Reviving Syria’s relations with the Arab world; The failure of the Damascus isolation project

Mehr News Agency, Intergroup International: In May 1402, after a 12-year absence, Syria returned to the Arab League. Undoubtedly, this event was one of the most important political developments related to Syria in a recent year. Receiving the invitation of the UAE for the Syrian president to attend the climate meeting and also receiving the invitation from bin Salman for Assad’s presence in Saudi Arabia promised the beginning of a new era in the history of relations between Syria and Arab countries.

The presence of Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Moqdad in the meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab League members and his meeting with the ministers marked a path that undoubtedly led to an important development in the case of Syria and It was in 1402. Syrian President Bashar Assad also arrived in Jeddah on May 28. On the same day, the United Nations expressed its hope that Bashar al-Assad’s presence in the Jeddah summit will play a role in advancing the political process.

Also, Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, announced: “We are very pleased with the presence of Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, and we hope that Syria’s return to the Arab League in support of Syria’s security should play a role and lead to the end of the crisis in this country. All these years of strife and conflict that our nations suffered from is enough for us.” Also, Qais Said, the President of the Republic of Tunisia, Ayman Bin Abdel Rahman, the Prime Minister of Algeria and other Arab leaders, warmly praised Assad’s presence in Jeddah. Asaad Bin Tariq Al Saeed, the Deputy Prime Minister of Oman, also expressed his hope that Syria will regain its position as the “Light of the Arab Way”.

Aron Lund, an analyst of Middle East affairs and one of the experts of Century International Institute, believes that Syria’s return to the Arab League is a great achievement and victory for the Syrian government. He further said: “Syria is reintegrating in the region and cooperating with other countries. Now other Arab leaders are confident that they should cooperate with Damascus. So let’s accept that this is a political victory for the government of Damascus”.

The photo of the meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, as an image of an important diplomatic development, faced numerous analyzes and in Most of the analyzes pointed out that Saudi Arabia and others realized that they should show respect to the far-reaching resistance of the Syrian government.

Bashar Assad and “Beit Arabi”

Despite the official presence of Bashar Assad in Jeddah, some negative approaches were also observed regarding this trip. Among other things, the emir of Qatar left the meeting before Bashar al-Assad’s speech in Jeddah and refused to listen to the Syrian president’s speech. But Bashar’s speech, which was prepared in a smart way, contained precise meanings and phrases that questioned the wrong positions of Turkey and Qatar.

In his speech, Bashar Assad implicitly made allusions to Qatar and emphasized that Arab countries should not interfere in internal affairs and start a crisis. “Syria will always belong to the Arab world,” he said. It is important that the internal affairs be left to the people of the countries; because they can manage their affairs in the best way”.

One ​​of the most important phrases used in Bashar Assad’s speech at the Arab League meeting in Jeddah was “Arabic House”. He said: “I want the Arab League’s charter and its statute to be developed and revised so that it is in line with the requirements of the current era. A historical opportunity has been obtained to reorganize Bayt Arabi to manage our house with the least amount of foreign intervention”.

Syrian President rejected the policy of interventionism and said: “The world should leave internal issues in the hands of nations and we should oppose foreign interventions.” Joint Arab activity requires an integrated policy and transparent mechanisms. With Arab-Arab convergence and moving towards a new stage of joint cooperation; Hope is increasing”.

Attitude of Saudi Arabia

One ​​of the most important issues related to the return of Syria to the Arab League is to examine the attitude of Saudi Arabia, because this country played an important role in the Syrian crisis with the cooperation of the UAE. He supported the Syrian opposition. But finally, by understanding the objective conditions of the field, he changed his approach. Riyadh did not oppose the principle of the issue in the negotiations related to changing the views of the Arab countries on the developments in Syria, and hosting two Syrian political delegations in a short period of time was an important development.

Shortly after removing the obstacle to Syria’s participation in the Arab League, a political delegation from Saudi Arabia headed by Ghazi bin Rafi Al-Anzi to review the process of reopening the country’s embassy in Syria. He traveled to Damascus and this action showed that Riyadh’s approach to the Syrian case has entered a new phase.

In June 1402, Riyadh and Damascus agreed to resume commercial cooperation and establish several economic forums to increase the trade balance between the two sides. This agreement was concluded during the meeting of Hassan bin Mujib al-Hawzi, the head of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce, with Muhammad Abolhadi Al Laham, the head of the Syrian Chambers of Commerce and his accompanying delegation on the sidelines of the business conference in Riyadh.

The heavy defeat of America and Israel

The common point of many political analyzes about the importance of Syria’s return to the Arab League is the failure of America and the Zionist regime of Israel. America was the first country that protested the decision of Arab League members. The US State Department announced that the country has no plans to normalize relations with Syria and does not support others in this regard. The spokesperson of the US Department of State said on the eve of the Jeddah summit: “We believe that Syria does not deserve to return to the Arab League and we have raised this issue with our regional partners.” We doubt that Bashar al-Assad wants to solve the crisis of his country”.

Yediot Aharonot newspaper wrote that the Zionist regime is worried about the consequences of Syria’s return to the Arab League, especially about the regime’s attacks on Syria. This newspaper revealed that Israel has sent clear messages to the international community after Syria’s return to the Arab League. Also, Israeli War Minister Yoav Gallant, in a meeting with army commanders, considered Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s return to the Arab world as a negative development that caused Israel to lose the possibility of sporadic air attacks on Syria.

The important point about the continuation of US hostility with Syria is that the Foreign Relations Committee in the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the draft law “Combating the Normalization of Relations with the Syrian Regime” approved Mohammad Ala Anam, head of political planning in the “Syrian-American Council” and the “American Coalition for Syria” and a team of American security experts tried to prevent the normalization of relations between Syria and Arab countries, and 10 American organizations specializing in Syrian affairs in Washington are active, they took action in this field, but their efforts did not succeed and this was a big failure for American foreign policy in 1402.

Bashar Assad’s trips to Iran, the Emirates, Oman and Russia in 1401 and his two important trips to Saudi Arabia and China in 1402 are a sign of a calm and logical continuation of the return Syria is the scene of international politics and the defeat of the Damascus opposition.