June 29, 2011 – Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage

The Syrian protest movement is narrowing in on the country’s capital, as with each passing week, more citizens take to the streets, increasingly aggravated by alleged perceptions of unchanged and in the case of economic and security conditions, worsening circumstances. State media report that people gathered to protest in the suburbs and cities of Qaboun, Midan, Qadam, Barzeh, Qatana, Al-Hahar al-Aswad, Hasakeh, Amouda, Qamishli, Ras al-Ein, Deir ez-Zor, Boukamal, Mayadin, Kouriyeh, Bennesh, Kafer Nebel, Saraqeb and Al-Raml al-Janoubi in Lattakia. Indeed for well over a month, Friday’s have seen the outbreak of protests in hundreds of cities and villages nationwide. 

 

According to international media, Hama, the country’s fourth largest city, erupted in demonstrations as tens of thousands came out – reportedly filling the city’s center. Syrians in the country’s north continued streaming across the border into Turkey, seeking refuge from ongoing violence in the areas near Jisr al-Shughour. The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey grew to 11,739. Over 1,500 fled across the border on Friday alone. Friday’s flight was reportedly instigated by the arrival of Syrian army forces in the border village of Khirbet al-Jouz. 

 

There were further protests in Aleppo and Homs, the latter of which has not seen calm on a Friday since March, as well as in Damascus’s suburbs. International reports suggest a total of 15 people died in the town of Kiswa not far out of Damascus, Barzeh another suburb of the capital, Homs, and Qusair. Local media report that gunmen shot and killed three civilians as well as seven members of the security forces. International media report that Syrian security forces opened fire on protestors.

 

There were further protests in the southern city of Daraa, the country’s first flash point. Protestors reportedly waved banners encouraging the residents of Damascus to take to the streets. Some banners read, “People of Damascus, Here in Daraa We Toppled the Regime.” The same international reports indicate that there were also protests in the country’s coastal cities, as well as in cities along Syria’s border with Iraq. 

 

On Saturday, international media reported that security forces conducted mass arrests across the country. Thousands also came out to participate in funerals for those killed amid protests on Friday. International reports indicated that three people were killed amid security sweeps while another two died while participating in funeral processions. 

 

While some Syrians in Turkish refugee camps are reportedly beginning to trickle home – an estimated 375 did so on Sunday and Monday – the majority now numbering around 11,100, remain in the camps. International media report that camp conditions are decent, with cooked meals, electricity, potable water, prayer compounds and play areas for children.

 

Nevertheless, as Turkey recently decided to lift the media ban in and around some of the camps, refugee interviews with foreign journalists indicate widespread gratitude for Turkish efforts to meet refugee needs, combined with homesickness. Yet, as the security situation in the country’s north remains volatile, few are willing to return home. According to Turkish authorities, 51 Syrian refugees remain in Turkish hospitals, undergoing treatment for a host of severe injuries, including gunshot wounds.

 

At the same time, thousands of other Syrians continue to congregate on the Syrian side of the country’s border with Turkey. In Khirbet al-Jouz, a village on the border, hundreds of Syrians have taken refuge in makeshift camps. For reasons unclear to reporting sources, those in the village camps initially were not monitored by Syrian security or military forces. According to the same report, they set up a media centre from which to report on the situation and held protests.  The situation changed on Thursday June 23, however, when military forces reportedly returned to the area. Most in the camps fled across the border into Turkey. According to Red Crescent sources, some 17,000 Syrians in border villages in towns are waiting to cross into Turkey – it is unclear how such a figure was calculated. 

 

One of the most challenging aspects of understanding the full scope of the crisis in Syria, results from the inability of foreign – and indeed local – press to access and report on events as they unfold. The outcome of this has been something akin to a media war – where state-run media report one perspective on the crisis and Syrian activists report another. International media are left attempting to ‘choose’ between the two, invariably resulting in inaccurate reportage. Patrick Galey published an interesting article on this issue on June 27 in The Huffington Post.

 

At the same time, locals endeavor to become ‘citizen journalists’ whilst confronting widespread internet shut downs. Relatedly, a recent article by Michael Weiss, a reporter for The Telegraph, alleges that a leaked official document indicates the Syrian government ordered the internet cut in a number of locations on May 22. 

 

On Monday, Syrian dissidents met publicly for the first time in a Damascus hotel, to discuss the current situation in the country and methods of transitioning the political system to democracy. The gathering was enshrouded in controversy. While many hailed it as sign that things are changing in Syria – a matter of months ago it would have been impossible to imagine dissidents meeting in the open – others viewed the government’s willingness to let the meeting take place as a public relations stunt with little grounding in the actual interests of the country’s opposition. 

