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Turkey Calls for Syrian Reforms on Order of Shock Therapy
KONYA, Turkey The foreign minister of Turkey said Wednesday that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must deliver reforms that would constitute shock therapy to his country if he had any hope of ending a nine-week crisis that was roiling the region.
The comments by the foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, amounted to a plea by Turkey, which views Syria as its main foreign policy concern and the fulcrum in its ambitious strategy to integrate parts of the Middle East with its booming economy.
Just months ago, Mr. Davutoglu and other Turkish officials had described the warming ties with Syria, a country Turkey almost went to war with in 1998, as perhaps the governments greatest foreign policy success. Turkish officials now express growing concerns that strife in Syria may inundate their 550-mile border with refugees, and some officials privately worry that Syria may try to exacerbate tensions with Kurds inside Turkey.
Like others, Turkish officials remain unsure whether Mr. Assad is willing or able to carry out the reforms that would effectively end the grip of a ruling elite knit by clan, sectarian and personal ties. After speaking with Mr. Assad, some Turkish and Arab officials have questioned whether he even truly appreciates the extent and nature of the determined protests that have posed the gravest challenge to his 11 years in power.
Now what he needs is shock therapy to gain the heart of his people, Mr. Davutoglu said in an interview as he campaigned in his hometown, Konya, for a Parliament seat in next months elections. As early as possible.
Asked what would happen if Mr. Assad failed to bring dramatic reform, Mr. Davutoglu replied, We dont know. Thats why we say shock therapy.
Turkey has emerged in just a few short years as the most dynamic country in the region, with newfound political influence and a booming economic stake in the Middle East. But it faces a growing challenge in navigating the tumult of the Arab Spring.
Though Turkeys ties with Egypt were never that warm, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on President Hosni Mubarak to resign even as American officials were still contemplating a more gradual departure. Mr. Erdogans declaration was aired in a cheering Tahrir Square, bolstering his reputation as, in the words of a Turkish analyst, the darling of the Arab street. After trying, and failing, to negotiate a cease-fire, Mr. Erdogan belatedly demanded that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi step down this month, and Turkish officials have since engaged the Libyan opposition in a country where, until recently, it had at least $15 billion in investments that helped provide work to 25,000 Turks there.
In an interview this week, Mr. Erdogan was blunt in saying that Syria was a different case.
The situation in Syria is the equivalent of internal politics for Turkey, he said, calling Turkey quite concerned and annoyed by events there.
Over the past decade, Turkish and Syrian officials have forged a deep, often personal relationship. Mr. Davutoglu has visited Syria, by his count, more than 60 times over the past eight years. (By contrast, he said, he had visited his hometown only 20 times.) Mr. Erdogan built a friendship with Mr. Assad, and even their families were fond of one another. Turkeys intelligence chief has deep knowledge of Syrian affairs.
The two countries had also come closest to Mr. Davutoglus vision of regional integration, reinvigorating historic ties blunted by colonial borders and the cold war. The two have held joint cabinet meetings and military exercises. Visa requirements were lifted in 2009, border gates were expanded and a new crossing was built, helping to triple trade in three years. As with northern Iraq, Turkey has provided electrical power to Syria, too.
It was a success story for us, Mr. Davutoglu said.
There is no question that Turkey regards a stable leadership in Syria as having paramount importance. But like European and American officials, no one in Turkey seems to have a clear idea on how to negotiate a transition in a country where Syrian officials, in conversations with some foreign diplomats, have come close to equating the leaderships survival with that of the minority Alawite sect that buttresses the army, intelligence branches and the ruling family itself.
Turkey is as helpless as everyone else to get Bashar al-Assad to move, even if he wanted to do something, said Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations in Istanbul.
Though Turkey has sought to escalate its shows of disapproval of the crackdown including criticism delivered via a three-hour meeting that Mr. Davutoglu held with Mr. Assad in April and sharper statements by Mr. Erdogan that have deeply angered Syrian officials it seems intent on maintaining at least a channel to engage the leadership in Damascus.
Mr. Davutoglu himself said he believed that Mr. Assad could still reform. But, he added, what can be delivered, we will see.
Turkish officials have urged Mr. Assad to undertake a national dialogue that would include the Muslim Brotherhood, perhaps even bringing that group into the government by granting it two ministries. They have also suggested an anticorruption campaign, which would undoubtedly reach into Mr. Assads inner circle, and far greater accountability of security forces that often have a license to operate as they please.
So far, none of those steps has been taken, beyond a tentative outreach by a government adviser to a handful of opposition figures in Damascus, and Mr. Davutoglu warned that the government was facing a vicious cycle of violence. Unfortunately, he added, we are seeing every week and on every Friday, more people being killed.
The specter of sectarian strife in Syria, a country with a Sunni Muslim majority and large minorities of Christians and heterodox Muslim sects, poses a challenge to Mr. Erdogan himself. Ideologically, some factions in his government are closer to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. Erdogan warned that the region did not want to see another Hama, a reference to the Syrian militarys crushing of a Sunni Islamist revolt in 1982 that killed at least 10,000 people. It was a statement that some in the Syrian leadership undoubtedly read through a sectarian lens.
Protesters have gathered in Istanbul over the fate of Sunnis in Syria, channeling the anger of at least one constituency of Mr. Erdogans. And while Mr. Erdogan has gone to lengths to portray himself as antisectarian, some protesters in Syria have pleaded for his help.
When it comes to Syria, they will never take a sectarian stand, said Cengiz Candar, a prominent Turkish columnist and analyst on Arab affairs in Istanbul. But subtly and implicitly, their hearts are beating with the Sunnis of Syria.
