He even went further to declare that he would embrace Syrian militants who leave the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and pardon them so as to allow them to integrate back into society.After expressing his support for the process, he said: "In my opinion, the initiative is not an end but a means. The main target is to ensure the country's stability and development. Whatever you do, you must keep the unity, indivisibility and territorial integrity of the country as your most important target. Political unity and geographical integrity are important issues. Of course, in addition to these, the timing of the initiative is very important. Since I do not know much about the internal affairs of Turkey, I cannot say anything about whether its timing is good or bad. But, in any case, we will eventually be affected by what goes on in Turkey. Therefore, we want this process to produce stability." Of course, these words also give the impression that Damascus has some serious concerns about the process as well.
If official discourse does not suffice and you hold some off-the-record meetings with Syrian officials, you will observe that these concerns are voiced on a more concrete basis and with added emphasis. While Mr. Assad said: "Of course, in addition to these, the timing of the initiative is very important. Since I do not know much about the internal affairs of Turkey, I cannot say anything about whether its timing is good or bad," these sentences were translated by these Syrian officials as "the timing of the initiative was bad and wrong." According to some high-ranking Syrian officials, Turkey should postpone its efforts to settle the Kurdish issue in a democratic framework until the demands of the PKK and the Kurds are considerably minimized.
Yes, but what are the grounds for these concerns, which are reflected in Syria's public and official discourse and which will possibly be discussed with Turkish officials during Mr. Assad's visit to İstanbul today? At this point, I must note that as Mr. Assad put it, whatever its results, Turkey's democratic initiative will affect Syria as it will affect other countries in the region. And, unable to predict where these effects may lead, Syria has serious concerns about them. The fact that there are 2 million Kurds living in the country with a total population of 17 million adds substance to these concerns. In the final analysis, if, in addition to the Kurds' obtaining de facto independence in northern Iraq, the Kurds in Turkey acquire extensive democratic rights as a result of the ongoing democratic initiative process, this may trigger similar demands within the Kurdish population in Syria. And it is clear that despite numerous initiatives undertaken by the young President Assad over the last seven years, the Damascus administration is still maimed by strict bureaucracy and is not ready for a democratic initiative. Hence Assad's emphasis on "timing" the democratic initiative process and Syrian officials' suggestion that the process should be "postponed until Kurdish demands are minimized."
Of course, we should not forget that Syria is an Arab state. As an Arab state, Syria is one of the countries hardest hit by tension between Kurds and Arabs, as seen primarily in Iraq. This being so, Syria may even be justified in its concerns about the Kurdish regional administration in northern Iraq. Meeting with Syrian authorities, one can easily understand that there are some aspects of these concerns that relate to Turkey.
The Syrian officials, who wish to remain anonymous, do not hide the fact that they do not like Turkey doing all its business with Iraq exclusively via northern Iraq. In private conversations, these officials even openly voice their dislike of Turkish businessmen investing big in northern Iraq and Turkey's preference for northern Iraq as its main route for trade with Iraq. Noting that Turkey using northern Iraq as its main channel for trade with Iraq has earned the Kurdish government in northern Iraq serious revenue, the Syrian officials claim that part of this income is being paid to the PKK. For this reason, they say, it is better suited to Turkey's interests to choose Syria as its venue for trade with southern parts of Iraq. Of course, it is not hard to predict that Turkey's business with northern Iraq will skyrocket if the democratization initiative is successful, so the Syrian administration may be calculating that the democratic initiative might not serve its interests.
