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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Neo-Ottoman power: Erdogan positions Turkey as Israel's main Middle East challenge
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: As Turkey builds its power and influence, its opposition to – and agitation against – Israel is continuing unabated. It has been a good few weeks for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. All current indications suggest that the Turkish leader is making notable advances in his effort to place Turkey at the center of regional strategic affairs. As Erdogan's Turkey builds its power and influence, its opposition to and agitation against Israel is continuing unabated. Observe: this week, Erdogan hosted Ahmed al-Sharaa, the current interim president of Syria, at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. This was Sharaa's third visit to Turkey since he assumed power in Syria. The Syrian leader thanked Erdogan for what he called Ankara's 'critical support' in securing the lifting of international sanctions against his country. The US and European decisions to lift sanctions against Syria open the way for Sharaa to acquire critical funds for reconstruction in Syria, and potentially to consolidate his own rule. While US President Donald Trump acknowledged the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in securing this decision, Erdogan has been arguing consistently for the removal of economic restrictions against Syria in recent weeks, including, according to reports, in his conversations with the US President (with whom he enjoys 'great relations,' in Trump's own words.) The new Syrian leader is clearly keen to maintain good relations with Riyadh and avoid the impression that he and his organization owe their position in its entirety to the Sunni Islamist axis of Turkey and the Emirate of Qatar. At the same time, it would be difficult to exaggerate the centrality of Turkey in recent events in Syria. Crucially, it was the Turkish decision never to entirely abandon the Syrian Sunni Islamist insurgency that provided Sharaa with the territorial incubator in which he could maintain and grow the force that would eventually march to Damascus. In this regard, it is worth remembering that just a year ago, the regional and global consensus was that the Syrian civil war was over and Assad had won it. Erdogan's decision to stand outside this consensus has earned him the central role in determining the direction of Syria. Turkey appears set to develop a military infrastructure in Syria in cooperation with the new regime. This is likely to be framed as part of the ongoing struggle against ISIS. Such a framing is entirely disingenuous, given the former relations of de facto cooperation between Ankara and the Sunni jihadi organization, and the complex relations of ISIS with Sharaa and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Nevertheless, with Sharaa's new regime gaining in legitimacy, it may prove difficult to challenge these claims effectively. Sources I spoke with recently in Washington emphasized the determination of the Trump administration to wind down the American presence in Syria in the course of this year. The US presence formed an effective containment to the ambitions of both Iran and Turkey in Syria. Should it be removed, Erdogan and his allies are likely to be the main beneficiaries. ALONGSIDE DEVELOPMENTS in Syria, things appear to be moving in a positive direction for the Turkish leader on the crucial Kurdish front. According to a report in al-Monitor, the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) announced earlier this month that it had held a congress in its area of control in the mountains of northern Iraqi Kurdistan, in response to the movement's leader Abdullah Ocalan's call for the end of its 40-year insurgency against Turkey. On May 12, the movement announced its decision to disarm and disband. The details still remain to be settled, and the chance that this process may break down remains. But if it is carried through, as appears possible, the Turkish leader will be able justifiably to present it as a historic achievement. Meanwhile, on the home front, Erdogan has secured the incarceration of his most serious political rival, former Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The arrest of Imamoglu appears to be the latest milestone on Turkey's road to undisguised autocracy. Notably, and in a sign of the times, Erdogan's suppression of political opposition at home appears to have been met with indifference in the West. Erdogan also spoke this week with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Sharif thanked Erdogan for Turkey's support during its brief standoff with India after Islamist terrorists, who probably have links with Pakistan, murdered 26 people near Pahalgam, in Kashmir. This stance reflects Turkey's ability to combine strategic and pan-Islamic objectives, and translate these into influence both in the Middle East and beyond. It all appears to be going well for Erdogan: burgeoning relations with the US, central influence in Syria, the apparent eclipse of a major security challenge, the successful repression of internal opposition (met with international indifference), and the casting of influence beyond the region. Clearly, he is remaking Turkey as an Islamic and neo-Ottoman power. But what challenges and adversaries remain? In this regard, it should be noted that success is not serving to moderate Erdogan and his allies, in particular in their enthusiastic support for Hamas, and the near-hysterical tone of much of their opposition to Israel. A headline in the Yeni Safak newspaper this week caught the tone of the Erdogan government's rhetoric in this regard. Yeni Safak is a Turkish language publication known for its close relations to the government. Its headline on Tuesday, May 27, referred to what it claimed were Israeli attacks on children in Gaza. The headline read: 'There will be no peace for humanity until these vile murderers are destroyed.' The headline joins similar utterances by Erdogan in recent months, in which