BY MURAT YETKIN
RADIKAL- Bashar al-Assad is the first Syrian president ever to visit Turkey. Yesterday, as the snow fell in Ankara, Assad and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer conveyed mutual messages of friendship. One of the three bilateral agreements signed by the presidents yesterday dealt with preventing double taxation, a move interpreted by the Foreign Ministry as an indirect sign that Damascus finally recognizes Hatay as a province belonging to Turkey. The border region was annexed by Turkey in 1939 after its citizens voted for this, but Damascus refused to accept this democratic outcome. However, under the new agreement, the Damascus administration will recognize investments made in Hatay as taking place in Turkish territory.
Ankara’s warm welcome for Assad seems to have made us forget the past crises between our countries. However, most journalists still remember then President Suleyman Demirel’s visit to Damascus over a decade ago. Demirel told Bashar’s late father Hafez al-Assad that PKK head Abdullah Ocalan, the instigator of bloody terrorist attacks against Turkey, was taking shelter in Syria. He demanded that Assad immediately arrest Ocalan and deliver him to Ankara. When Assad replied that he knew nothing about Ocalan’s being in Syria, Demirel gave him a copy of Ocalan’s Damascus address and phone number as obtained by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT). I can still recall how upset Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Sharaa was at the press conference later.
When the longtime leader Assad died in 2000, Turkey’s new President Ahmet Necdet Sezer attended his funeral. While Syria and other Arab countries were happy with Sezer’s move, the US and Israel made clear their displeasure with Ankara.
Yesterday’s optimistic atmosphere should be considered a real development. Not friendship and dialogue, but rather a lack of these is the threat to us. Assad’s visit has handed us two opportunities: First, at Washington’s urging, Ankara now has the chance to request that Damascus change its policy on weapons of mass destruction. In addition, Turkey can also ask Syria to stop aiding Palestinian terrorist groups. If Damascus agrees to these requests, Ankara will pledge to do its utmost to build stronger political ties in the region.
However, Assad doesn’t want to change Syria’s WMD policy as long as Israel itself still possesses them. Moreover, Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights is the main reason why the Syrian leader continues to assist the Palestinian groups. In the midst of the US occupation of Iraq, the political geography of the Middle East is changing. Though Assad seems to be aware of this, the question now is whether or not he’ll work to adapt his policies to these radical new conditions.
In brief, Assad’s visit to Ankara seems to mark an important opportunity for the future of the region.