Why hasn't Egypt taken a clear stance on Syria?
Since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power two years ago, Egypt has repeatedly stated that it wants to preserve the Syrian state and army, but it has been vague when it comes to voicing an opinion on the regime itself.
The Syrian crisis has seen many players, consultations and initiatives, but all have led to more airstrikes and civilian victims, as if the negotiations were not meant to achieve peace, but to confirm everyone’s willingness to continue fighting.
The bellicose military players in Syria include the regime, its opposition, the Islamic State (IS), Jabhat al-Nusra, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and the US-led international coalition. Other countries participate — most prominently Turkey. Amid all these voices, countries with pivotal roles to play, such as Egypt, face difficulties espousing a clear view and adopting a definitive position on the crisis.
The aforementioned chaos contributed to the difficult birth of the Geneva III negotiations to solve the Syrian crisis. The negotiations were postponed more than once, from February to April, as some factions of the Syrian opposition suspended their participation, while United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura unsuccessfully tried to convince them to attend.
Subsequently, following the failure of the first round of Geneva III negotiations that began on April 22, the truce, which went into effect in February in Aleppo between regime and opposition forces, collapsed with a series of attacks by unknown factions that Human Rights Watch believed to be Syrian regime forces and armed opposition fighters. The attacks left 89 people dead and 135 wounded, not including more than 50 people who died in the shelling of the Aleppo hospital.
