(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - We talk with Ahmad Moussalli, political analyst from Beirut who affirms that the Syrian government has promised reform and that reform has not eventuated on the ground yet as the government is pre-occupied with defending itself against foreign plots and armed extremist groups. Following is a transcript of that interview.
Q: “International media are not permitted inside Syria and so reports that come out are from the Syrian government and so reality on the ground to the international community is murky.” These were comments from our London guest and we could look at the past decade at the problems inside Syria -- What is your perspective on this?
Ahmad Moussalli: I don't think one can look at Syria from only an internal perspective. Syria is different. If you compare Syria and Egypt as an example, the main players in Egypt were internal. What we see in Syria, yes there are internal players also, but we see radical wings mostly supported by outsiders whether it's from Jordan, Lebanon or Turkey.
Syria is different in the sense that what is demanded is not only the reform of the regime or a lot of the popular demands, which I think are correct and need to be addressed in terms of freedoms and so forth, but at the same time we have other groups that are radical -- they are Salafists; they are intent on turning the situation upside down in Syria and this is where the external factor comes in.
Again, if you look at it from a global perspective or geopolitically you find for instance China and Russia and others are against condemning Syria in the UN -- this we didn't see when it came to Libya for example. Consequently the role Syria plays in the Middle East is very important and I think one is not looking at the internal dynamics of the regime, which should be improved in terms of dealing with the people, but also you have the issue of the Arab-Israeli conflict; the issue of resistance; the issue of relations with Iran and so on.
One should not disregard the demands of the people, but at the same time, one should also take into consideration the geopolitics that Syria has fallen into and try to make some amends.
At this point in time, because of radical elements of the movement I think priority has taken a military edge over a political edge. As your report said, there have been promises made by Syria, but we have yet to see reform on the ground.
Q: Let's look at the situation with Turkey as its unfolding. If Kurds begin to cross in large number into Turkey, Turkey may decide to create a safe haven in north eastern Syria, which may then become Syria's Benghazi in a way that it might organize attacks on Damascus. Do you see that as a plausible scenario?
Ahmad Moussalli: I don't see things that way. We should definitely not discount the role of turkey, but Turkey would do that to itself let alone Syria i.e. create a Kurdish movement or otherwise that would attack the Syria regime -- they may have more separatist demands on Turkey as well.
Consequently, I think the move by Prime Minister Erdogan in the last couple of months has been concentrated on internal political dynamics, elections and so forth. I think in the near future we will see Turkey revert to its previous role that its role in the Arab world is going to go through Syria given Syria's important role; the Arab Israeli conflict, Lebanon and many other places.
If you heard earlier today of Erdogan's victory speech he mentioned specifically the Arab east as a place where he tried to compare it to cities in Turkey. So for the time being he has played the Kurdish card as well as the Arab card and the Sunni card and the Muslim Brotherhood card. But the elections are over...
Q: Who is Turkey being loyal to in its action when it comes to Syria? Is it being loyal to the region and to its neighbors, or is it being loyal to the future aspirations it may have regarding membership in the EU?
Ahmad Moussalli: It is very clear. Turkey has made a very important switch to look at the east rather than the west. It does not want to cut its relationship with Europe. But Turkey will never be a European country in the full sense of the word.
Turkey has a chance to become, and is actually, central to the issues in the Middle East. In the coming future, from my perspective, I think you will see that Turkey, Iran and Egypt plus Syria will be playing a major role in the area, versus the US, Saudi Arabia, Morocco etc.
Q: Concerning Saudi Arabia would you tell us about the Saudi allied Lebanon's future movement who has also been accused of smuggling arms across the border to gunmen in Syria. The Saudi footprint is all over the Middle East and Syria is no an exception, is it?
Ahmad Moussalli: Yes. As you know, the Saudis support Salafi groups and the Salafists are present in the north of Lebanon and that goes into the areas that we have been talking about in Syria. The Salafis look at Syria as an enemy; as a secularist; as a Satan. And the support they've got is important.
If we look at the Jordan border, this area is full of radical Salafis, the same in parts of north Lebanon. In that sense, Saudi Arabia at this point wants the regime in Syria to collapse. The Saudis can no more influence Syria against the Lebanese. Saudi Arabia has a different geopolitics in the area where they don't see Israel anymore as an enemy; it looks into Iran and other areas, so their priorities are very different from our priorities.
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