remained underrepresented and less well heard in international efforts at mediating a resolution, particularly early on in the conflict. 

In 2016-2017, as the UN tried time and again to establish a genuine political process in Geneva, TSG convened different configurations of these Syrian interlocutors, who began to put forward proposals for revisions to that political process – proposals that were developed over several months of dialogue and deliberations, and that did involve significant compromise from different sides.

These proposals were set out by participants in two different papers – one finalised in April 2017, the other in March 2018 – that were widely promoted and debated, as TSG supported the Syrians who developed them to engage with their constituencies and with representatives of key regional and international states, including Russia and the United States, and with the UN.

Today we are making the papers publicly available for the first time – they can be found HERE . Elements of the proposals date to a phase of the conflict that has passed. But as international actors continue to struggle to establish a credible and inclusive political process, albeit with a narrower horizon focused first on constitutional reform, many of the central proposals here – for a more gradual process, driven by a broadened Syrian-Syrian dialogue – continue to resonate.

We hope they will be of interest, both as a record of efforts made by Syrians to chart a path out of the conflict, and as source of Syrian ideas for those in the international community seeking a way forward.