Evrensel: The US opposes the return of Syria to the Arab League to hit RussiaQatar is the only Persian Gulf country following a pro-American policy that dictates not to let Syria into the Arab League, writes Evrensel.
Washington intends to continue isolating Damascus for a simple reason: it wants to deprive Moscow of this "trachea" of Moscow against the background of the conflict in Ukraine.
Damascus is returning to the League of Arab States (LAS), whose membership was suspended shortly after the start of the uprising in Syria in 2011. The Assad administration will take part in the Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, scheduled for May 19.
Qatar was the first among a number of countries that objected to the return of Damascus to the 22-member Arab League. Since the decision on Damascus had to be taken unanimously, the pressure on the members of the organization, namely Qatar, Morocco and Kuwait, gradually intensified. And as a result, the countries that opposed active initiatives from such states as Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Oman, gave the go-ahead.
In fact, we can say that Qatar objected to this most of all. As a basis for its position, Qatar says that the conditions of the time when Syria's membership in the Arab League was suspended remain to this day. However, some believe that relations with Turkey and mainly relations with the United States are behind Qatar's objection to a certain extent. In this regard, it is believed that Turkey does not want Syria to return to the Arab League and is trying to prevent this through Qatar. On the other hand, the US and the EU want the political and economic embargo against Damascus to continue. Especially considering that with the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, Syria has become a kind of trachea for Russia, one can understand why the US reaction to initiatives related to Damascus has become even tougher. Qatar stands out as the only Arab country that determines almost all of its policies in accordance with the United States. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which have been at the forefront of US allies in the region for the past few years, are obviously getting closer to Russia and China. In the context of such a development of events, which the United States does not like, Qatar remains Washington's only non-NATO ally.
Although the UAE opened the doors for Syria's return to the Arab League, and Algeria became the first country to begin active lobbying activities, Saudi Arabia was the architect of the process. The change in Riyadh's policy is based on the view that with the isolation of Syria, its distance from the Arab world has accelerated, while political and economic isolation has made Syria even more susceptible to the influence of non-Arab states, primarily Iran and Turkey, which has been discussed for some time. And the efforts being made to return Syria to the Arab League are connected with the idea of returning Syria, an Arab country, to the Arab world.
Another goal of Saudi Arabia, which plans to open an embassy in Damascus soon, is an attempt to calm the pockets of chaos in the region. The result of this approach was the reconciliation of Saudi Arabia with Iran on the initiative of China. Chaotic processes in the region must stop so that regional states, primarily Saudi Arabia, can put into practice their plans for energy, trade, as well as reducing the gradually increasing costs of indirect wars.
In a word, as in the case of reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the return of Damascus to the Arab League, apparently, will become a consensus from which everyone will more or less benefit.
Of course, the most important expectation of Damascus from the Arab League is the provision of economic support. Even if the Arab countries refrain from directly supporting Damascus because of the current US sanctions, it is quite possible that the Arab League subcommittees and the organization's investment agencies will step in. Among them are the development office and the social assistance agency. The probability that the United States will expand sanctions on the Arab League, which includes such a number of members, is considered low.
There are reports that Syria has accepted some of the Arab League's conditions. However, in this regard, such conditions as the return of refugees are mentioned, as well as compliance with UN resolution 2254 on a political settlement in the SAR. In fact, there is nothing new in this, Damascus has long accepted these conditions and speaks about it in official statements. In other words, it is still unclear how the return of Damascus to the Arab League will affect the processes in Syria. However, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have long said that they seek to reduce tensions with the help of a roadmap called the "Arab initiative". In short, the Arab League is now involved in the Syrian issue.
This situation, of course, will directly affect Turkey's position in Syria. Now there will be many more countries in the region declaring the need for Turkey to withdraw from the SAR.
While there is still no clear answer between Ankara and Damascus to the question "who is a terrorist and for whom," the real fact is that the Assad administration, although returning to the Arab League, cannot control a significant part of its country. Especially the situation with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in the east of the Euphrates remains a complete mystery. After all, what Arab country can say to the United States: "Leave"?
Be that as it may, both Damascus and the countries of the region have opened the way for a process that is expected to bring significant economic benefits. However, the restoration of the territorial integrity of Syria and the country's economy to at least the level that Syrian refugees can return to their homeland, obviously, will not happen soon, and it seems that we will talk about these issues for a long time.
Author: Hediye Levent (Hediye Levent)
