Azerbaijan, Baku, September 26 / Trend , U.Sadikhova /
The rapprochement of Syria and Turkey can help Lebanon and its Saudi allies facilitate the formation of the Lebanese government, said Muhammad Nureddin, head of the Beirut Center for Strategic Studies.
On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made an unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia, where he attended the event in honor of the 79th anniversary of the independence of the Kingdom.
The visit is an important step for the rapprochement of Riyadh and Damascus, since both countries have serious differences on regional policy, particularly around the situation in Lebanon.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that during his visit, al-Assad met with the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Fouad Siniora, who is represented in the anti-Syrian coalition.
Al-Assad's visit, which was made immediately after the negotiations of the Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Jeddah with Saudi King Abdullah II, is seen in Lebanon as an attempt to help the Sunni majority coalition form a government in Lebanon, Nureddin, a professor at the Lebanese University, told Trend by telephone from Beirut.
According to him, al-Assad's visit was mediated by Turkey, with which Syria has been moving closer in recent months. Considering Ankara's cooperation with pro-Saudi and Sunni bloc of Lebanon, the rapprochement of Turkey and Syria helps the majority coalition facilitate the process of forming the government, said Nureddin.
"Turkey's advantage is that all political structures of Lebanon trusts in it, said Nureddin. - Unlike Saudi Arabia, it [Turkey] does not pursue personal interests and has no direct impact on the political situation, as Syria has."
If Turkey can bring together Saudi Arabia and Syria, it would be a good chance for Lebanon to form a stable government.
Historically, Damascus supports Hezbollah Party, which is the core of the opposition in Lebanon.
After the June elections, which were won by pro-Western March 14 bloc, country's president ordered to form the cabinet of leader of the Sunni coalition Al-Mustaqbal, Saad al-Hariri, who uses the support of Riyadh.
On Friday, al-Hariri started next round of consultations on forming a new government. Earlier, the March 8 opposition bloc, which in addition to Hezbollah includes the Amal Party of the Speaker of Parliament and former President Michel Aoun, boycotted the Cabinet of Ministers of al-Hariri.
Nureddin believes that al-Assad's visit is a signal for Saudi Arabia that Syria, with the support and advice of Turkey, is ready to facilitate the process of forming the Lebanese government.
The fact that al-Assad visited Jeddah after Saudi King's refusal to come to Damascus testifies that Syria's position on the current political process in Lebanon is becoming more moderate, said Lebanese professor.
Last week, Syria and Turkey signed an agreement on strategic partnership at the level of Prime Ministers, under which both countries will expand cooperation on the situation in the Middle East.
According to Nureddin, the rapprochement with Turkey will firstly help Syria improve its diplomatic weight in the Middle East, but this does not mean that the Syrian regime comes closer to the Sunni and pro-Western bloc in the Arab world.
In addition to differences on the political instability in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia accuses Syria of undermining the process of reconciliation of the Palestinian factions, considering that one of the leaders of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas resides in Damascus, and also criticizes the union of Damascus with Iran, which does not support good relations with most countries in the Arab world.