Category: Syria
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Brzezinski Says Turkey “Key” to Resolving Syrian Crisis
Posted on February 7, 2012 by Nick Ottens
Former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski appears on NBC News’ Morning Joe, February 7
On NBC News’ Morning Joe on Tuesday, Zbigniew Brzezinski explained Saturday’s Sino-Russian veto against a United Nations Security Council resolution that would have urged Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down. “What motivates China and Russia is self-interest,” he said.
According to the former national security advisor, the two countries, who were alone among fifteen council members in their opposition to the resolution, feared that it could have set a precedent for international interference in their own struggles with anti-government forces. He called it an “exaggerated” fear because Western powers are unlikely to antagonize China and Russia by seeking to meddle in their internal conflicts but an “understandable” one all the same given past military interventions in Libya and former Yugoslavia which the Russians in particular regarded warily.
Turkey, said Brzezinski, may be “the key” to resolving the situation in Syria where the Ba’athist regime has violently suppressed demonstrations against it for eleven months. Human rights organizations estimate that thousands of people have died in confrontations with security forces so far.
A lot of the opposition in Syria to the Assad regime bases itself on Turkish proximity and in some cases even their presence within Turkey.
A Syrian opposition government in waiting sits in Istanbul while Ankara has refused to close its southern border to Syrian refugees.
In the wake of the “Arab spring,” the Turks have distanced themselves from Damascus despite fostering trade relations with the regime there in previous years. President Abdullah Gül said that he had “lost confidence” in his Syrian counterpart in August of last year while the Turkish foreign minister declared in an interview with France24 in January that his country was “ready to do everything for [the] Syrian people” although he stopped short of endorsing calls for military action.
Whatever pressure the Turks may bring to bear, Brzezinski cautioned against military intervention, pointing out that “the situation within the country is much more confused than the sort of black-white notions that we get from sweeping generalizations about what is happening.”
The Syrian people may not be as united against the regime as was the case in Libya where loyalists were far outnumbered by rebel forces. The uprising increasingly appears to break down along sectarian lines with the majority Sunni population hoping to topple Assad and minority Alawites, Christian and Druze, concentrated in the coastal provinces, less in favor of regime change. They may fear that their religious freedoms will be restricted if there is a Sunni government.
Since foreign news media are largely barred from reporting from Syria, it is difficult to estimate the exact scope of the rebellion although there seems to be less sympathy for the rebels in the northwestern urban areas than there is in Sunni dominated south and southeast.
via Brzezinski Says Turkey “Key” to Resolving Syrian Crisis | Atlantic Sentinel.
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Turkey Confronts Syria Imbroglio
Turkey Confronts Syria Imbroglio
Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 9 Issue: 26February 7, 2012By: Saban KardasThe failure of a recent UN Security Council resolution that sought to calm Syria has once again highlighted the dilemmas Turkey has faced in its efforts to end the humanitarian catastrophe in this neighboring state. Ankara joined international outrage, condemning the Syrian regime on the one hand, and expressing concern over China and Russia using their UN veto, on the other. While calling for urgent action and exploration of fresh options to stop the bloodshed, Ankara, nonetheless, reiterated its reservations about international intervention.The proposed UN Resolution would have supported the Arab League’s peace plan. In the negotiations preceding the vote, Moscow’s objections prompted Western powers to soften the resolution’s tone. The failure to satisfy Russia’s expectations that the Syrian opposition is also given sufficient warning and Assad is not forced to leave power created a delicate situation. The lack of a breakthrough on a compromise draft prompted the backers of the resolution to put it to the UN Security Council for a vote. Hours before Russia and China vetoed the draft resolution, Assad forces continued their violent campaign, shelling Syria’s third largest city Homs, which, according to many reports, killed hundreds of people.
While video footage showing Syrian forces’ alleged atrocities and the conflicting accounts of the death toll could not be independently verified and the Assad regime denied such reports, this development triggered an acute reaction in Turkey both at the governmental and popular levels (Anadolu Ajansi, February 4). Turkish anger was further fueled by the fact that the attack on Homs was executed on the anniversary of the infamous Hama massacre of 1982, when Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, had tens of thousands of people killed. Moreover, reportedly, during the bombardment of Homs some mosques were targeted, while Muslims were celebrating a sacred night marking the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.
More remarkably, the clashes between the Syrian army and the forces of the Free Syrian Army spread to the Turkish border, and gunfire was heard in the border villages in the Turkish province of Hatay throughout the night. While some Syrian villagers fled to refugee camps in Turkey, where thousands of people including the leaders of the Free Syrian Army were already taking shelter, bullets from the clashes hit the homes in Turkish villages, which were televised live, raising public interest in these developments (Sabah, February 5).
