This is tremendous news, hopefully ushering in a more peaceful Middle East. I have dreamt for the last decades that it would be wonderful to strengthen our relations with our neighboring countries but especially with Syria. Until very recently our economic, political and social relations with the country were almost the lowest of the low and until 1998, former President Hafez al-Assad had harbored terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan. That year Turkey threatened Syria with war, and Assad had to send Öcalan abroad. Without proper relations, it had been very easy for him to host Öcalan and use him unscrupulously against Turkey. Today, both countries have several opportunities and prospects in improving their relations. It is sad that the Syrians had to learn the hard way, but today they have very few real friends in the region and Turkey is one of them.
When Bashar al-Assad was elected president in 2000, the Syrian establishment was acrimoniously aware that they had no option other than opening up the country a little bit and the election of a leader was an opportunity not to be missed. On taking office, Assad started a period of openness and cautious reform, similar to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. But again similar to Erdoğan, he has faced harsh resistance from the establishment -- the army, the Baath Party and the Alevi minority that perceived him a threat to their influence. But they know that they have to democratize the country and improve relations with Turkey.
On the other side of the fence, domestic developments in Turkey, such as the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) rise to power, democratization and the increasing reflection of the voice of the people in politics and even foreign affairs have made it possible to engage more proactively with our neighbors. The propaganda and psychological war machines with ideological connections to the Orientalist power centers in the West had always belittled Arabs as inferior and prevented Turkey from entering into healthy and normal relations with Middle Eastern countries, with the exception of Israel. Today, even our white Turk oligarchy's newspapers, such as Hürriyet, pay their respect to first ladies such as Asma al-Assad and Queen Rania in their headlines. The reason is simply the fact that both ladies do not wear headscarves, but it is still better than nothing as our Jacobinist and positivist Westernized elite had abhorred the Arabs, let alone respecting them. So, there is progress even on the part of our oligarchy.
Once the political and socio-psychological barriers have been removed from the scene, the Turkish and Syrian societies will meet and intermix like two unnaturally separated seas that have innumerable common social and cultural values. In this supra-national age, there is no need to deal with bothersome and annoying minute details such as political unity. As long as the borders are open, nationals of both countries will be able to freely cross the border without any visa requirements, and this will have vital implications for social, economic and political relations. Politicians, politician-generals, oligarchic elites and external power centers will not be able to instigate both sides. This will especially help Syria to improve its poor human rights record, to have a smooth transition to democracy and to develop its country and people. It is predictable that not all countries in the region will be happy, but these developments will only bring about a more peaceful Middle East.