he has variously compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler, claimed that Israel was planning to invade Turkey, and called for Israel's destruction. Erdogan's commitment to Israel's destruction combines geo-political and Islamic ideological elements in the manner by now familiar. For the Turkish leader, Israel is a symbol of both Turkish and Muslim weakness. Its establishment in a former Ottoman territory is testimony both to imperial retreat, and to Islamic inability to prevent territory held by Muslims from falling back into the hands of its pre-Islamic custodians. At the same time, Israel represents a formidable real-world adversary to Turkey's advance, able to challenge it on the strategic level in the eastern Mediterranean, in Syria, and on the diplomatic front in Washington and other Western capitals. Erdogan also fears the possibility of Israel finding its way to Turkey's other enemies. Halil Karaveli, a Turkish analyst writing in The New York Times this week, noted that 'above all, Turkey fears a Kurdish alliance with Israel.' It's undeniable that the Turkish challenge is set to be central in the period ahead for all those elements, in the region and beyond it, who are opposed to political Islam and its advance. The strategic and diplomatic contest between Israel and Turkey looks set to be one of the central regional dynamics in the period now opening up.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Ambassador Barrack named special envoy to Syria amid sanctions relief plan
Tom Barrack, US Ambassador to Turkey and former advisor to President Donald Trump, announced on Friday that he would be filling the role of U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, highlighting recent sanctions relief. In a post on X, Barrack said he will be assuming the role to support Secretary of State Marco Rubio "in the realization of the President's vision" for the country. "President Trump has outlined his clear vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors," Barrack wrote in the post. Trump Asks Syria To Join Abraham Accords, Normalize Ties With Israel In Return For Sanctions Relief On May 13, the president committed to lifting the United States' sanctions against Syria to allow the new government to stabilize the country. U.S. sanctions were first administered on Damascus in 1979, when it was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. Read On The Fox News App Barrack said the cessation of sanctions against Syria will "preserve the integrity of our primary objective — the enduring defeat of ISIS," and give the people of Syria a chance to recover after the Bashar al-Assad regime was ousted by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham last year. Biden Admin Lifts $10M Bounty On The Head Of Leader Of Islamist Group Now In Charge In Syria Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, a U.S. and U.N.-designated terrorist organization, separated from al Qaeda in 2016. Nearly 1,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Syria to fight ISIS, and about 10,000 ISIS fighters are being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia, Fox News Digital previously reported. Us Diplomats In Damascus For First Time In More Than 10 Years Following Fall Of Assad Regime "In this way, we, together with regional partners including Türkiye and the Gulf, are enabling the Syrian government to restore peace, security, and the hope of prosperity," Barrack wrote. "In the words of the President, we will work together, and we will succeed together." Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips and Caitlin McFall contributed to this article source: US Ambassador Barrack named special envoy to Syria amid sanctions relief plan
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Debatable: Is removing sanctions on Syria a good idea?
US President Donald Trump made headlines in the Middle East last week as he announced plans to ease sanctions on Syria and move to normalize bilateral relations. The decision won the president rare praise from Democrats, who see it as a logical step after rebels toppled the regime of autocrat Bashar al-Assad last year. Syria's new president Ahmed al-Sharaa, who met with Trump last week, has promised to usher in a freer and more stable Syria. But some experts and lawmakers are suspicious of al-Sharaa given his past ties to Al Qaeda. The group that gained control of Syria last year, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, still bears a terrorist designation, and al-Sharaa himself has been subject to a $10 million US bounty. Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., says Trump made the right call: 'This is the right move, which will aid desperately needed humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Syria. While many in Washington treat sanctions as an end in themselves, we should remember that they're actually a means to an end — they are tools to try and change behavior. 'Sanctions were imposed on the Assad regime for his brutal repression. While we should proceed cautiously, Syria's new government seems to be governing in a better, much more equitable way, and that's worth rewarding and further incentivizing.' Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that the Trump administration is acting too soon: 'It's a gamble, for sure. I'm not convinced that al-Sharaa has truly broken from his jihadist past, and his cadres continue to terrorize Syrians who are not Sunni. My sense is that Trump wants to incentivize the Syrian leader, but I think he has gotten it backwards. 'Trump should lift sanctions in exchange for al-Sharaa perhaps protecting minorities, reaching out to Israel, and doing more to allay Kurdish concerns about the new political order.' The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial page criticized Trump over the move. The Trump administration plans to seek a 180-day waiver for Syria sanctions from Congress, with the goal of removing them completely over the longer term, per Bloomberg. Trump's sanctions announcement surprised officials working inside the Treasury Department, CBS News reported.
