Aleppo Recapture Game Changer in Syria Peace Talks: German Analyst
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Manuel Ochsenreiter, a German political analyst, said an imminent full recapture of the northwestern province of Aleppo from the clutches of terrorists would strengthen the position of the Syrian government at the peace talks.
In an interview with the Tasnim News agency on Sunday, Ochsenreiter said, “Who has (control over) Aleppo has a much better situation and condition."
“I think it (the recapture of Aleppo) would turn the conditions at the negotiating table in a way that those exhausted and disappointed terrorist forces…; I mean it would fix something. It would change the situation in at the negotiating table of course and it would bring let me say the situation of the terrorists to the point that they have to rely on the mercy of the Syrian government," he added.
The German analyst further said that the Aleppo recapture will bring about “unconditional surrender” of the terrorists.
The negotiations, aimed at finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria, began on April 13. A few days later, however, the main foreign-backed opposition group, known as the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), walked out of the discussions to protest what it called the Damascus government’s violation of a cessation of hostilities. The ceasefire went into effect on February 27 across Syria.
The peace talks will reportedly resume in the Swiss city of Geneva on May 10.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ochsenreiter referred to the destabilizing role of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East region and said, “Saudi Arabia is a danger for every European country”.
The Saudi regime seeks to indoctrinate its own radical ideology in Western countries, including Germany, he added.
The German analyst went on to add that some Western nations “pamper a country (Saudi Arabia) which is a danger” for them in terms of “foreign politics because they (the Saudis) are financing those terrorists (in Syria) who are about to come to Europe. After they killed Syrian civilians, they are coming to kill European civilians. So this is a real threat.”
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it, mostly in the east.
The Syrian conflict has killed at least 260,000 people, according to the UN, and more than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or fled abroad.
