Assad at the Arab League summit: the thaw with the Arab world – VP News – ‘forbidden to speak’

2023-05-20 01:09:59

She Arab League summit was held yesterday in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), in which Bashar al-Assad participated for the first time in more than ten years. Assad has indicated the development challenge as a top priority for Arab societies, saying that the role of the Arab League should be a natural platform to discuss various issues and address them. that is, that it “is a starting point for Arab action and solidarity among Arab states to achieve peace, prosperity and development in the region instead of war and destruction and that Arabs are faced with an historic opportunity to reorganize the their affairs away from any foreign intervention”.

The Syrian president said: “We must identify the great challenges that threaten our future and generate our crises so that we do not drown ourselves and future generations in facing the results”. The Syrian head of state also cited the crimes of the Zionist entity, rejected by the Arabs.
Then he added that joint Arab action must be strengthened by common visions, strategies and goals: “Joint Arab action needs common visions, strategies and goals which we then transform into executive plans. It needs a unified policy, firm principles and clear mechanisms and controls. When then, we move from reaction to anticipation of events, and the Arab League will be a way out instead of a siege, and a refuge from aggression instead of a platform,”
Assad also said that the Arab world must beware of Ottoman expansionism which uses the Muslim Brothers to wedge in the countries.

Assad last attended an Arab League meeting in 2014

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad made his last Arab League appearance at the 28th session of the Arab League Council, held in Doha on March 16, 2014. On that occasion, Assad urged League members to find a political solution to the Syrian civil war instead of supporting rebel groups, which he called ‘terrorists’, who were fighting against the Syrian state. At that time he accused Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia of funding and arming rebel groups, claiming that these countries were causing the deaths of thousands of civilians in Syria by their actions. Assad stressed the need for a comprehensive settlement and self-determination for the Syrian people, and emphasized the League’s role in providing a platform for constructive discussions among members. That appearance at the meeting was the first since 2011, when the civil war in Syria began, and the last to date. It is interesting to recall that the Arab League granted the seat of Syria to the so-called ‘Syrian opposition’.

The only Qatari opposed to readmission, reluctantly agrees

Qatar’s representative Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani left the summit before Assad began his speech. The BBC reports that “Qatar’s foreign minister told a press conference in Doha that he only abandoned his opposition because he didn’t want to ‘deviate from the Arab consensus’. “The United States meanwhile said it “does not believe Syria deserves readmission”. “Our position is clear: we will not normalize relations with the Assad regime, and we certainly do not advocate that others do so either,” state department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters. Obviously, the US position is outright interference and unfortunately lacking in arguments money. On the contrary, the US should stop punishing the Syrian state and the generous Syrian people, guilty only of not being subservient and not bowing down to Washington’s dictates.

Turkey rapprochement, Erdogan wants to meet Assad

Tensions between Türkiye and Syria are easing. Turkish President Erdogan has requested to meet President Assad to discuss issues related to relations between the two countries. This initiative is viewed positively by Russian President Putin who has long actively wished it would happen. The negotiations, which will be preceded by consultations between the respective ministries of foreign affairs and the security services, are expected to take place in a three-presidency meeting.

Although Turkey has for years adopted a stance of non-recognition of Assad, the stance has recently become more ambivalent as recognition of the Syrian president seems inevitable. In this regard, the Turkish intelligence services in Syria and Iran have often negotiated with the Syrian ones through unofficial channels. In addition, Russia has repeatedly suggested that Turkey restore the “Adan Pact” as a basis for normalizing relations between Syria and Turkey.

The internal demand for normalization of relations with Syria, which would allow for the reintroduction of millions of Syrian refugees, has grown steadily in Turkey. And President Erdogan sees this normalization of relations as an opportunity to put his agenda before that of the opposition. Although initially the meeting between Erdogan and Assad was expected after the elections in Turkey, now there is talk of a meeting aimed at discussing bilateral relations much earlier, perhaps in Sochi with the mediation of Russia and the presence of President Putin.

For Russia, an agreement between Assad and Erdogan would represent a resounding diplomatic victory and consolidate its position in the Middle East. However, the meeting still has many pitfalls: Turkish and Syrian internal factors and the opposition of other important players.

Zelensky made one appearance in the Arab League

Zelenskyy arrived in Jeddah after being invited by Saudi Arabia to the bloc meeting. According to an Arab League official, the Ukrainian president was invited by Saudi Arabia and not by the League itself.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy accused some Arab leaders Of ‘ignoring the horrors of the Russian invasion of his country’ during a speech Friday at the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia. It is extraordinary how an entire world only repeats the declination in the vastness of the possibilities of describing an event and when for all intents and purposes there is a cause, in this case, never seriously addressed, not even after the convictions.

And AFP: “Unfortunately, there are some in the world and here, among you, who turn a blind eye to those illegal cages and annexations,” Zelensky told the summit participants, urging them to “take an honest look” at the war.
Zelenskyy highlighted how the war in Ukraine has affected Muslims on the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
“Crimea was the first to suffer under Russian occupation and until now most of those subjected to repression in occupied Crimea are Muslims,” he said.
Zelenskyy also thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for supporting Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” and called for unity “in rescuing people from Russian prison cages”.

Crown Prince Mohammed he reaffirmed his support for a peace process between Russia and Ukraine” and “stated that it is hoped that Syria’s return to the Arab League will bring greater stability to the country torn apart by civil war and allow Syria to resume its “normal role” in the Arab world”.

Arab countries adhere to the principle of “positive neutrality” in relation to the Ukrainian crisis and seek to maintain relations with both Moscow and Kiev, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said.