 

Other points of controversy included participants in the meeting; many of the country’s most influential opposition members were not in attendance, and debate over whether or not the opposition should engage in the national dialogue proposed by the Syrian government. All in all, 190 opposition members attended the meeting. Absent, however, were members of the Local Coordination Committees – the groups of youngsters across Syria who organize and report on demonstrations, as well as members of the Damascus Declaration Coalition – the country’s most vital opposition group. Members of the latter were firmly opposed to the meeting, stating that it should not be held as long as violence against protestors continues. 

 

Reportage on the outcome of the meeting was mixed, with many highlighting that it revealed notable divisions within the country’s opposition. Participants issued a statement indicating that they support the country’s protest movement, viewed themselves as independents with no political affiliations or desire to act as representatives of the broader opposition movement, rejected any foreign intervention in the situation and encouraged the government to grant international and local media, the right to cover the events. 

 

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem stated at a press conference on Wednesday June 22 that the EU through its negative reaction to President al-Assad’s speech, has “a plot to foment sedition and chaos in Syria…I say to those officials to stop meddling in Syrian affairs.” Adopting a tone of defiance in the face of then forthcoming extended sanctions, Minister Moallem stated that, “We have faced pressures and sanctions by the USA and Europe since their war against Iraq and this is the reason behind the slowdown of the reforms in Syria…The European sanctions target the livelihood of the Syrian citizens and this is equal to war. And I will recommend my leadership to freeze our membership in the Union for the Mediterranean. We had already frozen our talks for EU Association. We will forget that Europe is on the map and move eastwards, southwards and in every direction which extends its hands to Syria. The world isn’t only Europe. We will forget all the attempts to isolate us and will overcome the crisis.” Minister Moallem also denied allegations of Iranian aid in efforts to quell the unrest, stating that “I categorically deny that there is any interference by Iran or Hezbollah Party with regard to what is happening in Syria.”

 

In response to the Monday June 27 meeting of Syrian opposition in Damascus, President al-Assad set a date for national dialogue with government opponents, which will now begin on July 10. The July 10 meeting is set to be “consultative” in nature, and “all national intellectual and political figures” will be invited to attend. Bills pertaining to “new political parties, elections, local administration and media” are on the agenda for discussion. The National Dialogue Commission charged with organizing and holding the talks, affirmed on Monday “that there are no alternatives to political discussion and allowing all Syrians to participate in building a democratic, plural society that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people.”

 

In an interview with CNN and Sky New networks on June 28, Syrian media advisor Bouthaina Shaaban stated that, “Conducting the national dialogue and accelerating it will be in the interest of Syria. It will lead to a process into democracy where all parties compete and all citizens participate in the political life… we aspire for a prosperous era in Syria.” Shaaban also asserted that the government does not take issue with peaceful protests and that all security operations have target armed militants. 

 

On Tuesday President Assad issued Legislative Decree No. 76 on “regulating the work of the General Housing Establishment to meet demographic needs of population, particularly social housing.”

 

 

“The Baby and the Baath Water” – Adam Curtis-The Medium and the Message – A blog post from June 16 well worth reading. Curtis argues that Syria reached a similar political juncture between 1947 and 1949, but then an “odd group of idealists and hard realists in the American government set out to intervene in Syria”. Their goal was to “liberate the Syrian people from a corrupt and autocratic elite”. Curtis details the history that followed, noting that at present, “there is a terrible naivety in the West’s view of the ongoing revolt in Syria. It forgets its own history and the role it played in helping create the present situation”.  An important and highly readable post. 

 

“My Syria, Awake Again After 40 Years” – The New York Times – A compelling op-ed by Syrian journalist, human rights activist and filmmaker, Mohammad Ali Atassi on the Syrian revolution.

 

“Profiles: Syrian opposition figures” – Al Jazeera – A backgrounder on certain members of Syrian opposition, including: Michel Kilo, Aref Dalila, Anwar al-Bunni, Loay Hussein, Fayez Sara, and Mazen Darwish. 

 

“Chaos Feared as Syria Crisis Nears Bloody Impasse” – Associated Press – Perspective on prospects for political reform and concerns of civil war as the country becomes a “political no-man’s-land”. According to the author, Tim Sullivan, the Syrian President relies on the support of a “small but growing Syrian middle class” and wealthy elites, members of which congregate in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo. Such individuals have yet to take to the streets out of belief that the current government maintains needed stability. Much of the rest of the country, however, does not share their views. 

