Disillusionment Of The Syrian People

There has been a new phenomenon in Syria likely to fundamentally change the parameters of the Syrian crisis. It was in an embryonic stage two months ago (see my March 5 article in Today's Zaman). In certain local communities, moderate opposition groups had started to negotiate with the Syrian army to protect their community from the “takfiri jihadists” (jihadists accusing others of apostasy).

A new dimension is now being added to this: People are getting organized at the local community level and are cooperating with the government to have their daily needs met, even in areas controlled by the opposition. The motive for this move was another initiative: The agreement reached between the US and the Saudis was to get one step ahead and provide the “moderate” opposition with anti-tank guided missiles. This was an important step forward, but it did not go far enough to meet the insistent demand of the opposition for anti-aircraft weapons.

The Chicago-based Huffington Post updated an April 9 article ("American Anti-Tank Weapons Appear in Syrian Rebel Hands," by Charles Lister) to say: “[A] source, citing an eyewitness at a border crossing between Turkey's Hatay province and Syria's Idlib governorate claims he witnessed '7 vans' containing BGM-71 TOW ATGMs being delivered into Syria between 0200 and 0400 on 6 March 2014. This border crossing, the source says, was controlled by the Islamic Front … the weapons were delivered to Harekat Hazm." The source mentioned Saudi Arabia's name as "an agent," implying that the source of the missiles was another country.

There was no reliable confirmation of this news and it remains to be explained how the eyewitness knew that the vans contained BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, but since it is not a secret that an agreement was reached to send anti-tank missiles to Syria, we can assume that they would be delivered one way or the other to its ultimate destination.

In three videos published on YouTube between April 1 and 5, members of the “moderate” Syrian rebel group Harekat Hazm were shown operating these American-manufactured missiles. The background in the footage suggests that they may have been recorded in Idlib, near the Turkish border.

Two conclusions can be drawn from these pieces of information: First, anti-tank missiles are being supplied to the moderate segments of the Syrian opposition and, second, the suppliers declined to provide anti-aircraft missiles. These conclusions will impact the performance of the moderate opposition.

However, these pieces of information have a much wider impact on the ordinary people who do not align themselves with either the government or the opposition. They believe that this attitude of the international community will lead nowhere regarding the Syrian crisis because it pays little attention to the facts on the ground. The country is bleeding to the point of exhaustion; people are hungry, homeless and deprived of basic necessities. The West continues to persistently maintain its initial attitude that it will not start a process of democratization before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad steps aside, but it does not provide the opposition with means to achieve this. And Assad remains unmoved. He may run in the forthcoming elections, to be held in July of this year, and he may renew his mandate.

This difference between the reality on the ground and the perception of the West regarding Assad has pushed the Syrian people to take matters into their own hands rather than relying on what the international community will deem is appropriate to do in Syria.

As a result of this disillusionment, a need for reconciliation is emerging among the ordinary people. This growing awareness at the grassroots level may augur a new era in the Syrian crisis.

The merit of this initiative is that it came into being as a natural consequence of the circumstances that prevailed in the local communities. Therefore, the foundations may be assumed to be solid.

What is more important is that it did not go unnoticed by the government. These activities are being conducted in many areas in cooperation with government employees of the Ministry of Reconciliation.

The approach that “Assad must go before any initiative is taken” could lose ground if these embryonic initiatives take root.

YAŞAR YAKIŞ (Cihan/Today's Zaman)