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Category: Syria

  • Turkey’s bid to restore balance

    Turkey’s bid to restore balance

    Turkey’s bid to restore balance

    Despite the historic animosity between the two neighbours, the recent shift in Ankara’s Syria policy is due to geo-political factors

    • By Marwan Kabalan, Special to Gulf News

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    Syrians living in Turkey wave Turkish and Syrian flags as they protest against the government of Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad after Friday prayers in front of the Syrian consulate in Istanbul on Friday

    Since they emerged as new states after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War, relations between Syria and Turkey were marked by animosity. The history of Syria and Turkey would reveal that most of these relations have contributed to their physical insecurity with regard to each other, and their persistent endeavours to achieve their security requirements.

    Border dispute was perhaps the thorniest issue. Both Syria and Turkey claim unquestionable sovereignty over Uskandaron province (Turkey calls it Hatay) which came under Turkish control in 1938. Dispute over water distribution — the problem of the Euphrates, Orontes and Tigris rivers — had also hindered the establishment of good relations between the two countries. This is especially an important issue wherein both sides try to meet their developmental requirements.

    Furthermore, since the early 1980s, Turkey used to accuse Syria of providing the separatists Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerana Kurdistan, or PKK) with weapons and logistic support to gain concessions on other fronts. Syria accused Turkey, on the other hand, of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood during and after the Hama massacre in 1982.

    Given the complex nature of these relations, the end of the Cold War did not lead to fundamental shift in the way the two neighbours viewed each other. It was the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, however, that resulted in notable change in the foreign policies of Damascus and Ankara. Facing different set of challenges, Syria and Turkey opted for co-operation to help restore the regional balance of power, which has been disrupted by the occupation of Iraq. Common geo-political interests made most, if not all, of the historic differences between Turkey and Syria irrelevant.

    Disregarded

    Following the invasion of Iraq, Turkey sought to act independently, perhaps provocatively, towards Washington, which has completely disregarded Turkish interests in the region. Turkey opposed the invasion, fearing that it would lead to disintegration and eventually the emergence of a Kurdish state in the north. This would certainly affect Turkey’s Kurdish minority and strengthen cession trends.

    US policy on Iraq has hence provided key incentive to improve ties with Syria, which shared with Turkey its concerns on Iraq partition and the Kurdish issue. Rapprochement with Damascus was therefore of considerable geo-political significance for Ankara. It demonstrated that regional alliances are still seen by venerable states as key means to ward off threats and tackle challenges.

    The withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 seems to have made the opposite impact on the relationship between the two neighbours. It played key role in bringing the situation back to conflict. In fact, the US invasion of Iraq brought Syria and Turkey close together; the US withdrawal is bringing them apart.

    Rising influence

    As the US retreats, Turkey, alongside the Arab Gulf States, fears Iran’s rising regional influence. Iran could emerge with a sphere of influence stretching from western Afghanistan to the Mediterranean. If Iran manages after the completion of the US withdrawal from Iraq to establish the so-called Shiite Crescent consisting of Iraq, Syria and Hezbollah under its leadership, the political landscape of the entire region will undergo a fundamental change.

    The breakout of the so-called “Arab Spring” presented Turkey therefore with a golden opportunity to contribute to reshaping the future of the region and re-assert itself as a key regional power with a political model to promote.

    In addition, as the US seems to have accepted Iran’s dominant position in Iraq, Syria is seen by Turkey as too important to be lost to Iran’s sphere of influence. Following the outbreak of its uprising, Syria emerged as an ideal arena to check Iran’s power and contain its ambitions. At present, the polarisation is clear; taking a sectarian flavour for some and Turkey sees an opportunity to bring about a regime change in Damascus.

    This is quite a shift in Turkish foreign policy which until a few months ago viewed Syria and to an extent Iran as friends and partners. The failure of the US to prevent Iran from dominating Iraq and Tehran’s attempt to aggressively further its regional influence made Turkey rethink its position on Syria.

    Indeed, several other factors such as the position of the Turkish public opinion on the brutal repression of the Syrian uprising and the ideological and religious orientation of the Turkish leadership have played an important role in contributing to the shift in Turkish foreign policy. Yet, the geo-political factor remains the driving force of this shift.

    Dr. Marwan Kabalan is the dean of the Faculty of International Relations and Diplomacy, Kalamoon University, Damascus, Syria.

    via gulfnews : Turkey’s bid to restore balance.

