Since August 24, Turkey has crossed the rubicon in Syria by upping the ante in the fight against the hybrid terror outfit Daesh, which killed hundreds of Turkish citizens by indiscriminate shelling from the Syrian territory and suicide bombings. Supported by the global coalition, the Turkish military has assisted the Free Syrian Army in rooting out Daesh from the territories it came to hold across the Turkish border. Close to a hundred kilometres of land, ranging from Azaz to Jarablus, was cleared of Daesh, which withdrew southwards. Also the opportunistic terrorist outfit YPG was barred from disintegrating Syria. The operations are continuing in order to eliminate Daesh holdings deeper within Syria. Turkey has long been asserting that the group constitutes a clear and present danger to her national security. Thus, the Operation Northern Shield has demonstrated to friends and foes that Turkey would not allow any terrorist presence right across her borders and that she is committed to the territorial integrity and political unity of her neighbour, which could not be left to its own devices. The operation is firmly grounded in international law and came as the only good news in Syria where the ceasefire deal engineered by the US and Russia with Turkey’s support failed disappointingly without allowing for delivery of any humanitarian aid to Aleppo. Recent developments have highlighted two points:
One, the establishment of safe zones within Syria should not be delayed further. Neither the exigencies of the fight against terrorists nor that of the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria can be wished away. People focus too much on the difficulties of forming safe zones but as Nehru had said, the policy of excessive caution creates the worst risks. Further indecision would result in aggravated human suffering. And the ongoing killings and exodus would take away any chance this important nation might have to heal its wounds in a generation. Safe zones are needed to help protect the people of Syria from the outrageous killings of both Damascus and Daesh, stem the exodus and thus give hope to the Syrian people. The regime might then seriously negotiate for a political solution.
Secondly, giving war a chance to settle differences between
Damascus and opposition leads to nowhere. While Daesh and YPG terrorists cannot have a place at the table, a political solution to the civil war in Syria is an urgent imperative. The ongoing siege and bombing of Aleppo amounts to a crime against humanity and shows that Damascus is not close to understanding the full import of its campaign. The regime is still looking for a military solution where there is none. But the international community has a major stake in the ending of this humanitarian catastrophe and in preserving the territorial integrity and political unity of Syria, and cannot afford to lose faith in diplomacy. The fact is that there is a civil war between the regime in Damascus and the opposition and there must be a renewed and vigorous effort to strike a political deal between the two. For this to happen, of course, first the fighting must immediately stop and humanitarian aid be delivered.
As the Damascus regime has re-embarked on an indiscriminate killing spree against the very people which it purports to govern, and the historic city of Aleppo and Syria’s future is scorched, it is not only the city and people of Aleppo that are being decimated. It is also a civilisation, the humanity and human consciousness that are being charred. Syria has become a case where the callings of morality and realpolitik have come to converge.
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