Scoop
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Rehabilitation And Confidence Tricks: al-Sharaa, Trump And Sanctions
Contrary to the propaganda of moral upstarts, terrorism pays. It proves rewarding. It establishes states and reconstitutes others. It encourages change, for ill or otherwise. The stance taken, righteously pitiful, on not negotiating with those who practise it, is as faulty as battling gravity. The case of Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is a brilliant example of this. While seen as a new broom that did away with the government of President Bashar al-Assad in such stunning fashion, al-Sharaa's bristles remain blood speckled. The scene says it all: a meeting lasting 37 minutes in Riyadh with a US President holding hands in communal machismo with a bearded Jihadi warrior who once had a $10 million bounty on his head. Present was the delighted Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joining by telephone. It proved most rewarding for al-Sharaa, who has become a salesman for the new Syria, scrubbing up for appearances. His main message: remove crushing sanctions barring access to investment and finance. It also proved rewarding for the efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in convincing the Trump administration that a new approach towards Damascus was warranted. 'The sanctions,' reflected Trump, 'were brutal and crippling and served as an important, really, an important function nevertheless at the time, but now it's their time to shine.' But lifting sanctions would offer Syria 'a chance at greatness'. This signalled a striking volte face from the stance taken in December 2024, when Trump expressed the view that Syria was 'a mess', not a friend of the United States and not deserving of any intervention from Washington. In remarks made by Trump to journalists keeping him company, the US President expressed admiration for the strongman, the brute, the resilient survivor. 'Tough guy, very strong past.' And what a past, one marked by links to al-Qaeda via the affiliate Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that were only severed in 2017. HTS's predecessor, Jabhat al-Nusra, was commanded by al-Sharaa, then known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. In January 2017, HTS was born as a collective of Salafi jihadists comprising Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki, Liwa al-Haq, Jaysh al-Sunna and Jabhat Ansar al-Din. Even at present, a shadow lingers over al-Sharaa's interim government. In March, over 100 people were butchered in the coastal city of Banias. These atrocities were directed against the Alawite minority and instigated by militias affiliated with the new regime, ostensibly as part of a response to attacks in Latakia and Tartous from armed groups affiliated with the deposed Assad regime. According to Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnès Callamard, 'the authorities failed to intervene to stop the killings. Once again, Syrian civilians have found themselves bearing the heaviest cost as parties to the conflict seek to settle scores.' The announcement by Trump on lifting US sanctions sent officials scurrying. While the plan to bring Syria out of the cold had been on the books for some months, the timing, as with all things with the US president, was fickle. Presidential waivers on sanctions do, after all, only go so far and the more technically minded will have to pour over the details of repeal. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a dose of clarification some 24 hours after the announcement. 'If we make enough progress, we'd like to see the law repealed, because you're going to struggle to find people to [invest] in a country when [at any point] in six months, sanctions could come back. We're not there yet. That's premature.' Progress is in the works, with Rubio meeting his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Asad Hassan al-Shaibani in Antalya on May 15. In comments from State Department spokesman, Tammy Bruce, the Secretary 'welcomed the Syrian government's calls for peace with Israel, efforts to end Iran's influence in Syria, commitment to ascertaining the fate of US citizens missing or killed in Syria, and elimination of all chemical weapons.' In answers to a press gathering, Rubio revealed how much of a success al-Sharaa has been in wooing Washington. 'We have governing authorities there now who have expressed, not openly and repeatedly, that they do – that this is a nationalistic movement designed to building their country in a pluralistic society in which all the different elements of Syrian society are able to live together.' There had also been an interest in normalising ties with Israel and 'driving out foreign fighters and terrorists and others that would destabilize the country and are enemies of this transitional authority.' While no mention is made of al-Sharaa's own colourful, bloodied past, the previous ruler, Assad, comes in for scathing mention. His rule was 'brutal', one characterised by gassing and murdering 'his own people'. It was Assad who sowed the seeds that would allow foreign fighters to take root in Syria's soil. How curious that HTS would have attracted those very same fighters. Things have come full circle. The Assad dynasts, who kept a watchful eye on fundamentalist Islamists, are gone. The Islamists, with their various backers, Turkey and Saudi Arabia being most prominent, are now nominally in charge. The rest is a confidence trick that might, given al-Sharaa's recent performance, just work.
Indian Express
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘A lot of people are starving in Gaza': Trump diverges from Israel, says also didn't consult it on Syria
US President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States must support Palestinians in Gaza, where 'a lot of people are starving,' and added that he expects 'a lot of good things' to happen in the coming month. 'We're looking at Gaza. And we're going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving,' the US president told reporters during the final leg of his Gulf tour. When asked about Israeli plans to expand military operations in Gaza, Trump said: 'I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we're going to see. We have to also help out the Palestinians. You know, a lot of people are starving in Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.' Trump made the comments while speaking to reporters as Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday killed at least 64 people, hospitals said. Earlier, Gaza's civil defence agency put the death toll at 50, but survivors had also said that many people were still under the rubble, as per news agency AP. At least 48 bodies were brought to the Indonesian hospital and another 16 bodies were taken to Nasser hospital, health officials said, as strikes overnight into Friday morning hit the outskirts of Deir al-Balah and the city of Khan Younis. Separately, Trump acknowledged he did not consult Israel before deciding to recognise Syria's new government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a move that has raised eyebrows among allies. 'I didn't ask them about that. I thought it was the right thing to do. I've been given a lot of credit for doing it. Look, we want Syria to succeed,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing Abu Dhabi, Reuters reported. Earlier in the week, Trump said he would lift US sanctions on Syria—a dramatic policy shift—as he prepares to meet President Sharaa. Trump on Wednesday also met Sharaa, former leader of a rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was an offshoot of al-Qaeda and designated as a terrorist organisation by the American government. The meeting was held in Riyadh at the request of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a day after President Trump lifted sanctions against Syria, which the US began imposing in 1979. After the meeting, Trump said that al-Sharaa has a 'real shot at doing a good job' with war-torn Syria. He also called the former designated terrorist a 'young, attractive, tough guy' with a 'very strong' past.