  • Turkey warns Syria not to provoke regional crisis

    Turkey warns Syria not to provoke regional crisis

    * Turkey reserves right to say: Enough

    * 24 reported killed after Friday prayers

    * Saudi prince says Arab states won’t allow “massacre” (Updates death toll)

    By Douglas Hamilton

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    BEIRUT, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Turkey warned Syria on Friday it would act to protect itself if a Syrian government crackdown on protesters threatened regional security and unleashed a tide of refugees on its borders.

    At least 24 Syrians were shot dead as protesters took the streets following Friday prayers and ahead of a general strike called for Sunday, according to a network of anti-government activists reporting events to a website based in Britain.

    Other activist sources put the toll as high as 37 dead.

    Ten were killed in Homs, the hub of the nine-month-old revolt, where televised footage showed demonstrators against President Bashar al-Assad chanting “Syria wants freedom” and “Bashar is an enemy of humanity”.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu did not say what action Ankara might take, but he made clear Turkey would not hesitate to insulate the region’s security from tumult in Syria. Turkey shares a 900 km (560 mile) border with Syria.

    “Turkey has no desire to interfere in anyone’s internal affairs. But if a risk to regional security arises, then we do not have the luxury of standing by and looking on,” Davutoglu told reporters in Ankara.

    Peaceful demonstrations calling for reform began in Syria in March, inspired by the Arab Spring, but were met almost from the outset by lethal force.

    “If a government that is fighting its own people and creating refugees, is putting not only their own security at risk but also that of Turkey, then we have a responsibility and the authority to say to them: ‘Enough!’” Davutoglu said.

    Adding to the condemnation, a senior Saudi prince said Arab states would not turn a blind eye to violence in Syria.

    Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal, seen as influential though no longer holding public office, told a conference in Vienna he believed the Arab League would not “sit back and allow the continued massacre of the Syrian people”.

    Activists say about 4,600 Syrians have been killed in nine months of protest and violent state suppression. Hundreds have fled over the border to Turkey which has established refugee camps.

    MISTAKES

    President Assad says some “mistakes” may have occurred but casualties have been overwhelmingly from the security forces, targeted by “armed terrorist gangs” who are motivated and directed by unnamed foreign influences.

    Syria has been hit by United States and European Union economic sanctions and suspended from the Arab League which is also threatening to impose sanctions.

    Russia and China, however, have effectively blocked any similar move at the United Nations and Moscow is warning the West not to interfere in the affairs of its longtime Arab ally.

    The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 28 demonstrations in southern Deraa province, calling for the overthrow of the government, on what protesters are calling the “Friday of the Strike of Dignity” planned over the weekend.

    Security forces fired into a crowd outside the mosque in Al-Qusayr in Homs province, the Observatory said. Troops surrounded protesters as they came out of two mosques in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, and two children were killed in districts of Homs, the activist website reported.

    State television also reported violence but gave a different account. It said a girl was shot by “terrorists” in Deraa and civilians wounded by “terrorist armed groups”.

    UN WANTS ACCESS

    Davutoglu has proposed that contingency plans be made for a buffer zone along the Syrian border should violence escalate to the point where a mass exodus is threatened.

    The United Nations said it was impossible to assess the situation until Damascus admits humanitarian relief teams.

    “I repeat my call to the Syrian government to really let us in,” said Valerie Amos, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, in Stockholm.

    “If, as the government say, they have nothing to hide, then I think allowing us in to see that is the case and to do a proper assessment of what the implications of this are for the people of Syria is absolutely critical,” Amos said.

    Syrian National Council leader Burhan Ghalioun said he had pressed the leader of the Free Syrian Army, an umbrella group of armed rebels, to cease offensive operations that could provoke civil war.

    “We want to avoid a civil war at all costs,” he told Reuters in Vienna.

    Assad this week denied all responsibility for civilian deaths and said he had given no shoot-to-kill order.

    NATO wants him to step down. But Russia, China, Iran and Brazil, among others states, say the West should not interfere.

    Syrian state television on Thursday aired confessions by “terrorists” bent on destabilising the country by attacking security forces, killing and sabotage.

    It said they admitted making and planting bombs but did not elaborate on their alleged political motive for such attacks.

    Anti-government activists say three unarmed civilians have died for every security force member killed since March. They say Syrian interrogators use torture to obtain confessions.

    (Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara, Sylvia Westall in Vienna, Daniel Dickson in Stockholm, Dominic Evans and Laila Bassam in Beirut; editing by Rosalind Russell)

    via WRAPUP 3-Turkey warns Syria not to provoke regional crisis | Reuters.

  • US training Syrian rebels in Turkey

    US training Syrian rebels in Turkey

    Press TV – December 9, 2011

    A former employee with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said that American and NATO forces are training Syrian rebels in southeastern Turkish city of Hakkari.

