EU, UN plan for Syria's future at aid conference
EU, UN plan for Syria's future at aid conference
The conference will discuss the way in which $11 billion raised is being allocated to different projects that provide relief for Syrians.
3 min read
The EU and the UN are hosting a two day-conference on Tuesday in Brussels [Getty]
The EU and the UN are hosting a two day-conference on Tuesday in Brussels to follow up on the way in which billions of dollars raised in humanitarian aid for Syria last year have been spent to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.
The EU and UN will be co-chairing the Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region conference, along with Kuwait, Norway and Qatar.
| Read also: Scores killed in 'gas' attack in rebel-held Syria town |
Turkey has also been invited to attend, and its presence was highly anticipated due to the country hosting around 2.9 million Syrian refugees and being one of the staunchest regional and global opponents to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
However, Turkey said on Tuesday that it will not send any political representatives to the meeting.
According to Anadolu, Turkey could not get a satisfactory response to its expectation that the meeting should have a format where it could make a valuable contribution.
Ankara will however continue to contribute to the welfare of Syrian refugees by joining in the technical part of the conference, like it did before in previous donors' conferences, Anadolu said.
EU Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini has marked the gathering in Brussels as a follow-up to a donors' conference last year in London, which raised around $11 billion for aid programmes in the war-torn country.
| Read also: British PM details £1bn aid package for Syrian refugees |
The EU has said that it expects UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to attend the conference, along with his special envoy who is mediating the Syria peace talks, Staffan de Mistura.
The US’ position on Syria is also likely to be discussed, due to it becoming less focused on removing Assad from power since the start of the Trump administration.
Washington had announced last week that the Trump administration no longer plans on ensuring Assad's removal, rather than upscaling its military presence in Syria to combat IS.
This is a departure of the previous Obama administration’s Syria policy, which was to advocate a gradual discharge of the Syrian dictator from power and to allow Syrians to decide their own fate through electing a democratic government, as per initiated by a UN backed peace plan in 2012.
The Syrian conflict began when the Baath regime, in power since 1963 and led by President Bashar al-Assad, responded with military force to peaceful protests demanding democratic reforms during the Arab Spring wave of uprisings, triggering an armed rebellion fuelled by mass defections from the Syrian army.
According to independent monitors, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the war, mostly by the regime and its powerful allies, and millions have been displaced both inside and outside of Syria.
The brutal tactics pursued mainly by the regime, which have included the use of chemical weapons, sieges, mass executions and torture against civilians have led to war crimes investigations.
More In News
