The Syrian crisis viewed from Turkey
May 27, 2012 12:49 pm by Gideon Rachman
Will the massacre in Houla prove a tipping point in the Syrian crisis? International action has so far been ineffective. Now there is fresh talk of action from the Security Council. But I am still sceptical. The factors that have prevented effective international intervention to date are still in place. They include big-power rivalries, a divided opposition and a powerful Syrian army. Certainly talking to people last week in Turkey – which is the base for most of the Syrian opposition – I got the sense that people were increasingly resigned to a long and bloody conflict.
The most interesting conversation I had was with the Turkish charity, IHH, at their base in the Istanbul suburb of Fatih. They are a controversial group because they organised the Gaza flotilla and the sailing of the ill-fated, Mavi Mara. Some in the West have accused the IHH of links to terrorism. The IHH people I met had predictably firm views on Gaza. I found their views on Libya and Syria, where they have also been deeply involved, more surprising.
The Turkish government was initially strongly opposed to Nato intervention in Libya. But Izzet Sahin of the IHH said that his organisation felt that, by failing to oppose Gaddafi, the Erdogan government had damaged Turkey’s good name. So had he been in favour of Nato intervention, I asked? Rather to my surprise, Sahin replied in the affirmative. “I would have preferred it, if it had been Egypt or Turkey that had led the intervention. I don’t like to see Nato intervene anyway. But there is no doubt that they stopped a massacre in Benghazi.”
When it came to Syria, the IHH people are working with refugees who have crossed over into Turkey, and tried to adopt a non-partisan, humanitarian tone. But it is clear that they are appalled by what is going on – (and this was before the news emerged from Houla.) “What is happening in Syria is simply unbelievable,” said Sahin. “It’s worse than Bosnia, worse than Chechnya. The use of torture and the behaviour of the Syrian regime in unbelievable.”
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Those that organized the Gaza flotilla think that Nato stopped a massacre in Benghazi.