    Sibel Edmonds also said that she had received information from Turkish and US sources indicating that training Syrian opposition forces, led by defected Syrian colonel Riad al-Assad, had started in May, the Turkish daily Milliyet reported.

    Edmonds further added that the US is involved in smuggling arms into Syria from Incirlik military base in Turkey in addition to providing financial support for Syrian rebels.

    Syria has been experiencing a deadly unrest ever since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

    Confessions by a number of Syrian rebels about foreign-sponsored plans to carry out armed operations and killing ordinary people as well as security forces prove that recent developments in the country are part of an attempt to incite a revolt in the strategic country neighboring the Israeli regime, aiming to overthrow the current government and replace it with a US-backed regime.

    The Western-backed opposition in Syria accuses security forces of a bloody crackdown on protests. But Damascus has dismissed the accusation, arguing that the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.

    Damascus blames the violence on foreign-sponsored terrorist groups, with the Syrian state TV broadcasting reports showing seized weapons caches and confessions by terrorists describing how they obtained arms from foreign sources.

    PM/JG/MA

    via ‘US training Syrian rebels in Turkey’.

  • Turkey sets terms for backing Free Syrian Army: Bow to Muslim Brotherhood group

    Turkey sets terms for backing Free Syrian Army: Bow to Muslim Brotherhood group

    Special to WorldTribune.com

    WASHINGTON — Turkey, aligned to the Muslim Brotherhood, has cracked

    down on the rebel army in Syria.

    Opposition sources said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan

    has frozen Free Syrian Army bank accounts in an effort to pressure

    the rebels to recognize the authority of the Brotherhood-aligned Syrian

    National Council.

    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan. /Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

    “The popularity of the Free Syrian Army inside Syria is a sore issue with Erdogan and the MB,” the Reform Party of Syria said. “From a strategic point of view, control of the Free Syrian Army by the MB is an essential component for which it must not fail.”

    The Washington-based opposition movement asserted that Ankara imposed sanctions on FSA on Nov. 30 after the secular rebel army refused to take orders from SNC. FSA, based in Turkey, was said to be entirely dependent on Ankara for safe haven of its fighters as well as training and logistics.

    The sources said FSA attacks on Syrian military installations and

    convoys increased the credibility of the rebel force, particularly with NATO. They said Britain and France were persuaded to cooperate with FSA, which consists of thousands of deserters from the Syrian Army.

    For its part, SNC has been strongly supported by Arab opponents of

    Assad. They were said to include Qatar and Saudi Arabia, deemed primary

    financiers of the revolt in Syria.

    “Tensions are also rising over the little financial aid the FSA is

    getting from Saudi Arabia and Qatar whose aim is to control the organization

    to serve the MB,” RPS, which supports the secular opposition, said.

    In late November, Turkey hosted the first meeting of the leadership of

    FSA and SNC. Following the session in the southwestern town of Hatay, SNC

    said FSA agreed to end all but defensive operations in Syria.

    RPS president Farid Ghadry said SNC contains elements of the Palestinian

    insurgency group Hamas. Ghadry cited Ahmed Ramadan, identified as a leading

    operative and, until May, news director of the Hamas television

    station in Beirut.

    “Ahmed Ramadan today is one of the behind-the-scene operatives of the

    SNC providing capital, logistics and advice,” RPS said. “That’s a known and

    public fact to many Syrians, including two RPS supporters who attended the

    first meeting.”

    RPS said Turkey has directed French military aid to Islamic fighters who

    posed as defectors from FSA. RPS said Erdogan sought to recruit Western

    support for the Brotherhood, targeted as a future proxy for Turkey in Syria.

    “The MB military wing would become Turkey’s proxy against the Kurds,”

    RPS said.

    via Turkey sets terms for backing Free Syrian Army: Bow to Muslim Brotherhood group | World Tribune.

  • Syrians in Turkey eye uncertain future

    Syrians in Turkey eye uncertain future

    By Justin Vela

    The Daily Star

    ISTANBUL: Normally, Issa does not like big cities such as Istanbul. But conditions are anything but normal in his native Syria, where Bashar Assad’s forces continue a brutal nine-month crackdown on opposition that has left over 4,000 people dead, according to the latest United Nations estimates.

    Issa – who did not wish to give his full name for fear of reprisals against himself or his family – arrived in Istanbul in August having fled Syria after attending three opposition demonstrations in Damascus and transporting an injured protester to safety after he was hit by a tear gas canister.

    Issa, who had previously worked as an Arabic teacher for foreigners in Damascus said there was no longer any work in Syria with the exodus of foreign language students.

