“You can’t make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can’t make peace without Syria” Henry Kissinger

After spending months observing the callous slaughter and atrocious carnage of innocent Syrians at the hands of Assad’s brutal regime, the Western powers finally decided to call for Assad’s departure. In August 2011, US President Obama said, “The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way. His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people.We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way. He has not led. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside”. Cameron issued a similar joint statement with Sarkozy and Merkel that read:“Our three countries believe that President Assad, who is resorting to brutal military force against his own people and who is responsible for the situation, has lost all legitimacy and can no longer claim to lead the country.We call on him to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside in the best interests of Syria and the unity of it”.The EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, said there had been a “complete loss of Bashar Assad’s legitimacy in the eyes of the Syrian people”.

It was no coincidence that the West’s call for Assad’s departure came after the failed efforts of some Gulf Arab countries and Turkey.The rulers of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait somehow mustered enough strength to lift themselves from paralysis and did the ignoble deed of recalling their ambassadors from Damascus. Even in their terse statements, one finds little solace for the Syrian people.“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands before its historic responsibility toward her brothers, demanding the stoppage of the killing machine and bloodshed, and the use of reason before it is too late”,Abdullah said in a statement that was read on Saudi state television.The pitiful remark that took months to transpire is by all accounts another bloody stain on the three monarchs that not only share much of the same features as Assad’s oppressive regime, but are exemplary masters in their own right at crushing domestic opposition. Hence the muzzled criticisms and restrained gestures dressed in velvet gloves are hardly going to halt Assad’s rivers of blood.The same can be said for the West’s condemnation of Assad’s regime and pseudo smart sanctions that will invariably preserve the longevity of the regime a little longer, while a suitable alternative is groomed or found.

Then there is Turkey, which has been so boisterous in its chastisement of Assad that many poor souls in Syria have been longing for Erdogan to intervene and rescue them from the barbarism of Assad’s Alawite clan. Some members of the clan are responsible for spearheading Assad’s war machine and are notorious for their hatred towards Sunni Muslims.They routinely torture and taunt their victims about their devotion and adherence to their deen prior to executing them in cold blood.

On August 9th 2011, the Turkish foreign minister Mr. Davutoglu visited Assad to supposedly deliver a stern message from Erdogan to stop the horrific bloodshed. He was bluntly told by Assad that Damascus “will not relent in pursuing the terrorist groups in order to protect the stability of the country and the security of the citizens”. In other words leave us alone to kill whomsoever we like.

Out of all the regional countries and Western powers that have hitherto expressed their displeasure towards Assad’s regime,Turkey is best place to put an instant stop to the carnage.This is because Erdogan domestically is stronger than ever before, and has achieved the near impossible feat of not only marginalizing the army’s role in political life, but has replaced the army’s leadership with handpicked generals.This means that under Erdogan’s stewardship the executive, the judiciary, the army and much of the civic institutions can be galvanized to support an immediate intervention in Syria and put an end to the targeted massacre of Syrians. Recent history also bears testimony on Erdogan’s side. In 1998, Turkey amassed 10,000 troops at the Syrian border and threatened to invade, unless Damascus surrendered the then PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Damascus quickly capitulated and asked Ocalan to leave, who was eventually apprehended in Kenya. If the military threat is not enough, then Erdogan could borrow a page from the so-called doctrine of humanitarian intervention invoked by Britain and France as a pretext to invade Libya. He is sure to find little international opposition should he opt for this route. Erdogan can easily divert Turkey’s armed forces currently being used to disable PKK positions to immobilize Assad’s security forces and slow down their advance. If Erdogan were only to take a small step in this direction, he would enjoy the whole hearted support of the Ummah.

With all of the odds stacked in his favour, Erdogan continues to drag his heels, as if the spilling of Muslim blood at the hands of Assad is novel spectator sport.This is very reminiscent of the Jewish state’s slaughter of its Palestinians in 2009, followed by Erdogan’s fiery rhetoric against Shimon Perez, which in the end was capped by inaction.

In this respect, Erdogan is no different to other rulers of the Arab and Muslim world who are often found floundering at the time of the Ummah’s need, despite the capability of their armed forces and the political reality of the situation being in their favour.This is because Erdogan and other Arab rulers do not serve the Ummah of the Messenger of Allah (sall Allahu alaihi wa sallam). Rather, they are servants of foreign powers and are the leading custodians of their master’s interests in the region.They are merely puppets who speak and act when they are told and not before. For instance, Erdogan’s timely expulsion of Israel’s ambassador to Turkey, and the suspension of military agreements with the Jewish state is designed to increase pressure on Israel to resume peace talks with the Palestinians.This comes at a time when the Jewish state is extremely anxious about its border with Egypt and Syria. In this way, the US is using Erdogan, Egypt’s military junta and the precarious situation in Syria to pressurise Netanyahu to restart peace talks.

As for Syria, both Erdogan and Khamenei acting under US patronage are covertly aiding and abetting Assad’s regime, giving it enough time to put down the uprising.The toothless sanctions announced by the US underscores just how keen the Obama administration is for the current regime to stymie the domestic revolt. In the meantime, the US continues to explore alternative political solutions to Assad’s regime – again with Turkey and Iran’s full cooperation.This is the ugly reality of the situation that faces the innocent people of Syria. Erdogan’s immediate remit, as stipulated to him by his American masters, is twofold: First, to gather the Syrian opposition in Turkey and develop a political alternative to Assad.The Syrian opposition has held several meetings since May 2011 under the auspices of the Turkish government.At the last meeting in Istanbul, the Syrian opposition managed to reach broad agreement on the 120 nominees for the transitional council. Second, is to enable NATO to arm Syrian militants and to use a similar approach that resulted in the ouster of Gaddafi from Tripoli.“Turkey’s military will protect the arms caches on their passage to Syrian rebels. Syrian protest leaders and army deserters have been training in the use of the new weapons with Turkish military officers at makeshift installations in Turkish bases near the Syrian border”.As reported recently by Press TV, citing the Israeli intelligence front, Debka.

The only salvation for the people of Syria and for that matter the entire Arab and Muslim world is to cease in the engagement of useless pursuits such as the reliance on Western powers to rescue them from tyrant rulers who in the first place were handpicked and planted by the West.

Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya are clear examples, where the West sought humanitarian excuses to intervene and engineered nation building solutions that cemented Western hegemony through subtly changing the face of the ruling regime. Neither the people nor the country has benefited to date.

Instead, the people of the Arab world must work to find salvation in the restoration of the Khilafah Islamic State. For only the Khilafah – on the way of the Prophethood, can give them protection, dignity and justice as history has taught us.The Messenger of Allah (sall Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “The imam is a shield behind whom the people are protected and behind which they fight”. [Sahih Muslim]

Khilafah Magazine