DAMASCUS: Turkiye was set to reopen its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, nearly a week after president Bashar Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria’s civil war.
The move came as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats gathered in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria, and a day after nationwide celebrations at Assad’s ouster.
Ankara has been a major player in Syria’s conflict, holding considerable sway in the northwest and financing armed groups there, and maintaining a working relationship with the Islamist Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the offensive that brought down Assad.
Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the new charge d’affaires, Burhan Koroglu, left for Syria on Friday, with the embassy expected to be “operational” the following day.
Fidan also said Ankara had urged Assad backers Russia and Iran not to intervene as the Islamist-led militants mounted their lightning advance last week.
“The most important thing was to talk to the Russians and Iranians to ensure that they didn’t enter the equation militarily... They understood,” Fidan told private television network NTV.
Turkish diplomats joined counterparts from the European Union, the United States and the Arab world on Saturday for talks in the Jordanian city of Aqaba.
A day before the meetings in Jordan, Syrians had celebrated what they called the “Friday of victory,” with fireworks heralding the fall of the Assad dynasty.
Celebrations continued into the night on the first Friday — the Muslim day of rest and prayer — since Assad was ousted.
Umayyad Square in Damascus was jammed with vehicles, people and waving flags as fireworks shot into the air, AFPTV footage showed.
Crowds also gathered in the squares and streets of other Syrian cities, including Homs, Hama and Idlib.
Turkiye to reopen embassy in Syria as diplomats gather for talks
https://arab.news/buzm9
Turkiye to reopen embassy in Syria as diplomats gather for talks
- Move comes as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats gathered in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria
Analysis: What do Hadhramout Governor statements reveal about the UAE
- Evidences suggests killing, torture and other human rights violations, Yemeni source tells Arab News
LONDON: Statements made by Salam Al-Khanbashi, the governor of Hadhramaut, suggest the United Arab Emirates has played an alarming role in Yemen and the largest of its 21 governorates.
In a televised press conference yesterday, Al-Khanbashi accused the UAE of having exploited the coalition working to restore legitimate government in Yemen “to achieve its own agenda.”
He also claimed that the citizens of Hadhramaut had been terrorised by armed groups affiliated with Maj. Gen. Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, who is backed by the UAE and earlier this month was sacked as vice-president of the country’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
Hadhramaut’s territory extends from the shore of the Gulf of Aden in the south to the Saudi Arabian border in the north.
Al-Zubaidi, who is now on the run, stands accused of treason and attempting to undermine the sovereignty of Yemen by creating a breakaway “State of South Arabia.”
The Yemeni authorities, Al-Khanbashi added, had uncovered suspicious Emirati equipment and practices at the Rayyan base in Mukalla, capital of the governorate, including stockpiled explosives and a secret prison.
These are shocking claims, reinforced by a verified source close to the Yemeni government who spoke to Arab News on the condition of anonymity.
Yesterday’s revelations, he said, confirmed what had been an open secret in Yemen for some time.
“Many of the segments of the province's population, as well as others in Yemen, have suffered from these crimes which were conducted in the name of a southern state, but in reality served the interests of another country,” he said.
The source holds Al-Zubaidi, the former head of the now dissolved Southern Transitional Council (STC), personally responsible for the atrocities, crimes and torture suffered by Yemeni citizens.
Al-Zubaidi is reported to have sought sanctuary in Abu Dhabi.
“Given all the support he received from the UAE,” the source added, “it is no wonder they were keen to smuggle him to Abu Dhabi via Somalia to avoid prosecution.”
Apart from his role in the STC, Al-Zubaidi was a leading figure in the legitimate Yemeni government, which has now disowned him, and referred him to the state’s attorney-general.
In his absence, Al-Zubaidi has been indicted on charges including “high treason with the intent to undermine the independence of the Republic,” “Damaging the military, political, and economic standing of the Republic,” “Forming an armed gang and committing crimes including the killing of officers and soldiers of the armed forces; exploiting and harming the just Southern cause through grave violations against civilians and sabotage of military installations and sites,” and “Violating the Constitution, breaching the law, and undermining the sovereignty and independence of the country.”
According to the Yemeni source, the discovery of suspicious Emirati equipment at Rayyan airbase, including explosives, suggests the camp “was used most likely as a headquarters for planning and implementing crimes and violations targeting civilians.”
The discovered equipment, he added, “confirms that the armed groups loyal to Al-Zubaidi were using the just southern cause to cover up their crimes against southern civilians, marginalizing and ignoring the legitimate demands of the people of the south, and serving the UAE's agenda aimed at spreading chaos in Yemen and hindering any political initiative to resolve the southern issue.”
The source added that, in his view, such practices by the STC and the UAE would be a clear case of “human-rights abuse.”
The “violations and crimes” of which the UAE is accused in Yemen “are an extension of its ongoing activity in fuelling internal conflicts in Sudan, Libya and Somalia, and committing crimes targeting civilians in these countries, aiming to spread chaos and undermine the security and stability of the region.”
At the time of publication the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not commented on the allegations.
