The problem of fine-tuning policies on Syria
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=the-problem-of-fine-tuning-policies-on-syria-2011-10-12
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
sergin1@hurriyet.com.tr
SEDAT ERGİN, Opinion
But there is another scenario that should not be entirely disregarded either. And that is, despite all the international pressure and severe domestic opposition, the Baath regime in Damascus survives even though this survival becomes more difficult each day. When considering that all bridges were burned mutually, this possibility is the one that would frustrate Turkey the most.
The policy is essentially correct but…
Kurdish issue creates conflict
The fact that Turkey has staked out such a stark position against Syria poses a series of drawbacks. The first one of these is that, with such a sharp attitude, Turkey is keeping the door open to the expectation of an instant contribution in the event the West chooses the military option against Syria in the future.
Another drawback stems from the conflicting situation created by Turkey's diversion from its own domestic issues, especially from the democratic initiative in the Kurdish issue. The Syrian regime's actions against opposition groups coincides with a time when Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) members are being subjected to mass arrests, when elected deputies are kept in jails and when the space for the Kurdish political movement to operate within democratic bounds is being entirely constricted in Turkey.
Also, will the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, which has adopted such a critical attitude against Syria, be able to demonstrate the same principled attitude against the Tehran regime when similar movements erupt in Iran in the future? It is useful to contemplate this question starting now.
*Sedat Ergin is a columnist for daily Hürriyet in which this piece appeared on Oct. 12. It was translated into English by the Daily News staff.
Gulf states call for Arab League meeting on Syria
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Oct-13/151210-gulf-states-call-for-arab-league-meeting-on-syria.ashx
October 13, 2011 09:35 PM
Reuters
Dubai: Gulf Arab states Thursday called for an immediate meeting of Arab League states to discuss the "dire" situation in Syria, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said in a statement.
They said the meeting be should held at foreign ministers' level and discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria, and study ways "to stop the bloodshed and machine of violence," they said.
The GCC is a loose political and economic alliance of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.
العربي : مشاورات لعقد اجتماع وزاري لبحث الموقف في سوريا
Arab consultations to hold a ministerial meeting to discuss the situation in Syria
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_news&id=823b97743e07bb2d8b246490f8a5c9b6&ar=25579930
Thursday - October 13 - 2011 - 9:16:00
The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Nabil el-Arabi, in Cairo, said that consultations are being held between the Arab Foreign Ministers to convene a meeting of the University Council at the ministerial level to discuss the situation in Syria, but he said he had not been so far from any Arab country to hold the meeting.
حردان: الرئيس الأسد لديه رؤية مكتملة حول طبيعة المؤامرة على سورية وسبل احباطها
Hardan: President Assad has a complete view about the nature of the conspiracy against Syria and ways to thwart (expressions of support from Lebanese SSNP, former Lebanese President Lahhoud, and Mufti of Jabal Amil and Tyre/Sour)
http://www.sana.sy/ara/3/2011/10/13/375330.htm
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/10/13/375340.htm
October 13, .2011
Beirut, (SANA) -
Authorities deny Syria Army incursion into Anjar
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Oct-13/151196-syrian-army-reaches-anjar-turns-back-sources.ashx
October 13, 2011 11:54 AM (Last updated: October 13, 2011 07:45 PM)
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities denied Thursday reports that the Syrian Army had entered the Bekaa town of Anjar a day earlier.
Residents told The Daily Star earlier Thursday that a 15-strong Syrian infantry unit infiltrated at 5 p.m. Wednesday about 150 meters into Wadi Anjar.
The Syrian Army had taken up a position near an earth mound in the area that is considered a smuggling route, the residents said, adding that the unit then pulled back following contacts carried out by the Lebanese Army.
Security and Lebanese Army sources said they had no reports of an incursion, adding that the Syrian Army did not go beyond the Syria-Lebanon border.
Syrian troops have made several incursions into the Bekaa town of Arsal since the beginning of October.
ISF personnel, Syrian Embassy had role in kidnappings: officials
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Oct-13/151203-isf-personnel-syrian-embassy-had-role-in-kidnappings-officials.ashx
October 13, 2011 06:19 PM
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Allegations levied against the Syrian embassy by ISF commander Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi of involvement along with ISF personnel in the kidnapping of Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon were based on concrete and indisputable evidence, security and political officials told The Daily Star Thursday.
Sources said that members of the ISF and the Syrian Embassy were involved in the kidnapping and the disappearance of at least four Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon.
During a meeting of the parliamentary human rights committee Monday, Rifi briefed MPs on two high-profile kidnapping cases he said had been carried out this year by personnel from the Syrian Embassy in Beirut.
Three Syrian brothers from the Jasem family disappeared in February, after two of them went to pick up their brother, Jasem Merii Jasem, from a police station east of Beirut.
Human Rights Watch said in March that Jasem was originally picked up by military intelligence agents in Beirut after he was seen handing out flyers calling for democratic change in Syria.
Rifi said Monday that a vehicle belonging to the Syrian Embassy in Beirut had been used to kidnap the brothers.
He also told the committee that he had collected "dangerous information" pointing to the embassy's involvement in the May disappearance of Shibli Aisamy, an 86-year-old Syrian dissident who was abducted in the town of Aley.
The ISF commander also expressed his belief that the kidnappings had been undertaken by Lebanese ISF personnel working in the embassy.
Security sources told The Daily Star Thursday that Rifi's evidence was based on documents, secret service agents, pictures, video from surveillance cameras installed in the Syrian embassy parking lot and along roads surrounding the embassy, as well as witness testimonies.
Kataeb MP Sami Gemayel, who was among the lawmakers who attended Monday's session, said Rifi had provided "dangerous information that implicates the Syrian embassy in Aisamy's kidnapping."
Several lawmakers attending Monday's session, including Gemayel and Baabda MP Hikmat Deeb, have questioned the military court's failure to apprehend those involved in the abductions.
"The committee at Parliament agreed to invite [State Prosecutor Saeed] Mirza for the next session to look into the reasons the Military Tribunal has failed to uncover the perpetrators," Deeb told The Daily Star Wednesday.
Judicial sources, however, defended the Military Tribunal, telling The Daily Star that the probe into the abduction of Syrian opposition figures was ongoing.
They said both the ISF and judicial authorities had conducted separate interrogations with the head of the Syrian Embassy guard unit, Lebanese First Lt. Salah Hajj after they received information that implicates the Syrian delegation in Lebanon.
Hajj is the son of Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj, Lebanon's former ISF chief who was held along with three other Lebanese generals for four years for alleged involvement in the 2005 assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri.
"What else could the military court do besides issuing summons?" one judicial source told The Daily Star Thursday.
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