Arab League chief warns of civil war in Syria

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby warned on Tuesday rising violence in Syria could tip the strife-torn country into civil war, and expressed support for the peace plan of U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan.
Elaraby also said that an escalation in violence in Syria, where 14 months of bloodshed has claimed more than 9,000 lives, could spill to neighbouring countries.
“Escalating military action in Syria will end up leading to a civil war in Syria, which no one wants to see,” Elaraby told reporters at the League office in Beijing. “I don’t think the Syrians deserve something like that.”
His comments come after the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said fighting had been so intense in parts of Syria that at times the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has qualified as a localised civil war.
Elaraby said the prospect of more violence “gives impetus to support the Kofi Annan plan to make sure the fighting will stop”.
Annan’s six-point plan includes a ceasefire, deployment of observers and free access for journalists and humanitarian aid.
About 50 observers and civilian staff have been deployed in Syria, but violence has continued since an April 12 truce.
Elaraby also said he would not try to push China to exert more influence on Assad, but called on Beijing to continue supporting Annan’s plan.
“China is a country that no one can pressure,” said Elaraby. “The League of Arab States would not try to do that because it would be preaching to the converts.”
Elaraby met with China’s Vice President Xi Jinping, widely expected to be the country’s next president, and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Tuesday.
China and Russia have blocked moves in the United Nations to censure Assad, a position which met with outrage from Western and Arab nations. Beijing and Moscow have also welcomed the Syrian leader’s reform pledges.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led the Arab charge to isolate Syria, although other leading Arab states outside the Gulf such as Egypt, Algeria and Iraq have taken a more cautious approach.

“Some violence amounts to civil war”

Fighting has been so intense in parts of Syria that at times the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad has qualified as a localised civil war, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also said on Tuesday.
Jakob Kellenberger said that Homs earlier this year, and the northwestern province of Idlib more recently, have met the humanitarian agency’s three criteria for defining a non-international armed conflict – intensity, duration and the level of organisation of rebels fighting government forces.
“It can be a situation of internal armed conflict in certain areas: an example was the fighting in Baba Amr in Homs in February,” Kellenberger told Reuters, making clear that the criteria were not met in the entire country.
The ICRC’s lawyers and its aid workers in Syria have studied the question of civil war for much of the 14-month-old uprising, in which at least 9,000 people have been killed.
Only lately did they determine that Syrian rebels represent an organised opposition force. Kellenberger also noted that the nature of violence has shifted now to more “guerrilla attacks”.
In contrast, the ICRC was quick to describe last year’s conflict in Libya as a civil war, once rebels had set up a headquarters and a command and control structure.
The ICRC assessment means that international humanitarian law, embodied in the Geneva Conventions laying down the rules of war, is applicable to both sides in some parts of Syria.
It requires the humane treatment of all people in enemy hands and the duty to care for the wounded and sick. But it also means that the parties to the internal conflict are entitled to attack military targets, under international humanitarian law.

Aid

The ICRC has distributed supplies in Homs, Hama, Idlib, Deraa, Aleppo and rural Damascus in recent months. The United Nations has been largely shut out of conflict-related relief, but is trying to win Syrian approval for a major aid programme to help 1 million Syrians.
Kellenberger appealed for more funds for the ICRC operation in Syria, now its 8th-largest worldwide with a budget of nearly 38 million Swiss francs ($41 million)for this year, matching Yemen.
The agency has expanded its work, providing monthly food parcels for about 100,000 “particularly vulnerable” Syrians.
“The number of people who have very basic needs in terms of food and non-food items has increased very much. It is not only consequences of fighting, it partly has to do with isolation of country through sanctions,” Kellenberger told a news briefing.
The ICRC is trying to improve living conditions and restore public services including clean water for 1.5 million people.
“One of our biggest problems is to ensure wounded and sick have access to medical care without being afraid of being ill-treated. One of our biggest concerns is medical staff not being respected, be it the Syrian Arab Red Crescent or doctors doing surgery in private residences,” he said.

Prison visits to resume

Activists say at least 15,000 people have been arrested by security forces and many families have no idea where they are.
Kellenberger said that ICRC officials would visit detainees at Aleppo central prison from May 14-23, only their second prison visit in Syria, as agreed with authorities during his last trip there in early April.
The ICRC’s first visit was to Damascus central prison in September. But the programme quickly stalled amid disagreement over ICRC’s standard procedures, which include the right to interview prisoners in private and make follow-up visits.
“We will try and see how it works in Aleppo, we are fighting step-by-step to have access to detention centres. This will be a further step, I think an important step,” Kellenberger said. “If it works we will gradually get a better view.”
Kellenberger said he remained very worried about conditions in Syria, where U.N. observers are monitoring a shaky ceasefire between government forces and rebels declared on April 12.
“I really hope that the U.N. observers will deploy rapidly, not only in Damascus, rapidly in different places,” he said.
Referring to the six-point peace plan of mediator Kofi Annan, who was due to brief the U.N. Security Council later in the day from Geneva, he said: “I still hope it will not fail.”

