Costs and benefits of the Syria truce

TEHRAN, Nov. 4 (MNA) -- The Syrian government and the rebels agreed to hold a ceasefire on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (October 26), in line with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent initiative. The proposal was also welcomed by Turkey and other major regional countries, and United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi mediated the ceasefire during his recent trip to the region. Turkey’s endorsement of the plan played a major role in the implementation of the truce in Syria. Turkey has a considerable degree of influence on the Syrian opposition, and the main Arab supporters of the Syrian rebels, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have used Turkish territory to provide funds and weapons to the Syrian rebels. From the very beginning of the crisis in Syria, Ankara was harshly criticized for providing blatant support to the rebels, and as the situation deteriorated, Turkey’s policy toward Syria proved to be a complete failure. In fact, the Turks thought the government of President Bashar al-Assad would rapidly collapse and Syria would become their backyard. However, the crisis in Syria has created new problems for Turkey, especially the rising security threats emanating from its Kurdish regions. And the Syria disintegration policy adopted by Qatar and Saudi Arabia could have a devastating effect on Turkey since the country’s demography is similar to Syria’s. Although the Turkey-based Free Syrian Army (FSA) respected the ceasefire, other rebel groups continued their terrorist operations. This proved that some Arab states have no interest in seeing peace and stability established in Syria. These states are supporting Salafists and other extremists active in the region in order to counter the sweeping effects of the Islamic Awakening movement, which has threatened their hold on power. They are also backed by Israel, which has done its utmost over the past 19 months to topple the Syrian government and undermine the resistance front. The bombings and acts of sabotage carried out by terrorist groups over the past few days should not be regarded as violations of the truce. The terrorists have no unified leadership like the FSA and they are not recognized as being a party to any potential deal between the Syrian government and the opposition. The failure of the truce would only benefit the Israelis and the enemies of the Syrian nation, and Syrian government forces are expected to restrain themselves and to make a measured response to these attacks. Hossein Sheikholeslam formerly served as Iran’s ambassador to Syria. He is currently the parliament speaker’s advisor on international issues. (By Hossein Sheikholeslam )