Lebanon's Flag at Half Mast

The Lebanese flag was raised at half mast at the Presidential Palace and the Grand Serail on Saturday in mourning for General Wissam al Hassan, who was assassinated on October 19th, 2012.  General Al Hassan was head of the Intelligence Bureau at the Internal Security Forces and was widely credited with the infiltration, capture and dismantling of numerous Isreali and Syrian clandestine cells in Lebanon.  Most recently, General al Hassan uncovered an extensive terrorism/assassination campaign ordered by Assad regime stalwarts, arresting former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha and issuing indictments against Syrian General Ali Mamlouk in the process.  The Assad regime has been widely blamed for this assassination, with some pointing a finger at Hizballah as a participant.

A Lebanese Fisherman in Syria

A Lebanese fisherman shows the marks on his back after he was arrested by Syrian forces with his nephew Maher Hamad in Arida town in northern Lebanon January 22, 2012. Syrian forces killed a Lebanese fisherman and wounded another when they seized a boat suspected of smuggling off the Lebanese-Syrian coast on Saturday (Reuters Pictures via Daylife).

A True Fraternity Between Lebanon and Syria

Lebanese and Syrian protesters burn a Hezbollah flag during a protest in solidarity with Syria's anti-government protesters, in the port city of Tripoli, northern Lebanon January 27, 2012.

Michael Young discusses Lebanon within the broader Arab Spring revolutions, as well as blossoming of a dream countless have died for: that of a healthy, fraternal relationship, based on mutual respect and sovereignty, between Lebanon and Syria. Excerpts from the article below:

On Wednesday the Syrian National Council, which is leading the opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad from abroad, made a significant gesture toward Lebanon. 

In a statement the council promised, if it took power in Syria, to turn a “new page” with Lebanon. The rapport between the two countries would be built on a foundation of respect for sovereignty and parity, as well as support for ethnic and religious diversity and pluralism. The council promised to review bilateral agreements between Beirut and Damascus—above all the Syrian-Lebanese Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation, and Coordination, signed in 1991—and abolish the Higher Council that was set up through the treaty.

The Syrian National Council also undertook to terminate the role that Syria’s security services have played in Lebanon, and more broadly to end Syrian interference in Lebanese affairs. It said that it would demarcate the Lebanese-Syrian border, especially in the Shebaa Farms area, and affirmed that it would create a committee to investigate the matter of Lebanese held in Syrian prisons.

...

The relationship between Syria and Lebanon has been an orphan of the public debate over the Syrian uprising, indeed over Arab uprisings in general. The narrative of emancipation throughout the region has been focused internally, as one of populations rejecting authoritarian leaderships. There has been little room for a consideration of another type of subjugation, namely of one Arab state by another.

That is a reason, perhaps, why the Lebanese Independence Intifada of 2005 seemed to provoke so little interest last year among those taking to the streets against their regimes. And yet so much in that revolt against Syria was replicated elsewhere in the Arab world—from the way public space was used to stage protests, to the discussion of how to place instruments of state repression under democratic control, to the optimal way of approaching international intervention.

Anyone observing the barbarity of the Syrian leadership today cannot help but spare a thought for the Lebanese, who spent 29 years in one way or another under the Assads’ thumb. There were many in Lebanon who sided with Syria during that time; the violence inflicted by Lebanese on fellow Lebanese during the civil war was appalling. But a large number of those suffering during that period—the tens of thousands killed, injured, maimed, kidnapped or humiliated by Syria or its epigones—did not merit their fate, nor were they ever consulted about what Lebanon’s affiliation with Syria should be like.

...

The nature of Syria’s relations with the Lebanese, Palestinians, Iraqis, Jordanians and Turks will be essential for assessing the success of the Syrian uprising. Syria’s opposition still must triumph and then establish a democratic government. Yet given the Assads’ proclivity for destabilizing those around them, a new order in Damascus must make it a priority to place regional relationships back on an even keel.

To its credit, the Syrian National Council has taken the first step. Now it’s up to Lebanese democrats to push in the same direction from their end, to ensure the rapid start of a dialogue between governments once that becomes possible. Beirut and Damascus are intertwined. It’s a about time that both sides benefit in equal measure.

Qatari Aid to Syrian Refugees in Wadi Khaled

People unload trucks carrying Qatari aid to be distributed to Syrian refugees in the northern Wadi Khaled area. (Antoine Amrieh/The Daily Star)

Video: Assad Regime Troops Storm Family Home in Syria

Lebanese Intellectuals Protest in Support of the Syrian People

Top: Lebanese intellectuals and journalists protest during a vigil sit-in to show their support to the Syrian protesters who demonstrate against the Syrian President Bashar Assad, at the Martyrs square, in downtown of Beirut, Lebanon, on Monday Aug. 8, 2011. Despite five months of blistering attacks on dissent, the Syrian regime has yet to score a decisive victory against a pro-democracy uprising determined to bring down the country's brutal dictatorship. President Bashar Assad still has the military muscle to level pockets of resistance, but the conflict has robbed him of almost all international support. Second: Lebanese singer Marcel Khalifa, right, holds a candle during a vigil sit-in held by Lebanese intellectuals and journalists against the Syrian regime to show their support to the Syrian ... protest against the Syrian President Bashar Assad ... Bottom: A Syrian citizen holds a candle as other holds an Arabic placard read:"Every two hours one martyr fall," during a vigil sit-in held by Lebanese intellectuals and journalists against the Syrian regime ... (AP Photo via Daylife: here; here; here and here).