Turkey Calls for Syrian Reforms on Order of Shock Therapy - The New York Times- May 25, 2011
KONYA, Turkey The foreign minister of Turkey said Wednesday that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must deliver reforms that would constitute shock therapy to his country if he had any hope of ending a nine-week crisis that was roiling the region.
The comments by the foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, amounted to a plea by Turkey, which views Syria as its main foreign policy concern and the fulcrum in its ambitious strategy to integrate parts of the Middle East with its booming economy.
Just months ago, Mr. Davutoglu and other Turkish officials had described the warming ties with Syria, a country Turkey almost went to war with in 1998, as perhaps the governments greatest foreign policy success. Turkish officials now express growing concerns that strife in Syria may inundate their 550-mile border with refugees, and some officials privately worry that Syria may try to exacerbate tensions with Kurds inside Turkey.
Like others, Turkish officials remain unsure whether Mr. Assad is willing or able to carry out the reforms that would effectively end the grip of a ruling elite knit by clan, sectarian and personal ties. After speaking with Mr. Assad, some Turkish and Arab officials have questioned whether he even truly appreciates the extent and nature of the determined protests that have posed the gravest challenge to his 11 years in power.
Now what he needs is shock therapy to gain the heart of his people, Mr. Davutoglu said in an interview as he campaigned in his hometown, Konya, for a Parliament seat in next months elections. As early as possible.
Asked what would happen if Mr. Assad failed to bring dramatic reform, Mr. Davutoglu replied, We dont know. Thats why we say shock therapy.
Turkey has emerged in just a few short years as the most dynamic country in the region, with newfound political influence and a booming economic stake in the Middle East. But it faces a growing challenge in navigating the tumult of the Arab Spring.
Though Turkeys ties with Egypt were never that warm, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on President Hosni Mubarak to resign even as American officials were still contemplating a more gradual departure. Mr. Erdogans declaration was aired in a cheering Tahrir Square, bolstering his reputation as, in the words of a Turkish analyst, the darling of the Arab street. After trying, and failing, to negotiate a cease-fire, Mr. Erdogan belatedly demanded that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi step down this month, and Turkish officials have since engaged the Libyan opposition in a country where, until recently, it had at least $15 billion in investments that helped provide work to 25,000 Turks there.
In an interview this week, Mr. Erdogan was blunt in saying that Syria was a different case.
The situation in Syria is the equivalent of internal politics for Turkey, he said, calling Turkey quite concerned and annoyed by events there.
Over the past decade, Turkish and Syrian officials have forged a deep, often personal relationship. Mr. Davutoglu has visited Syria, by his count, more than 60 times over the past eight years. (By contrast, he said, he had visited his hometown only 20 times.) Mr. Erdogan built a friendship with Mr. Assad, and even their families were fond of one another. Turkeys intelligence chief has deep knowledge of Syrian affairs.
The two countries had also come closest to Mr. Davutoglus vision of regional integration, reinvigorating historic ties blunted by colonial borders and the cold war. The two have held joint cabinet meetings and military exercises. Visa requirements were lifted in 2009, border gates were expanded and a new crossing was built, helping to triple trade in three years. As with northern Iraq, Turkey has provided electrical power to Syria, too.
It was a success story for us, Mr. Davutoglu said.
There is no question that Turkey regards a stable leadership in Syria as having paramount importance. But like European and American officials, no one in Turkey seems to have a clear idea on how to negotiate a transition in a country where Syrian officials, in conversations with some foreign diplomats, have come close to equating the leaderships survival with that of the minority Alawite sect that buttresses the army, intelligence branches and the ruling family itself.
Turkey is as helpless as everyone else to get Bashar al-Assad to move, even if he wanted to do something, said Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations in Istanbul.
Though Turkey has sought to escalate its shows of disapproval of the crackdown including criticism delivered via a three-hour meeting that Mr. Davutoglu held with Mr. Assad in April and sharper statements by Mr. Erdogan that have deeply angered Syrian officials it seems intent on maintaining at least a channel to engage the leadership in Damascus.
Mr. Davutoglu himself said he believed that Mr. Assad could still reform. But, he added, what can be delivered, we will see.
Turkish officials have urged Mr. Assad to undertake a national dialogue that would include the Muslim Brotherhood, perhaps even bringing that group into the government by granting it two ministries. They have also suggested an anticorruption campaign, which would undoubtedly reach into Mr. Assads inner circle, and far greater accountability of security forces that often have a license to operate as they please.
So far, none of those steps has been taken, beyond a tentative outreach by a government adviser to a handful of opposition figures in Damascus, and Mr. Davutoglu warned that the government was facing a vicious cycle of violence. Unfortunately, he added, we are seeing every week and on every Friday, more people being killed.
The specter of sectarian strife in Syria, a country with a Sunni Muslim majority and large minorities of Christians and heterodox Muslim sects, poses a challenge to Mr. Erdogan himself. Ideologically, some factions in his government are closer to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. Mr. Erdogan warned that the region did not want to see another Hama, a reference to the Syrian militarys crushing of a Sunni Islamist revolt in 1982 that killed at least 10,000 people. It was a statement that some in the Syrian leadership undoubtedly read through a sectarian lens.
Protesters have gathered in Istanbul over the fate of Sunnis in Syria, channeling the anger of at least one constituency of Mr. Erdogans. And while Mr. Erdogan has gone to lengths to portray himself as antisectarian, some protesters in Syria have pleaded for his help.
When it comes to Syria, they will never take a sectarian stand, said Cengiz Candar, a prominent Turkish columnist and analyst on Arab affairs in Istanbul. But subtly and implicitly, their hearts are beating with the Sunnis of Syria.
Turkey Calls for Syrian Reforms on Order of Shock Therapy - The New York Times- May 25, 2011
