Diplomatic traffic jam to Damascus..Egypt, Turkey, UAE, Arab League....

[Old_Observer]

 

Turkey Says Would Consider Working With Assad If He Won a Democratic Election

Kurdish threat made worse by Pentagon backing forcing Ankara to dream of business as usual with Damascus

RI Staff 4 hours ago | 230 words 502 Comments

It has been apparent for a while now that powers which sough regime-change in Syria from 2011 to about 2016 -- most importantly Turkey, the US, and Saudi Arabia -- have since resigned themselves to the fact Assad won't be dislodged and his government will not fall. 

Turkey has now gone a step further and has signaled it would be open to restoring relations with Assad, if only he organized a "democratic election" -- meaning an election in which the Turkish-backed Islamists were allowed to run. 

It is easy to by cynical about such a Turkish statement but actually in view of the fact that Turkey remains the single-most important protector and sponsor of what remains of the Syrian Islamist rebellion in the north of the country that is an extraordinary statement.

Despite the intimate ties between the Islamists in Ankara and Idlib the former are willing to go back to business as usual with Assad, if only he will grant them a face-saving election which he is sure to win. 

The Islamists in Idlib will grind their teeth, but from the point of view of Turkey, between the Kurds and Assad, the latter is the lesser evil. Moreover as the legitimate head of the Syrian state Assad can curtail Kurdish ambition and be useful to Ankara's security concerns in ways the divided and defeated Islamists wholly dependent on Turkish monies and protection can not.

 

[Old_Observer]

Syrian Turkmen, Arabs back Turkey’s planned operation

‘We will return to our homeland as Turkmens, Arabs and Kurds,’ says vice president of Arab and Turkmen tribes association

home > Turkey, todays headlines, middle east 16.12.2018 Ankara

By Mustafa Guclu and Rauf Maltas

SANLIURFA, Turkey 

Syrian Arabs and Turkmen on Sunday voiced their support for a planned Turkish military operation east of the Euphrates River against the YPG/PKK terrorist group.

Omer Dede, vice president of the Syrian Arab and Turkmen Tribes Association, said they welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Wednesday remarks that an operation to clear the region, located east of the Euphrates, of the YPG/PKK terrorists will start "in a few days".

Speaking to the reporters along with 50 other members in Turkey's southeastern Sanliurfa province, Dede said they expected an immediate Turkish intervention in the region to ensure Syrians' return to their homeland.

"They have expelled us out of our lands. We will return to our homeland as Turkmens, Arabs and Kurds," Dede said.

"PYD has persecuted our Kurdish brothers the most. Those who are there now had come from Qandil and have nothing to do with our lands. Their sole concern is to divide Syria," Dede said.

"If the U.S. wants the elephants to play, let them play in their own country," Dede said, referring to a message that U.S. officials sent to the Syrian opposition groups on Saturday.

"When elephants dance, you must stay away from the dance floor," the message read, threatening the Syrian oppositions against supporting the planned operation.

[Old_Observer]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Turkey will consider the possibility of cooperation with Syrian President Bashar Assad in case of his re-election as the country's head as result of a transparent and fair election, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sunday.

During a plenary session interview at the Doha Forum in Qatar, the foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was asked whether Turkey would cooperate with the government of Assad if the latter was re-elected.

"If it is democratic elections and if it is a credible one, then everybody should consider that… We should prepare the country for the elections, and it should be conducted under auspices of the United Nations, under the umbrella of the United Nations. It has to be an inclusive one, everyone, eligible ones, should be able to vote in Syria and outside of Syria, including the refugees in my country and neighboring countries," Cavusoglu said.

 

He stressed that the country's future constitution that would pave the way for the election should be drafted by the Syrian people.

 

Turkish FM Believes Trump Considering Leaving Syria

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting against numerous opposition groups and terrorist organizations. In late 2017, the victory over the Daesh* terrorist group was declared in Syria and Iraq.

Certain territories in the two countries are still being cleared from militants. The international efforts have recently been focused on political settlement in Syria, the country's reconstruction and the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.

[Old_Observer]

Turkish FM Believes Trump Considering Leaving Syria

© AP Photo/ Hassan Ammar

Middle East

13:33 16.12.2018(updated 16:52 16.12.2018) Get short URL

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday commented on the Khashoggi case, the US' military presence in Syria, and a possible extradition of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

According to the Turkish Foreign Minister, Washington is considering pulling troops out of Syria. The US is yet to comment on the statement.

"President [Donald] Trump, I think, is now considering leaving Syria once again," Cavusoglu said at the Doha Forum.

Ankara has expressed concerns over US support for the Kurdish militia and repeatedly accused Washington of failing to fulfil its promises regarding the YPG's withdrawal from Manbij. 

The day before, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara was ready to launch an operation in the northern Syrian city of Manbij against the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units, if the United States does not withdraw the Kurdish militia from the area.

Earlier this year, Trump was already planning to withdraw US troops from Syria, saying that "it was time for US troops to come home from Syria… to bring our troops back home".