 

“Need Overwhelms Makeshift Clinic in Syria Camp” – The New York Times – Resources are stretched thin in border villages as Syrian unwilling to leave the country to take refuge in neighboring Syria, amass along the border. Medical care is meager at best, as makeshift clinics are unable to meet pressing needs. 

 

“Syrian Civilian Killings Leading to ‘Civil War’” – Australian Broadcasting Corporation – An interview with Robert Fisk, Middle East correspondent for The Independent, on the country’s prospects for civil war, the likelihood of the current government prevailing over the protest movement, the presumed loyalty of the senior officer class of the military, allegations of torture, the role of family in the government, Asma al-Assad’s alleged flight to London, the reality of armed groups instigating some aspects of the violence and the prospects for foreign intervention – including Turkish military plans to create a buffer zone in Syria if the situation in the north further deteriorates. 

 

“The Horrible Video Al Jazeera’s Been Playing All Day Long” – The Atlantic Wire – An interesting window into the debate over the nature and implications of the Syrian opposition’s meeting in Damascus on June 27.

 

“Russia Refuses to Intervene in Syria” and “Turkey’s Test with Syria” – Al-Arabiya News – The latter is a well-written article by Abdülhamit Bilici detailing the challenge Turkey is currently facing with regard to its management of the Syrian crisis. The former is a good piece by Mary E. Stonaker attributing Russia’s unwillingness to back any UN resolution on Syria nor denounce the Syrian government’s management of the current crisis, to concerns about maintaining its strategic access to Syria’s warm water ports and protecting lucrative weapons contracts. 

 

“Cold Reality of Confrontation with the Neighbours” – The Financial Times – An excellent article by David Gardner detailing how Syria, Turkey’s biggest ‘foreign policy investment’, is now putting the very foundation of Turkish foreign policy to test. 

 

“Turkey-Syria-Iran Triangle is Being Redrawn” – Hurriyet Daily News – A good backgrounder on the regional sectarian dynamics that Turkey has endeavored to use to its strategic advantage. Revolutions across the Arab world have thrown the underlying principles of Turkish foreign policy into question and recent Turkish moves suggest it has abandoned its backing of the Syrian government, in exchange for strengthening its relations with the US.

 

 

In response to the Syrian military’s move into the border town of Khirbet al-Jouz on June 24, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that, “If true, that aggressive action will only exacerbate the already unstable refugee situation in Syria. Unless the Syrian forces immediately end their attacks and their provocations that are not only now affecting their own citizens but (raising) the potential of border clashes, then we’re going to see an escalation of conflict in the area.”

 

On Monday June 27, President Assad met with British Conservative MP Brooks Newmark and US Congressman Dennis Kucinich. The motives behind Newmark’s visit remain unclear – his trip to Syria was without government backing. Kucinich, however, is known for his opposition to US military engagement in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq. His trip to Syria was part of a “fact-finding” mission that included meetings in neighboring Lebanon. As Kucinich explained, “Peace is not just the absence of war. Peace is a conscious, active pursuit that requires work and communication. My work as a member of Congress requires that I learn firsthand about events in order to better understand policy alternatives for America and other nations.”  

 

After Kucinich met with President Assad, he held a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus, during which Syrian state-run media alleges he made the following statements:

 

“There are some who want to give a wrong picture about what is going on in Syria…President Bashar al-Assad cares so much about what is taking place in Syria, which is evident in his effort towards a new Syria and everybody who meets him can be certain of this. President al-Assad is highly loved and appreciated by the Syrians…

 

What I saw in Syria in terms of the open discussion for change demanded by the people and the desire for national dialogue is a very positive thing…Syria has gone through hard times…

 

However, I believe there is a very strong desire for unity and democratic change, and the difficulties Syria has faced over the past few months can be overcome. All whom I talked to during the last few days spoke about the importance of stopping violence. It is very important to stop violence, and this is a responsibility the government is aware of and deals with seriously.

 

…at the same time, people know that their legitimate aspirations can not be ignored…I came here to understand what these aspirations are and to convey this to the members of the U.S. Congress and the U.S. administration, as well as to the international community…Syria is an important country and what is going on in it and the repercussions will not only affect it, but rather the region and the world as well.” 

 

On Monday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen issued a statement urging the US to recall its ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford. In her statement, the Republican representative stressed that Ford’s appointment constituted an “ill-advised overture” and that the Syrian government “has made it clear through its brutal actions and through the refusal of senior officials to meet with the ambassador that it is not interested in diplomacy.”

