The Syrian conflict all began on the 15th of March 2011 when protests were held in different parts of Syria. These protesters were influenced by other popular protests in other Arab countries known as the Arab Spring. Protesters in Syria wanted abdication of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The 23th of March military force of Syria comes in action and kills 100 Syrian protesters. Al-Assad tells he wants to kill all protesters which he calls terrorists. A month later Obama comes up with sanctions on Assad for abusing human rights. Again a month later the conflict starts to escalate when troops of Assad are killed. In August the conflict has escalated to a point that high, that the USA and the European Union demand that Al-Assad resigns. Things get worse when in January of 2012 a new rebel group is created. The Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda of Syria, is formed and is since then seen as the most violent but effective terrorist group. In March 2012 the Syrian National Council, which is considered to be the biggest opposition group, forms a council to unify all armed resistance. During 2012, the United Nations try to reconcile with Al-Assad, but both sides don’t satisfy the requirements. Another event which really affected the conflict in 2012 was the bombing of Damascus on the 18th of July 2012. Both the Syrian Defence Minister and Deputy Defence Minister died during the bombing. Not much later in the same month the Syrian government threatens with chemical and biological weapons if the country faces a foreign attack. During the months June, July and August Al-Assad is often accused of using chemical attacks on opposition groups. As a result Obama encourages sending weapons to Syrian rebels to stop Al-Assad. 2014 is a year of many failed peace attempts, but also a presidential election. The election of June 2014 is the first multi-candidate election, but still Bashar Al-Assad is re-elected with 88.7% of the votes. Will 2015 be the year of Syrian peace?
Gianni di Summa and Christian Schreurs
