Friendly chat with confident Syrian leader

I met Bashar al-Assad in 2003 for the first time. He lost his father and three years have passed since he came to power. He was a 42-year-young head of state. The whole world was curious as to whether or not he would fulfill his duties. After an experienced leader like Hafez al-Assad, would he be able to keep his country going amid Middle Eastern politics that are full of intrigues? 

This young president was sitting in front of me together with Ertuğrul Özkök, the editor-in-chief of daily Hürriyet, on Thursday. His temporal region had some grey hair and he just turned 48, but he was self-confident and full of energy, knowing what he wants to achieve.

As I listened to Assad I understood better why he wanted to cooperate with Turkey and where he planned to go. Syria is not the Syria we know anymore. In our heads old Syria was a country accommodating terrorists, led by a serious dictatorship, not at all reasonable for Turkey. Today Syria is a friendly and secular neighbor that trusts Turkey heading toward an economic partnership.

We started this talk with the leader of the latter Syria at the presidential palace, full of huge pompous halls, with a personal chat. He looked around and said, “That’s why I don’t reside here. I come for work and for official occasions. We live in the city in a four-room, humble apartment.”

When Ertuğrul asked him if they are concerned about security, he smiled and replied, “The best security is provided when you live among neighbors that you know.”

The secular state

The conversation turned to his wife, who does not wear a headscarf and I had to ask: “You both are believers, why does your wife not cover her head? Did you not ask her to?” His answer was very interesting.

“I never thought about it. This is a personal matter. Faith, belief and religion are in your head. Real Islam is inside of you not in your cloths. The base for religions is good relations among people.” I did not ask this question to make a reference to the headscarfed wives of our leaders. My purpose was to understand how Mrs. Esad’s attitude toward the increasing “cover up” fashion in the Muslim world.

As a matter of fact, President Assad said the Islamic world is increasingly becoming conservative (i.e. pious) and underlined that Islam is a religion that needs to be felt on the inside. So, how do you feel about what the al-Qaeda or Taleban does in the name of Islam?

He cut short by saying, “Theirs has nothing to do with Islam. Islam does not accept terror.” Bassar Assad’s understanding of secularism is limited to the state. The state needs to be secular and people should be able to exercise their religion freely. By saying, “In Syria there is an important Christian minority. They are one of the chief pillars. To protect this pillar means to protect the balance,” he stated his view very clearly.

Turkey is changing its direction

I asked him about an argument that is very popular these days. “It’s been put forth that Ankara is moving away from approaching the West and turning toward the East. Do you think Turkey is really changing its direction? If it does, does this please you?”

He started out by saying, “Yes, Turkey is changing its direction,” and that this was a healthy change. “Turkey’s view of the region is changing. We are changing, the West used to separate us from each other. Now we have entered a period in which we need to solve internal issues in the region,” he said.

Bassar Assad told us that Turkey and Syria will, step-by-step, aim for the sky and instead of empty targets, they will plan the next step as one is completed. He asked, “Instead of building one little economy doesn’t it make more sense to built one large economy?” He said he aims to accomplish region-wide projects.

He made us feel the excitement about projects to be worked on by Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Turkey. Is there a desire to form a monetary union or a common market like Europe between Turkey and Syria?

“Let’s not hurry. Let’s go step by step. Let’s take one step and stop to look at the result, and then take another step. Let us look if two separate small economies or one large economy is better. This is what we want to do. Let’s think of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Turkey. We want to create a joint economic region, make joint giant projects. We are calculating how we can connect the Red Sea to Europe and the Mediterranean. The prosperity of those four economies working together is apparent. We are building a joint future.” 

I asked the head of state: What does Turkey mean to you? “Turkey’s support is very important for us. We have full trust. As an example, without even us demanding it, Prime Minister Erdoğan explains us in Washington; he conveys our views. This is very important. Besides, the role he played at peace talks with Israel was also very important. Because of this, he is now at a point where he can easily speak on our behalf.” 

PKK members can go back to their villages anytime

Assad attaches great importance to Turkey’s approach regarding its Kurdish citizens and views it as an important step toward peace in the region. So how is the pardon for PKK members of Syrian origin going to work? Is there going to be a presidential pardon or pardon by law? Assad said there are about 1,500 Syrian-origin members of the PKK.

“As long as these people do not commit a crime they are welcome to return to their villages. There is no need for a trial because they don’t appear to have committed a crime. And there is no need for a presidential pardon because a pardon is only announced after a trial. At this stage there is no obstacle to the return of these people.”

I have talked to many heads of state, presidents and prime ministers but I have never seen one like Bessar Esad who is so comfortable, so confident and who treats you like a friend.

The only thing I wish for is that the rapprochement between Turkey and Syria does not have an accident, like many rapprochements in the Middle East in the past.

The reason my hopes are up this time is that Bessar Esad is realistic and Turkey is down to earth.