 

Continuing with criticisms that ran rampant last week, Ros-Lehtinen also said that Ford’s participation in a Syrian government led tour of Jisr al-Shughour last week, “compromised U.S. credibility with freedom and pro-democracy advocates within Syria at a critical time.” 

 

The US’s militarized track record in Muslim countries has left many skeptical with regard to its intentions for Syria – regardless of all official claims that US politicians are accountable to a public that has now lost its appetite for anything other than ‘engagement’ in US domestic affairs. Over the last week, rumors emerged of US plans for expanded military engagement in Libya and a military intervention in Syria. The rumors, though dismissed by senior US officials, are nevertheless grounded in real developments. 

 

With regard to the Syria case, the USS Bataan, which carries vertical takeoff planes, helicopters, tanks and artillery and is capable of landing over 2,000 marines, anchored off the coast of Italy in May and later left for an undisclosed location along the Syrian coast. DEBKAfile, an independent site for news, published statements by unnamed US military sources, claiming that the Bataan had assumed its new position in order to engage in a possible US-Turkish mission to thwart violence against Syrian protestors, as well as to prepare for any related response from Hezbollah and Iran. Both Iran and Syria have made numerous statements attempting to deter any US intervention in Syria, a move that some feel, substantiates allegations of possible future US military engagement. There is, however, no official evidence in the public domain of such US intentions. 

 

On Friday June 24, the EU officially imposed further sanctions against Syria and those deemed to be assisting the Syrian government in the crackdown against those participating in unrest across the country. The official list of those sanctioned was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Friday and included three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard: Hossein Taeb, the Guard’s deputy commander, Brigadier Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari and Major-General Qasem Soleimani. Also sanctioned were four Syrian officials, a Syrian firm dealing in property, two Syrian enterprises accused of funding the government and an investment fund. A total of 11 new individuals and entities were placed under sanctions. For further details, see here. 

 

In an interview with the EUobserver on June 22, former CIA officer Robert Baer, now an analyst of regional security matters, accused the UK of including Iranian officials on the list of those sanctioned in order to bring about its further isolation and deter it from moving forward with its nuclear program.

 

Baer maintains a view shared by many others, seeing the scope of Iranian involvement in Syria’s management of the unrest as small at most. As Baer asserted, “If Iran is involved in Syria, it’s at a minor level like blocking the internet. At the end of the day, it’s Syrian tanks, Syrian artillery which is slaughtering people … I just see a general desire to frame Iran because of the nuclear issue. This kind of thing makes it easier to impose more economic sanctions [on Iran] down the line.” 

 

Baer also accused Turkey of permitting the channeling of weapons into Syria, in a bid to weaken the current government and strengthen its own standing in the region. As Baer put it, “I’m still talking to my Syrian contacts and they are quite convinced that weapons are coming in [to the opposition] not just from the Sunnis in Lebanon and through Iraq but also from Turkey.” 

 

He continued, “When you talk to Syrian diplomats, they are relaxed. Life in Damascus is pretty normal. We [the EU] don’t really know what our objectives are, but if it’s regime change, it will take more than sanctions.”

 

On the issue of extremists in the country, Baer asserted that “We have reports that Wahhabists, who are not necessarily controlled by any state, are coming into Syria from Iraq and from Saudi Arabia to create chaos. Inside Syria, there are snipers shooting at demonstrators who are not controlled by Al-Assad but by the deep state, and other snipers who are shooting at both demonstrators and police. The EU has reacted like [former US president] Bush did in 2001 and 2003, in black and white terms, but life is more grey.” 

 

On Thursday June 23, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu Syrian Foreign Minister Wallid Moallem met to discuss military movements in the Syria-Turkish border regions as well as Syrian refugees in Turkey. According to Prime Minister Moallem, the movement of Syrian forces in the area sought to “catch the terrorists” and carry out “military exercises.” 

 

Tensions between Turkey and Syria are unmistakably worsening. Further reportage from Sunday indicates that Nidal Kabalan, the Syrian Ambassador to Turkey, expressed frustration with Ankara over individuals in the refugee camps in Turkey who Syrian authorities claim to be members of armed gangs and terrorist groups. 

 

In a statement in a Turkish newspaper, Kabalan indicated that Damascus wants such individuals sent back to Syria. However, Turkey denies that any of the individuals seeking refuge in the camps are criminals. According to Damascus, the alleged terrorists are channeling weapons across the border into Syria, an accusation Damascus states is supported by videos, photographs and testimonies. However, neither Turkey nor much of the broader international community accept the validity of such assertions or the evidence Damascus has furnished in their support. 