Like in other nations, Turkish people also organized demonstrations outside Syrian diplomatic representations in protest against these developments (www.turkiyegazetesi.com, February 5). Though the demonstrations were not large-scale, they have nonetheless attracted a significant number of people since the beginning of the uprisings. This development was also important because it signified a gradual transformation in Turkish people’s perception of the situation in Syria. Previously, Turks focused more on the geopolitical aspects of the Syrian uprising than the humanitarian tragedy caused by the regime’s brutal crackdown, believing that there was Western manipulation to change the regional balance of power. Many Turks, including conservative segments of society, harbored suspicions about the root causes of the uprisings and were critical of the Turkish government’s outward opposition against the Damascus regime, believing that it was acting as a subcontractor of the West (EDM, November 15, 2011). The recent demonstrations indicate that the Turkish public might become more supportive of their government’s policy on Syria and focus on the humanitarian aspects of the crisis.
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, attending the Munich Security Conference together with other world leaders, criticized Moscow and Beijing. Questioning the morality of their behavior, Davutoglu maintained that they acted with a Cold War mentality and the price for the vote would be paid by the Arabs and Turks in the region. Davutoglu emphasized that Turkey would continue to support the Syrian people’s struggle. Expressing solidarity with Syrians, Davutoglu added that Turkey would embrace the entire population of this country if they needed Turkey’s help (www.ntvmsnbc.com, February 4).
Ankara’s ties with Damascus became contentious at the outset of the Syrian uprising and, over time, Turkish leaders broke with their former ally Assad and asked him to step down. Meanwhile, Ankara supported the umbrella organization, the Syrian National Council in bringing together opposition groups, as well as hosting thousands of refugees (EDM, August 10, 2011). The presence of members of the Free Syrian Army in refugee camps has led to speculation that Turkey was arming the rebels against Damascus. When an earlier attempt at imposing sanctions on Syria failed in October 2011, due to Russian and Chinese objections, Ankara went ahead and adopted sanctions in coordination with Western powers. Turkey also coordinated its diplomatic initiatives with regional countries and worked hard to ensure the peace plan by the Arab League would succeed. Davutoglu undertook enormous diplomatic efforts to convince Tehran, the chief regional ally of Damascus, to work together toward a solution of the crisis and the prevention of sectarian tensions in the region (EDM, January 10). In a subsequent effort, he traveled to Moscow to exert pressure on Damascus (Anadolu Ajansi, January 25).
As his reaction to the recent failed resolution at the UN demonstrates, Davutoglu has been frustrated over the lack of progress on the diplomatic front. Two statements released by the foreign ministry regarding the ongoing atrocities by Damascus and the UN Security Council vote reflect similar thinking (www.mfa.gov.tr, February 4). While the first statement maintained that “The shelling by a country’s official security forces of its own cities constitutes the most concrete indication that the government of that country has totally lost its legitimacy to rule,” the second statement argued that “The stage that has been reached by the regime’s suppressing the desire of the Syrian people for universal values […] with the use of guns, violence and mass executions has acquired a threatening nature in which international peace and security is at risk.”
This sort of language is one that values human rights over the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention and Ankara has so far underlined clearly that the Syrian regime has lost its right to legitimately rule the country. Turkey, however, has not gone as far as advocating international intervention, and believes that any solution has to come through international legitimacy. Short of international consensus on a UN-orchestrated solution, Ankara is left with little options for changing the situation on the ground.
https://jamestown.org/program/turkey-confronts-syria-imbroglio/ -
From Washington this looks like Syria’s ‘Benghazi moment’. But not from here
Look east and what does Bashar see? Iran standing with him and Iraq refusing to impose sanctions
ROBERT FISKPresident Bashar al-Assad is not about to go. Not yet. Not, maybe, for quite a long time. Newspapers in the Middle East are filled with stories about whether or not this is Assad’s “Benghazi moment” – these reports are almost invariably written from Washington or London or Paris – but few in the region understand how we Westerners can get it so wrong. The old saw has to be repeated and repeated: Egypt was not Tunisia; Bahrain was not Egypt; Yemen was not Bahrain; Libya was not Yemen. And Syria is very definitely not Libya.
It’s not difficult to see how the opposite plays in the West. The barrage of horrifying Facebook images from Homs, and statements from the “Free Syrian Army”, and the huffing of La Clinton and the amazement that Russia can be so blind to the suffering of Syrians – as if America was anything but blind to the suffering of Palestinians when, say, more than 1,300 were killed in Israel’s onslaught on Gaza – doesn’t gel with reality on the ground. Why should the Russians care about Homs? Did they care about the dead of Chechnya?
Look at it the other way round. Yes, we all know that Syria’s intelligence service has committed human rights abuses. They did that in Lebanon. Yes, we all know this is a regime in Damascus, not an elected government. Yes, we all know about corruption. Yes, we watched the UN’s humiliation at the weekend – although why La Clinton should expect the Russians to click their heels after the “no-fly zone” in Libya turned into “regime change” is a bit of a mystery.
The destruction of the Alawite-led government in Syria – which means in effect, a Shia regime – will be a sword in the soul of Shia Iran. And look at the Middle East now from the windows of the massive presidential palace that overlooks the old city of Damascus. True, the Gulf has turned against Syria. True, Turkey has turned against Syria (while generously offering Bashar exile in the old Ottoman empire).