However, shortly after talks with his military advisers, Trump changed his position on the issue. Commenting on the change of plans, former US UN envoy Nikki Haley stated that the president "listened to his general completely" on the Syrian issue, "because they don't want ISIS [Daesh*] to come back."

 

While both Turkey and the US have been allies in the US-led coalition's fight against Daesh, the sides have had several disagreements over Washington's support to Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Ankara opposes the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) — the backbone of the SDF — as it considers the group to be an affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which outlawed in Turkey as a terrorist organisation.

Commenting on the YPG's fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, Cavusoglu suggested that this assault might be an attempt to take control of territories in the two countries.

"When it comes to YPG/PKK, our Western friends are supporting them. Why? They have one pretext that YPG is fighting Daesh. Maybe, in certain areas, yes, but the question is why they have been fighting Daesh? Just because they hate the ideology or to gain more territories in both countries [Iraq, Syria]? I think the answer is the second one," Cavusoglu asked, adding that the rest of the world chose not to face the truth.

Syria's New Constitution

Speaking further about the Syrian issue, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised other countries' attempts to draft Syria's new constitution on behalf of the country's citizens, including during the Astana-format talks. He insisted that Syrians themselves should be the ones to do it.

"Our coalition allies, they have their own small group meeting [in Astana]. From time to time they try to draft a constitution for Syria and in the past, in Astana, some countries also tried that, but we are against drafting a constitution on behalf of the people of Syria by the others. So let them draft their own constitution," the foreign minister said at the Doha Forum.

The drafting of the new Syrian constitution, which is set to become part of the political settlement of the armed conflict in the country, is expected to be delegated to the Syrian constitutional committee that is yet to be established.

Khashoggi Сase

The minister also touched upon the Khashoggi case, saying that voice recordings allegedly pertaining to the Khashoggi case prove the murder was planned in advance. According to Cavusoglu, intelligence services of all interested countries were able to listen to them.

READ MORE: US Senators Submit Draft to Hold SA Crown Prince Responsible in Khashoggi Case

"Intelligence of the countries who were interested [in it] had the opportunity to listen to that voice records. I also did that, together with my president, [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. So you can see, you can hear very clearly that they planned in advance to kill him," Cavusoglu said.

The top diplomat reiterated Turkey's stance on the matter, saying that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was determined from the beginning to fully investigate Khashoggi's case.

"President Erdogan has been so determined from the beginning to go to the end of this case and to reach an outcome of the investigation," Cavusoglu said, when asked to comment on claims that Erdogan was "milking" the situation and might pursue political motives, and also the remark that Ankara had not made murder audio recordings public.

Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October. Later, Saudi authorities announced that a preliminary investigation had found Khashoggi to be dead.

 

The aforementioned probe into the killing of Khashoggi was launched amid mounting international pressure. Following over two weeks of denial, Riyadh admitted that he had been killed in a brawl inside the consulate.

On October 26, the Saudi prosecutor general acknowledged that the journalist's murder was premeditated. Commenting on the killing, Riyadh has repeatedly stressed that the assassination had nothing to do with the Saudi Royal family, describing it as a rogue operation.

Extradition of Islamic Cleric Fethullah Gulen

Speaking about Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish foreign minister said that the United States was working on the extradition of the Islamic cleric to Turkey.

READ MORE: Gulen Has No Plans to Relocate After Recent Security Threat — Media Adviser

"The perpetrator of the attempted coup, the leader of this terrorist organization [FETO], is still in the United States… Last time when we [the Turkish and US sides] met in Buenos Aires, President Trump told Erdogan that they [the United States] have been working on that [the extradition] but we need to see concrete steps," Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the Doha Forum, held in the Argentine capital between November 30 and December 1.

Turkey accuses cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in the United States since 1999, of orchestrating a failed military coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,200 injured. Gulen, in turn, has repeatedly denied taking part in the coup.

Since the coup failed, approximately 80,000 people have been arrested in Turkey over their alleged links to the cleric.

[Old_Observer]

USA withdrawing from Syria

UAE representative in Syria states that full Embassy functions will start soon

USA is trying to pressure Syria to expel Turkey and Iran by withdrawing

There was demonstration against Turkey in Manbij who financed it?

France trying to reconcile with Syria to support their allies in Lebanon

Turkey started already working with Syria the constitution committee is starting soon for Syria what Turkey wanted and the rest agreed.

 

 

This is moving faster than the Horn of Africa.

[Duufaan]

1 hour ago, Old_Observer said:

USA withdrawing from Syria

UAE representative in Syria states that full Embassy functions will start soon

USA is trying to pressure Syria to expel Turkey and Iran by withdrawing

There was demonstration against Turkey in Manbij who financed it?

France trying to reconcile with Syria to support their allies in Lebanon

Turkey started already working with Syria the constitution committee is starting soon for Syria what Turkey wanted and the rest agreed.

 

 

This is moving faster than the Horn of Africa.

Good for Syrian people. This gives them hope. In this case Turkey, Russia and Iran will be the winners and Arab group will be the losers.

[cadnaan1]

The Syria war is nearly finished and there is winner which is Putin and Bashar Assad.