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Experts: Ankara can resolve Syrian crisis

Politics Materials 20 June 2011 18:49 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 20 / Trend A. Tagiyeva /

The Syrian crisis, which has not been resolved up to now, can be settled by the direct intervention of Ankara in this issue, experts said.

Turkish authorities, preferring to remain silent from the beginning of the demonstrations in Syria, have recently publicly express their position. They are directly involved in solving this problem, the Arab political analyst on Middle East policy Hosni Mahalli said.

"The congress of the Syrian opposition, held in the Turkish city of Antalya, explained Turkey's position in this issue," he told Trend over phone from Istanbul. "It has made Turkey one of the parties in the Syrian crisis."

The opposition activists, standing for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, held a joint meeting in Antalya on June 1. Over 300 activists attended the Congress.

The expert on Middle East policy Hilmi Ozev said that Turkey has more chances to solve the Syrian crisis than other countries in the region.

The meeting of the Syrian opposition members was held amid the reports of political amnesty announced by the Syrian President on May 31. The participants of the meeting stated about the insufficiency of the measure, which applies only to those arrested during the riots in Syria, which began in mid-March.

"Taking into account Erdogan's growing prestige among the Arab population, especially after the elections, Ankara is able to solve this problem," he told Trend over phone from Istanbul.

He said that the events in Syria coincided with other important changes in the Arab countries. So, the leading countries of the Arab world will be forced to entrust the role of a mediator to resolve the crisis in Syria on Ankara.

Mahalli thinks that Erdogan, periodically having the telephone conversations with the Syrian authorities, President Bashar al-Assad, will take more decisive actions if these negotiations fail.

"Turkey must immediately intervene in this crisis to prevent aggravating the events in Syria," Mahalli said.

Ozev said that Turkey must prevent Western intervention in the Syrian issue, otherwise the situation in the country can go nowhere.

"If the West intervenes in this issue, the Libyan scenario will repeat again," he said. "However, if Turkey agrees with this step, it will also damage the credibility of Ankara in the region."

Ozev thinks that if Western countries deal with resolving the situation in Syria, religious conflicts may occur in the country.

"Syria is a sensitive country from the religious point of view," he said. "The intervention of the West may lead to the religious conflict."

More than 8,500 refugees from Syria arrived in Turkey and placed in the tent camps in the border province of Turkish province of Hatay.

The riots in Syria began in the southern city of Dera'a in mid-March. Then they spread to other regions. Syrian human rights activists report that more than 1,100 people were killed in clashes with security forces. According to official data, more than 250 military and security forces were killed when the events of the actions of "armed terrorist elements" began. The Syrian authorities have blamed these terrorist elements for the violence in the country.

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