Turkish PM Erdoğan calls for int’l move to end ‘Syria drama’

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, “It’s an international commitment to stop the humanitarian drama in Syria. UN Security Council, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation consider it a humanitarian problem.”
Erdogan and his Slovenian counterpart Janes Jansa appear at a press conference after their talks and committee meetings.
Erdogan stated that Turkey and Slovenia had common visions in the international arena particulary in the Balkans. He reminded that Turkey-Slovenia Strategic Partnership Document was signed in Ankara in 2011 and said that in line with the document they had cooperated while taking important decisions.
Erdogan stressed that Slovenia stood by Turkey during its EU membership process and that he was thankful for it. Erdogan said, “I would like to congratulate them for their successful membership process for NATO, EU and OECD.”
Erdogan asked both countries’ businessmen to invest and cooperate more. Turkish premier stated that both countries were heading towards common opinions on international and regional issues.
“We had a chance to discuss Syria issue and I believe that humanitarian problem of Syria is an international issue and we as UN Security Council, Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation have to solve this problem immediately. We have 23 thousand Syrians staying in Turkey at the moment and we are working hard to provide enough accommodation to all,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish prime minister last Sunday visited the ‘container city’ erected by the Turkish Red Crescent and talked to several Syrians. Erdogan said, “They (Syrians) all wish to return to their homes. Of course they miss their homes, what we provide them is nothing near their homes. We have told the Syrians that we were taking the situation internationally.”

Military intervention

Asked if a military intervention to Syria was among Turkey’s options, Erdogan said that Turkey did not have a problem with the people of Syria.
The Syrians are our brothers, sisters and friends. We have a border that is 910 kilometers long with Syria. We have kinship ties with Syria. There are close ties between those residing in Aleppo, and Hatay-Antakya. Everyone must know that we have a certain responsibility in the case of Syria, Erdogan noted.      
Turkey feels a kind of responsibility based on humanitarian laws and international laws when it comes to Syria, Erdogan stated.
We are against the Syrian regime. No one should expect us to be on the side of the tyrants. More than 10,000 people were killed in Syria. The number of injured is not certain. There are around 150,000 Syrians who have been displaced and have become refugees. 23,000 of them reside in Turkey. More than 100,000 reside in Jordan. A certain number of Syrians are living in Lebanon. Syrians are running away from tanks and artillery fire. I do not believe that the Syrian regime can continue for long. The national will of the Syrian people will soon win over the regime. No one can achieve victory against a people and nation. If you act with the nation, you can achieve victory. You are bound to lose if you act against the national will. This is what is going to happen in Syria, Erdogan indicated.

Hostage journalists

Reminded about two Turkish journalists Adem Ozkose and Hamit Coskun in Syria and their meeting with officials of the Humanitarian Aid Foundation on Sunday and asked about their possible return to Turkey, Erdogan said that he made some statements on the matter in Gaziantep on Sunday.
The issue of the two Turkish journalists in Syria is being closely followed by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Turkey’s initiatives on the matter continue in Syria and Iran. Our wish is to see the two journalists released as soon as possible. We will follow up on the matter closely, Erdogan underlined.

“We have always remained at the table but they ran away”

Reminded that a new political term began in France and how Turkey will continue its sanctions against France, Premier Erdogan said that the elections process in France was not over yet and that a parliamentary election would take place in France in June.     
Any statement we make before the parliamentary elections would be wrong, Erdogan stressed.

Turkey and France have never been enemies against each other and we do not want to see France as an enemy, Erdogan said.

We have always preferred to be silent against the negative stance of the Sarkozy administration and their attitude on the so-called Armenian genocide during our 9.5 years in rule. There are around 600,000 Turks living in France. They make up a bridge between Turkey and France. We have made efforts to protect such relations. I have had a chance to work with Mr. Chirac. During the Chirac administration, we always participated in the summit of leaders. Once Sarkozy came to power, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Sarkozy blocked our participation in the summit of leaders. On the Armenian issue, we have told Sarkozy that this was a matter for historians and not parliaments. We went further by saying that our state archives were ready for historians, lawyers, political scientists and archeologists. If Armenia and third countries have similar documents, they should also make available such documents to historians and scholars. Just as we are ready to face our history, so should Armenia. We also began an initiative with our foreign ministers in Switzerland. We have always remained at the table but they ran away. We do hope that, in this new term in France, they would not run away from the table. There is something we heard which I hope is not real. And, that has to do with an approach that Turkey can not become an EU member unless it solved the Armenian issue. I hope that such a statement was not actually made. If such a statement was made, we would have to review the whole process, Erdogan emphasized.

“Wrong behaviour against Turkey can be corrected”

Asked if France would have a different look at Turkey’s EU membership after Sunday’s presidential election, Erdogan said that they had better relations with social democrat parties in the EU.

The Christian Democrats should not be angry due to this fact, Erdogan stated.

The social democrats always support Turkey. I do hope that the EU’s wrong behaviour against Turkey, a country waiting to join the union for 50 years, could be corrected in this new term with Mr. Hollande, Erdogan noted.  

Turkey has always been in a positive approach to the EU. Everything that was not applied against other EU countries were applied on Turkey. These were rules not mentioned in the EU acquis. The rules of the game were changed during the game itself. You just can not change ruled during a game. The game has already begun and the rules should remain the same. I hope that during this new term France’s attitude on Turkey gets more positive. We expect this from France. Turkey can make contributions to the institutionalization of the EU, Erdogan also said.

Asked if a presidential system was on Turkey’s agenda, Premier Erdogan said that this issue could be debated during the process of writing the new Turkish constitution.   

Debates on such a system are part of a democracy. We have to debate if we wish a presidential or semi-presidential system. If the parliament decides on a certain system, we would have nothing to say. A sun of reality gets borne after the clash and debate of ideas, Erdogan said.

Turkish prime minister also underlined that they decided to arrange a football match between Turkish and Slovenian government members.

Source: World Bulletin/News Desk