 

The issue is a sensitive one, as tension between Syria and Turkey in the time Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, revolved primarily around Damascus’s refusal to turn over then PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was living in Damascus. As Kabalan stated, “We have an anti-terrorism agreement that has been signed between Syria and Turkey. This agreement provides the transfer of terrorists and armed people from one country to another. We have handed dozens of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK terrorists in recent months and years as part of agreement. So if there are any members of armed members of the Muslim Brotherhood or any other terrorist organizations, we expect our Turkish friends to hand them to us.”

 

Ambassador Kabalan also expressed disappointment that a Syrian parliamentary delegation seeking to visit the refugee camps on Saturday to “deliver a message of solidarity,” were permitted entrance to Turkey but were not allowed to visit the camps – or get anywhere near them. In Kabalan’s own words, a “Kuwaiti delegation is allowed, Angelina Jolie is allowed to the camps. But Syrian MPs are not allowed. It was important because the MPs were with some local religious figures. They did not want to create tension. It’s double standard.” According to Kabalan, the delegation was refused access out of Turkish fears that it would raise “tension.” 

 

In the meantime, a number of reports have emerged, indicating the Turkish military’s intent to develop a buffer zone in Syria’s northern region, in an effort to curb massive refugee flows into the country, should the Syrian government collapse and/or sectarian strife take hold. Of related concern, is Turkey’s own struggle with its Kurdish population and ongoing fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Syria’s Kurdish population, thus far, has not taken to the streets en masse to participate in the anti-government protests. However, if the Syrian military and security forces employed harsh violence in the country’s Kurdish areas, that could trigger a massive outflow of Syrian Kurds into Turkey. There are also concerns that PKK members would seek safe haven in a suddenly destabilized Syria. Turkish concerns about Kurdish nationalism and related violence are key components of Turkey’s relationship with Syria – this has been the case since the 1980s. For more on Turkish relations with Syria, see here. 

 

On Thursday June 24, an estimated one thousand Syrian refugees reportedly fled into Lebanon, a number of whom were suffering from gunshot wounds. According to reporting sources, those who were taken to a Lebanese hospital with gunshot wounds, were soldiers who were shot upon after refusing to obey orders to shoot Syrian civilians. Most of the one thousand refugees took refuge in the northern Lebanese town of Wadi Khaled which is approximately 5 km from the Lebanon-Syria border.

 

On Tuesday June 28, Russian envoy to Africa, Mikhail Margelov, urged the Syrian government to bring and end to “all forms of violence”. In a statement to reporters in Moscow, Margelov said: “We want to see an end to all forms of violence. For us, the important thing is political dialogue.”

 

Margelov’s statement came following his meeting with a delegation of human rights activists from Syria. The meeting was held in Moscow after Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin indicated that the Syrian government must be encouraged to bring an end to its crackdown against protestors.

 

In a statement on June 21, Putin asserted that his country had no “special interests” in Syria. He went on to state that, “Certainly, it is necessary to pressure leadership of any country, where mass unrest and, all the more, bloodshed take place. It is necessary to demand from any country’s leadership to use those measures that would not lead to human deaths, and, vice versa, to demand the use of political instruments during solution of domestic issues.”

 

On Wednesday June 22, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his request for Syria to permit UN humanitarian and fact-finding missions to carry out their work in Syria. 

 

The following day at a press conference in New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Syria, would be “very helpful”. Speaking about President Assad, Ki-Moon stated that “He has to respect the will and aspirations of his own people. He has to really take firm measures” to meet the demands for reform of Syria’s protestors. At present, the UN remains unable to secure such a resolution as China and Russia continue to head opposition against it. South Africa, India and Brazil have also stood in opposition to such a move.

 

The US is working to curtail UNSC opposition to the draft resolution on Syria first put forth by France, Germany, Britain and Portugal, by including relevant text in a proposal to renew the mandate of the UN’s peacekeeping operation in the Golan Heights. Specifically, the US wants to include text that expresses “concern over reported human rights abuses in Syria” and refers to a report by Ki-moon that indicates that “anti-government demonstrations have spread” to Syria’s border with Israel. On May 15 and June 5, Israeli’s forces used lethal force against demonstrators marking the anniversary of the 1967 Middle East War.

 

In July, Syrian state-owned oil company Sytrol intends to cut its daily Souedie crude exports from its Tartous port by 37 percent. The company will ship two shipments of 35,000 tons and four shipments of 80,000 metric tons in July, totaling 87,058 barrels a day – compared to 137,247 barrels a day in June.

 

On June 27, the German company Siemens AG added 350 megawatts of generating capacity to a power plant in Syria. No further details about the work were released.