BY FIKRET BILA
MILLIYET- Relations between Ankara and Damascus, which have already been improving in recent years, were lifted to a new level yesterday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s visit to Ankara. Of course our President Ahmet Necdet Sezer contributed greatly to this development. Sezer attended the funeral of Hafez al-Assad, the longtime Syrian leader and Bashar’s father, and his stance on Syria based on good will laid the groundwork for this visit. Yesterday Assad referred to Sezer’s stance and stressed that he was impressed by it.
Relations between our countries have recovered quite rapidly from being the verge of war only a few years ago, and this should be taken into consideration not only in terms of Turkey and Syria, but also the Middle East in general. This should be considered a step towards establishing peace and stability in the Mideast.
President Assad is adopting new reforms and also pursuing a policy of rapprochement with Turkey. Instead of sticking to old policies, he’s working to keep pace with changing world events, and Ankara is pleased with this stance. Ankara-Damascus relations seem to be directed towards both economic and political development. The Turkish-Syrian rapprochement might help to improve Syrian-Israeli relations as well. In fact, certain comments about Turkey’s being a mediator between the two are a sign of this.
This rapprochement shouldn’t be considered a development which will spoil Turkish-US or Turkish-Israeli relations. On the contrary, Ankara might be able to fill a role of go-between and contribute to the atmosphere of peace and stability. The Ankara-Damascus rapprochement might not only relieve and strengthen Syria, but also prepare a basis for functioning as a bridge to make it easier for Israel to establish relations. Likewise, it will have an influence in strengthening our two capitals in terms of directing developments in the region. Developing ties based on confidence and cooperation would be beneficial for both our countries as well as the region in general.