“Should al-Assad step down, disaster will ensue.” This assumption not only asserts that a region with al-Assad is possible, but it insists that it would in fact be better. Is that really so? 

The massacre in Houla last week demonstrated once again that not much has changed since the uprisings started in Syria. The Baathist regime continues to kill in front of the whole world.

The practice of universal suffrage in Egypt, without limitations on gender and ethnicity, is a hopeful sign for the region.”

The Annan Plan was a miracle plan that could have benefited, in the short term, all those who were not disturbed by the bloodshed.

Syria has become one of the few friends Iran has left, after it was blatantly sanctioned by the West, the U.S and other states in the region after the Islamic revolution.

Russia’s future in the Middle East fares no better than the al-Assad regime in which Russia had been investing.

SETA PANEL   Oturum BaÅŸkanı:     Talip Küçükcan, SETA    KonuÅŸmacılar:    Walid Saffour, Suriye  Ä°nsan Hakları Komitesi (SHRC) BaÅŸkanı    Nadim Houry, Ä°HÄ°Ö BaÅŸkan Yrdc. ve OrtadoÄŸu ve Kuzey Afrika Sorumlusu    Cengiz Çandar, Radikal Gazetesi Yazarı    Tarih: 26 Nisan 2012 PerÅŸembe  Saat: 11.00-13.00  Yer: SETA, Ankara Salonu

Egypt has been focused on one issue alone since the overthrow of Mubarak. The subject of the main discussions going on for months now is the elections. 

Israel wants regime change in Syria, as much as it wanted a change in Egypt, the heart of the Camp David order, of which the Syrian regime is branch.

Moderator: Taha Özhan, President of SETA Foundation    Panelists: Besma Kodmani, Syrian National Council Veniamin Popov, Moscow State Institute of International Relations Kayhan Barzegar, Center for Strategic Research, Iran Basheer Nafi, Al Jazeera Center for Studies  Date/Time: April 3rd, 2012, TUESDAY 10:00-12:00  Venue: SETA Ankara room, ANKARA

UN wants to see the al-Assad regime, which killed most of the 8,000+ people killed during demonstrations, to allow people to protest freely.

What the Syrian regime fails to see is that this space carved between the political occupations of 2012 and geopolitical balances is about to expire.

America will only then - if indeed it wants - be free from the three answers or the single al-Assad answer outlined above!

When the AK Party came to power in 2002, the people were finally able to say “stop” to the gang that took the state hostage during the 1990s.

Syria, which is the most wounding issue we face today, has turned into yet another test for the global platforms.

The majority of the actors, particularly those who are closely related to the Syrian crisis, do not really talk about Syria even when they are speaking about Syria.