    After searching for employment in Turkey’s vast unofficial economy, he eventually began to build up a pool of students to teach Arabic and rented a room in Istanbul.

    “There are many, many Syrians here, moving around [in Istanbul], he said. “Some leave because they can’t find jobs here, and don’t speak Turkish,” Issa added.

    For Syrians such as Issa, Istanbul is merely an escape.

    For others, the city has become a staging ground to shape Syria’s future with various Syrian opposition groups using the city as a base to coordinate activities inside Syria.

    Most Syrians contacted for this article declined interview requests, citing security concerns.

    Many were in Istanbul without government permission and did want their activities described.

    But three Syrian men described their frustration following the news of violence in Syria and concern for their families there.

    “We don’t really feel like we are outside because all our families are inside [Syria],” said Bekes-who had lived in Istanbul for six years.

    Yilmaz Saeed, one of the few Kurdish members of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella civilian opposition organization based in Paris, said he is concerned about the lack of discussion over the future of minorities in a post-Assad Syria.

    “The future of Syria does not guarantee the [rights of] minorities,” he said, describing how he was trying to advance the Kurdish voice in the SNC.

    “We could come back to the same point, it could be the same.”

    Another Kurd, a businessman named Bahzad, added that while Syrians were “everywhere” in Istanbul, Syrian Kurds faced more difficulties than Arabs.

    “The Turkish government really has a problem with Kurds,” according to Bahzad.

    Only Saeed said he planned to return. “Most of Syria is still quiet. When is Damascus and Aleppo going to join?” he asked.

    “The Kurds joined on the first day, the Kurds actually started protesting in 2004. The Syrian revolution started in 2004. The others did not join [then], it was only the Kurds.”

    The influx has some worried that the unrest next door is spilling over the border.

    “Damascus is already in Istanbul,” wrote Kerim Balci, a columnist at the Turkey’s daily Today’s Zaman, following a Nov. 30 shooting inside the Topkapi Palace – a popular Istanbul tourist destination – by a Libyan gunman allegedly driving a car with Syrian license plates on the same day that Ankara announced that was slapping sanctions on Damascus.

    “Turkey is in the Middle East … The artificiality of the political borders in this region holds, not only for the political authorities, but also for social and economic problems. A prolonged social unrest in Syria will certainly have repercussions for Turkey,” Balci added.

    While he felt generally accepted by the Turks, Issa claimed that most had little understanding of the events taking place in Syria.

    “The Turks do not seem to have a very good idea what’s going on,” he said. “They are always just asking about [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. They give me the thumbs and say, ‘Erdogan or Assad?’”

    Still, Istanbul is a fresh start for him. He has begun sending some money back to his family who does not support the regime, but are too scared to join demonstrations. They stay inside their house, he said.

    His father no longer has work and their savings are running out.

    But now he faces a new challenge: His passport will soon expire and other Syrians have warned him against going to the Syrian Consulate to have it renewed.

    “They will keep an eye on me [if I go there],” he said. “What I am doing … and if I am against the regime, they will do something against my family. That’s not just in Istanbul, it’s all of Europe.”

    A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on December 08, 2011, on page 8.

    via THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: Syrians in Turkey eye uncertain future.

  • Turkey: Dialing Back Efforts to Oust Syria’s Assad

    Turkey: Dialing Back Efforts to Oust Syria’s Assad

    December 7, 2011
    Threats from Kurdish terrorists, concern that the Arab Spring uprising could spill into Turkey, and continued support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by Russia and China have caused the Turkish government to quietly back away from its vocal support for anti-government protesters in Syria. Turkey’s reversal could be a serious setback for the Syrian uprising and may presage similar reassessments by other states.
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    2009 photo of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Syrian President Assad meeting in Aleppo, Syria. (AP Photo/SANA
    Turkey has largely led the effort to support the Syrian opposition to oust Assad, who has led the country since 2000.Turkey’s opposition to Assad’s brutal crackdown appeared to grow stronger on November 22 when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Assad to step down and compared him to Muammar Qadaffi.Ankara has worked closely with the Muslim Brotherhood to support the Syrian opposition, aligning its aims against Syria with its broader regional goal of supporting Islamist trends sweeping through several Arab nations. In the last two weeks, however, Turkish media affiliated with the ruling Turkish AK Party have begun expressing reservations over focusing so narrowly on Assad’s ouster.The Turkish government itself has also shown signs of moderating its stance against Assad, although it continues to take action to isolate Syria, such a recent decision to suspend a Turkey-Syria free-trade agreement.