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Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basin Özeti
www.al-monitor.com
By: Al-Monitor Week in Review.
O
March 10, 2013
The Iraqi and Turkish Fault Lines
n March 5, Syrian militants reportedly affiliated with al-Qaeda
attacked a convoy of Syrian and Iraqi soldiers near the Rabia
border crossing in western Iraq. Forty-eight Syrians, mostly military,
and nine Iraqi soldiers were killed. The Syrians had earlier received
medical treatment in Iraq.
As Mushreq Abbas reported for Al-Monitor, the ambush at the border
should not just be considered a “military confrontation in the strictest
sense of the word, but rather was an extension of the national turmoil
on both sides of the border.”
Iraq is also breaking down along sectarian fault lines similar to those
destroying Syria, as the civil war there spills over the borders, playing
into Iraq’s own factional politics, which remain at high boil.
Iraq’s Speaker of the Council of Representatives Osama Al Nujaifi, a
Sunni with the Iraqqiya Party list, accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-
Maliki of meddling in Iraq’s independent commissions by removing
Falah Shanshal, head of the Justice and Accountability Commission,
which handles de-Baathification, as reported by Ali Abel Sadah for Al-
Monitor. Nujaifi added that that the Iraqi government has done little to
address the demands of demonstrators in Anbar province, as reported
by Azzaman and translated by Al-Monitor.
The escalation took an ethnic twist when Maliki sent a new military
force to the western Sinjar province of Iraq’s Nineveh governorate,
which is considered disputed territory by the Kurdistan region. As
reported by Abdel Hamid Zebari, the deployment was protested by Iraqi
Kurds and came just days after a visit to Iraq by Iranian Foreign
Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi.
Iraqi politics is more complicated than ever as the campaigns for provincial
elections, scheduled for April 20, have started. As Mustafa Al-
Khadimi reported for Al-Monitor, “political and economic crises, sectarian
speeches and security concerns lie at the heart of any election.
Yet, this season is characterized by additional phenomena, such as the
rise of political families and undeveloped political performance.”
This column has commented on Iraq as a fault line in the sectarian
conflict that is taking place in the region. The Syrian war must be seen
in the broader regional context, which, by the way, is how it is viewed
by decision makers in the Middle East.
Erdogan’s Failed Syria Policy
The visit of four parliamentarians from the opposition Republican
People’s Party [CHP] to Damascus to meet with Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad represents something more than a publicity play by
the Turkish opposition.
Kadri Gursel has written a brilliant and searching essay that examines
how the visit is yet another sign of the failure of the ruling Justice and
Development Party to make the toppling of Assad a national cause in
Turkey. If Erdogan had even a sliver of success in this effort, the CHP
members would not have dared go to Damascus, even on a so-called
“humanitarian mission” to seek the release of captive journalists.
Assad reportedly said to the group: “Turkey has the most influence on
the situation in my country. Most weapons and terrorists come via
Turkey. Twenty-five percent of our land border with Turkey is under the
control of the PKK, and 75% of it is under al-Qaeda … There is an
increased opportunity for the Kurds to set up a state in the region.
Kurds in northern Syria have linked with Iraqi Kurds. It is a matter of
time for a Kurdish state.”
Assad’s reference to the Kurds was a transparent play to Turkish nationalism,
as Gursel points out. But the Kurdish issue is nonetheless more
complicated and uncertain than ever. Wladimir van Wilgenburg reported
that the “Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its militia, the Kurdish
People’s Defense Units (YPG), are increasingly using the power
vacuum to create a form of Kurdish autonomy,” including seizure of oil
Iraqi police stand guard during foot patrol at Rabia, near the
main border between Iraq and Syria, March 2, 2013. (photo by
REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousuly)
fields.
Cengiz Candar had opportunity to talk with Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib,
head of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition
Forces.
Al-Khatib, who has not ruled out negotiations with the Syrian government,
lamented the U.S. preoccupation with Salafist groups in the
Syrian opposition. Sheikh Moaz acknowledges the current stalemate
in the military confrontation between the Syrian government and opposition
forces, and remarked that Iran and Russia are giving Assad the
wrong advice.
As Gursel points out, disagreement over Erdogan’s Syria policy is not
just a matter of opposition politics in Turkey; it is dividing Turkish Sunnis
and Alevis, and raising antagonism and polarization throughout Turkish
society.
Kerry, Syria and the Political Solution
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry returned from his first trip to the
Middle East — including Turkey, the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Qatar — with perhaps some glimmer of progress for a political solution
in Syria, which remains the U.S. priority.
This column reported last week on Kerry’s announcement of non-lethal
aid to the Syrian opposition and its consequences. Some Western
media reporting has focused on whether the aid announcement and
Kerry’s visit signaled a step toward ‘doing more’ to assist the armed
opposition in Syria. The aid announcement is indeed a sign of ‘doing
more.’ Kerry said the United States seeks to change Assad’s calculus
through aid and pressure. And the battle may be joined in Washington
on whether even more is to be done, as Geoffrey Aronson wrote this
week.
U.S. ally Qatar, which along with Turkey is the main provider of arms to
the rebels, would prefer that the United States "do more" in Syria. In
Doha, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jasim Al-Thani
appeared to lecture the Kerry on the imperative of a military solution.
Despite Sheikh Hamad’s position, Kerry kept the focus on a political
solution at a news conference in Doha on March 5: “It is only through
the Geneva communique where you bring a transitional government
with full executive power with all parties agreeing to it – the opposition
and the Assad government – and then you give the Syrian people the
opportunity to choose the future. That’s what we’re committed to, and
we will continue down this road in close consultations so that we continue
to put the pressure on.”
Kerry’s statement came just one day after Iranian Foreign Minister
Salehi wrote in a March 4 letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
that Iran, Egypt and Turkey are working “within the trilateral framework,
are continuing their consultations in finding a peaceful solution to this
crisis through participation of all parties in Syria.”
Both Kerry and Salehi used the phrase “all parties.” Elections are
increasingly in play as part of the transition phase in Syria. As ➼
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