Europe can save Syria from Turkish aggression

There seems to be no end to the crisis and horror being perpetrated in Syria. As different forces jostle for power, life has long lost semblance of normalcy in the country. Nine years is a long time for a war to continue, long enough to etch fear and hopelessness in the minds of the young, and long enough to spread the clouds of despair among its population at large.

Syrians continue to be in the line of fire, even as more than half a million have lost their lives and significantly more have been uprooted from their homes, their roots.

The Syrian conflict has displaced or sent into exile around 13 million Syrians. The country has been reduced to dust, and now if the Syrian government were to start reconstruction, the cost could run into billions. Syrians have had enough. When will all this end?

Now what’s making matter worse is the Turkish presence in the country. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), around 2,700 Turkish military vehicles have been sent to Syria in the past three weeks. Turkey is sending military equipment to Idlib province in northwestern Syria and to the neighboring Aleppo province.

The conflict monitoring observatory also mentioned that last Saturday a Turkish convoy of 80 vehicles entered Idlib, and more than 7,400

Turkish soldiers were deployed to

Idlib and Aleppo during the same period, leaving no doubt that Turkey wants to challenge the Syrian regime by marking its territory in the Syrian soil.

Turkey’s presence in Syria is illegal, and the forces must leave the Syrian territory immediately. The longer the Turkish soldiers stay in Syria, the longer it’ll take to resolve the conflict.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is guilty of gravely endangering prospects of peace process in Syria.

The humanitarian situation in Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in north-western Syria, is alarming and there is no sight of any cease fire as both sides, the Syrian regime and the Turkish government, are determined to have the last word.

On February 17, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad pledged on a state television to continue the offensive to liberate “the last stronghold held by the rebels in northwest Syria.” The Turkish President replied two days later with the threat of a military offensive. This could lead to a long and bloody war on both sides, pushing the Syrian conflict to more complications and blood spilling.

Constant Turkish intervention in Syria has made the situation worse, it threatens the little gains Syria has made towards resolving the crisis. There is an agreement over penning a new constitution with the approval of various parties, particularly Russia and the US, and the process is to be supervised by the United Nations supervising.

Syria could see an agreement similar to Taif of 1989 that effectively ended the civil war in Lebanon and allowed political normalcy to return to the country.

The international community must put pressure on Turkey to withdraw from Syria. Peace can and should return to Syria for the sake of its people and the region on the whole. Lebanon, in particular, has been bearing the brunt of the ongoing crisis in Syria with millions of Syrians landing on its shores to seek asylum. The country is going through its worst economic crisis and is on a brink of bankruptcy. The people’s revolution that has kept the streets of Lebanon brimming with protests since October 17 could plunge the country into a civil war, if no solutions are found soon.

The world does not need a new war that could cause mass exodus of refugees and new problems. There are more pressing issues that need world’s attention at the moment, COVID-19 for instance.

Recently, European Union leaders meeting in Brussels called for an end to Turkish military offensive and asked for referral to the International Criminal Court. Yet, one cannot be sure if concrete steps would be taken. Europe has not been strong in its stance since the beginning of the conflict.

The Turkish president, meanwhile, has announced a summit on March 5 with Russian, French and German leaders to discuss the situation in this province.

It is time for Europe to play the role of a moderator and help peace return to Syria.

Turkey is sending military equipment to Idlib province in north-western Syria and to the neighboring Aleppo province.