Arab papers: Al-Assad arranges for domestic chaos before elections, US-Turkish relationship for worse

The Arab newspapers published today, Friday, addressed the Syrian issue with the approaching presidential elections, as well as the relationship between Washington and Ankara and Lebanese situation.

'Assad arranges for chaos of his regime before the big test'

The start with Syrian issue, and in this regard, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper said that the Damascus government faces great challenges to carry out the presidential elections, the decline of support for it in the affiliated regions with it, as a result of the pressured reality of living, amid the odds that the elections will record a wide boycott in the areas of his control compared to 2014.

The newspaper added, "Only a few months are away from the presidential elections in Syria, and despite this, no one have announced their candidacy for the merit, including President Bashar al-Assad, while the delay seems to be arranging the internal conditions that witness a state of confusion and chaos, before taking a move forward.

Syrian dissidents claim that Al-Assad will certainly runs for the post, and it is very likely during the current month, in light of Syrian and Russian preparations for the success of the election or at least to provide cover for it, regardless of the stance of the international community.

The elections scheduled in mid-year 2021 come at a relatively different circumstance from those of 2014, during which Assad renewed himself for another seven years.

 In 2014, there was a sharp division between a bloc loyal to the point of fanaticism and the other opposition, but this difference began to fade in recent years with the decline in support for Assad among the ranks of the popular incubator due to the deterioration of economic conditions, which ended with more than 80 percent of the Syrian people below the poverty line.

Today, popular unrest is recorded in several regions and governorates affiliated with the Syrian president since the outbreak of the crisis in 2011, such as Latakia and Tartous, Al-Suwayda in the south, and the capital, Damascus, and while the latter's residents were not able to protest due to the concentration of the security force there, in recent months, the three witnessed protest marches, albeit to varying degrees, against the suffocating living crisis

Activists point out that the state of anger from the Al-Assad mismanagement, would prompt the loyalists majority to boycott the elections, as he would not be able to force people to go to the polls.

The situation for al-Assad appears to be worse in the areas that he succeeded in controlling by force through fragile settlements, similar to Daraa in the south and Homs in the center. These days, Daraa is witnessing extortion operations by the regime, which is threatening to launch military operations against some areas in the governorate, in an attempt to intimidate the people and quell the rebellion that has begun to spread its infection outside its walls, reaching the countryside of Quneitra and Damascus.

The Daraa was the first to revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and succeeded in loosening the regime control in 2013, before it was able, backed by Russia, to subjugate it again through settlement in which the United States played role, but this province did not live calmness, especially after the regime did not adhere to most of the terms of the agreement, and kept dealing with her children with a purely security mentality.

With the regime's attempt to arrange chaos before the elections, betting not on improving the economic situation but terrorizing the people, and on its propaganda machine, as Assad used to during the last period to meet media loyal to him, whose number reached 75 to direct them about the rhetoric that is supposed to be adopted with the approaching maturity. On the other hand, boycott campaigns will be active.

In this regard, the Secretary-General of the Syrian Council for Change, Lawyer Hassan Al-Asswad, told the newspaper, "The idea of launching a wide campaign calling for boycotting, began a good time ago, as the intensive efforts of the Assad regime in this area had to be confronted and thwarted."

Al-Asswad added, "We started working to promote this campaign, which bears the name 'No legitimacy to Assad and his elections,' on January 7, and we started communicating with many Syrian political and civil forces and figures to participate in this national action.

"The campaign aims to address all Syrians wherever they are. It will also address the regional, Arab and international public opinion, and it will communicate with their embassies and foreign affairs, and to international bodies," explains the Syrian opposition in Daraa.

According to Al-Asswad, the campaign will focus on the illegal foundations of these elections and its harm on the Syrians, as it comes in clear and explicit contradiction with the decisions of Geneva One, Resolutions 2118 and 2254 issued by the Security Council and the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly.

The difficulties that Assad faces are not limited only to the areas under his control, but also in out of control too. Today, there are contacts with the SDF in NE Syria to allow ballot boxes, especially in the areas under its control in Al-Hasaka.

Informed sources stated that the moves also include coordination with Lebanon and Jordan, which are hosting thousands of refugees, to legitimize this entitlement, and there are more than 7 million Syrian refugees abroad, more than a quarter of their numbers are in neighboring countries.

These elections, which are held in accordance with the 2012 constitution, are very important for the Syrian president in terms of renewing his “legitimacy”, despite the statements of international forces rejecting this entitlement.

'Bad start' for the relationship between Turkey and the Biden administration '

On the other hand, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper talked about what appeared to be the worse relations between Washington and Ankara, and said: “Yesterday it seemed that Turkish relations with the new US administration had a “bad ”start after Ankara accused Washington of being behind the failed coup attempt in 2016, After a US Treasury Department report issued last month accusing Turkey of being a rear base for fundraising for ISIS.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu confirmed, in statements yesterday, that Washington is behind the coup that Ankara accused the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who had previously denied the Turkish accusations.

Soylu told a Turkish newspaper that the United States managed the coup attempt while it was carried out by the Gülen, adding, “It is quite clear that the US is behind the (coup attempt) on July 15,” and that the Gülen network “carried out it on its orders,” according to Reuters, which indicated that, since the failed coup, Turkey has arrested about 292,000 people on suspicion of having ties with Gülen, and dismissed or suspended more than 150,000 government employees.

The Turkish minister's accusations against Washington came days after a report by the US Treasury Department on January 4, which highlighted what it described as “logistical centers for transferring money in Turkey” for the service of “ISIS”.

Aykan Ardemir, a former Turkish parliament member and chief researcher on Turkish affairs, said in a report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington that Turkey had been, since 2014, “a major state used by ISIS to smuggle militants, weapons and money into Syria.”

Ankara is seeking to repair the strained relations with Washington, which imposed sanctions on Turkey last year for purchasing the Russian air defense systems, and with the European Union, which threatens to take measures against Ankara over a dispute with Athens in the eastern Mediterranean.

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ANHA