But look east, and what does Bashar see? Loyal Iran standing with him. Loyal Iraq – Iran’s new best friend in the Arab world – refusing to impose sanctions. And to the west, loyal little Lebanon refusing to impose sanctions. Thus from the border of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean, Assad has a straight line of alliances which should prevent, at least, his economic collapse.
The trouble is that the West has been so deluged with stories and lectures and think-tank nonsense about the ghastly Iran and the unfaithful Iraq and the vicious Syria and the frightened Lebanon that it is almost impossible to snap off these delusional pictures and realise that Assad is not alone. That is not to praise Assad or to support his continuation. But it’s real.
The Turks, after much Clinton-style huffing and puffing, did not follow through on their “cordon sanitaire” in northern Syria. Nor did King Abdullah II follow through on the Syrian opposition’s call for a Jordanian “cordon sanitaire” in the south. Oddly, I repeat yet again, only Israel has remained silent.
As long as Syria can trade with Iraq, it can trade with Iran and, of course, it can trade with Lebanon. The Shia of Iran and the Shia majority in Iraq and the Shia leadership (though not majority) in Syria and the Shia (the largest community, but not a majority) in Lebanon will be on Assad’s side, however reluctantly. That, I’m afraid, is the way the cookie crumbles. Crazed Gaddafi had real enemies with firepower and Nato. Assad’s enemies have Kalashnikovs and no Nato.
Assad has Damascus and Aleppo, and those cities matter. His principal military units have not defected to the opposition.
The “good guys” also contain “bad guys” – a fact we forgot in Libya, even when the “good guys” murdered their defected army commander and tortured prisoners to death. Oh yes, and the Royal Navy was able to put into Benghazi. It cannot put into Tartous because the Russian Navy is still there.
www.independent.co.uk, 07 FEBRUARY 2012
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Turkey Says Upset by Rejection of U.N. Resolution on Syria
Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Monday expressed his country’s disappointment over the veto by China and Russia of a U.N. resolution on the Syrian crisis, saying that the cold war era was over.
“I’d like to say that we are upset about the vote at the United Nations,” Gul told a televised news conference with his South Korean counterpart, Lee Myung-Bak.
“Everyone should remember that the cold war era is over,” he added.
Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council, Saturday blocked the U.N. resolution condemning Syria for its deadly crackdown on protests, which drew condemnation from other global powers as well as from neighboring Turkey.
“Human rights violations and the use of military force against people have no place in the world,” said Gul.
The president raised concerns about the loss of life, saying that everything was going in the direction of a “worst-case scenario” in Syria, without elaborating.
The biggest favor that President Bashar Assad could do for his country and for his people would be to give up on repressive policies and adapt to the change, he added.
Turkey, once a close ally of Syria, has been at the forefront of international criticism against the Damascus regime and has also become a haven for many Syrian opposition activists.
via Turkey Says Upset by Rejection of U.N. Resolution on Syria — Naharnet.
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With the observers gone, the lie industry is back in full swing
On 4 February 2012, the media organizations of the War Party unanimously announced more than 200 deaths in Homs – a city “bleeding” -, the torture of children and “relentless” bombing. We are supposed to be witnessing the “most terrifying massacre” since the beginning of the “revolt“. Spontaneously, attacks were triggered during the night against the Syrian embassies in Washington, Cairo, Kuwait and London.In fact, to increase pressure on the UN Security Council and public opinion, the imperial communication apparatus has resumed services after a brief lull.
The advocates of intervention in Syria made a mistake by sending an observer mission. The 160 observers from the 22 Arab League countries were able to establish the discrepancy between the version of events put forward by the West and the reality on the ground. For this reason, their report was smothered by the Presidency of the Arab League, and has not been presented to the Security Council, when it was supposed to constitute the very basis for the new deliberations on Syria.
The problem is that the report would bring to light several points wholly at variance with the current Atlanticist version, when the laws of war propaganda aim to silence all dissenting voices in order to impose its own views.
Since they refuse to endorse NATO’s storytelling, the observers have become embarrassing witnesses. Although the extension of their mission had received 4 votes in favor and 1 against (that of Qatar) by the Ad HocMinisterial Committee of the Arab League, they must leave Syria due to “security” reasons, after the Gulf observers were called back and Saudi Arabia issued a call from Al-sheik Aroor for their assassination.
Although he is depicted as a radical Muslim, Sheik Adnan Al Aroor is a former Syrian officer arrested and sentenced to 70 years for raping several conscripts under his command. Exiled in Saudi Arabia, he created his own sect and became one of the leading Takfirist preachers, the guru of the insurgents.
Now that Syria is again the only one in a position to provide another version of events, the lie industry set up for this operation is back in full gear. Once again the sole source recognized by the West and the Gulf is the self-proclaimed Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, based in London and led by the Muslim Brotherhood. No evidence is submitted; a few blurred photos, the juxtaposition of images showing demonstrations and explosions, and some anonymous testimonials will do: the “information” is instantly relayed, with no verification, by hundreds of media across the world.
While they are accused of defending cynical interests, the Russians and Chinese are essentially the last members of the Security Council to elevate the facts above communication strategies and international law above the lies.
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