BBCNews Update Video Brutal Crackdown in Syria

Ramadan Carnage in Syria

 The Financial Times reports:

The Syrian regime marked the first day of the holy month of Ramadan with an all-out assault on the protest movement, shelling the restive city of Hama, raising pressure for international action and provoking accusations of a sectarian war against the country’s majority Sunni Arab population.

An intense bombardment was reported in Hama when people were gathered for evening prayers. Tanks first resumed their attack on the city, where at least 80 people were killed on Sunday, in the early morning, with the crackdown also reported to be continuing in the eastern oil producing town of Deir Ezzor and reaching Al Bukamal near the Iraqi border.

Tanks were also reported to have stormed the town of Zabadani, a protest hotspot close to Damascus. At least eight people were estimated to have been killed in Monday’s violence.

As world powers prepared for a meeting of the UN Security Council, where Russia has so far blocked condemnation of its ally in Damascus, the European Union added five new names to its list of Syrian officials subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

...

US officials said Mrs Clinton would meet Syrian activists abroad on Tuesday.

Even Moscow warned the Syrian regime on Monday against the use of force on civilians. In Turkey, an increasingly frustrated ally of Syria, President Abdullah Gul said the images from Hama on Sunday had “horrified us”.

Protesters in Hama, site of a 1982 massacre by President Bashar al-Assad’s father that residents thought would never be repeated, remained defiant however.

...

As Ramadan dawned across Syria on Monday, the military moved in to position for another attack on Hama.

“This morning at 7.30 suddenly the city was bombed,” said Omar Habbal, an activist. “It was a very big bombardment which continued for 20-25 minutes.”

According to Mr Habbal, many of the city’s barricades, taken down by security forces on Sunday, have been rebuilt.

“We won’t give up because we have got a very big lesson from [the southern province of] Deraa, where they [the regime] took the boys and killed them and took them to mass graves.”

...

In a letter to the army, Mr Assad repeated the regime’s claim that Syria was facing a foreign conspiracy designed to sow sectarian strife and “tear Syria into small statelets that compete to satisfy those who worked to slice them up”.

Opposition activists, however, say it is the regime, dominated by the Alawite minority in a majority Sunni country, that has been deliberately stoking sectarian tensions to maintain the loyalty of minorities and raise the spectre of civil chaos.

Arab television stations have been broadcasting the unforgettable spectacle of mosque minarets with clouds of smoke over them in the conservative Sunni city of Hama on the eve of the holy month of fasting.

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose Syrian branch, which is banned inside the country has hitherto been very careful not to play up the sectarian aspect of the crackdown, issued a statement saying Syria was witnessing “a war of sectarian cleansing”.

“The regime has linked its open annihilation with the crescent of Ramadan. It is a war on the identity and beliefs of the Syrian nation ... on Arab Muslim Syria,” said the Brotherhood statement, reported by Reuters news agency.

Activists and analysts believe the escalating crackdown will prove counter-productive, just as previous attacks on other cities injected new momentum into the uprising.

“It an act of frustration and despair,” said Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut. “[Assad] knows it will backfire.”

Wissam Tarif, a human-rights activist based outside of Syria, said the question was whether the regime was willing to kill many more people to disrupt the protests, especially in Hama. In Ramadan, says Mr Tarif “every casualty will be emphasised – ...”.

Syrian Regime Troops Fire on Fleeing Refugees

A Syrian woman and her child, fleeing the violence in Syria, cross by foot into the Lebanese border village of Wadi Khaled, northern Lebanon near the Lebanese-Syrian border, July 19, 2011 (Reuters Pictures via Daylife)

The Dailystar reports:

Syrian forces opened fire on refugees fleeing into Lebanon early Saturday morning, a security source told the Daily Star.

The source said that around 30 families entered Lebanon between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. through the unofficial border crossing at Lebanese border town of Kneisseh in the Wadi Khaled area in the north. The gunfire lasted about 20 minutes. 

Refugees began fleeing into Lebanon in large numbers two months ago following a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators in Syrian frontier towns. 

Since then, Syrian troops have tightened security along the Lebanese borders, preventing people from fleeing to Lebanon. However, many Syrians continue to cross into Lebanon through, often in the middle of the night. Some have been killed or wounded in the process. 

It is not known how many Syrian refugees have fled into Lebanon since the beginning of the uprising. There are 2,000 registered Syrian refugees in the country, according to the UNHCR, but it is believed the real numbers are significantly higher. 

Syria's four-month-long popular uprising, its largest since Hafez Assad took power 40 years ago, has claimed the lives of more than 1,400, say activists. Friday saw the largest show of demonstrators to date, with more than 1.5 million anti-government demonstrators taking to the streets across the country.

Yalla Irhal Ya Bashar!

Description:

Response from the streets of Hama to Bashar's speech, with additional music & translation added by the Creative Syrian Revolution. 

The singer "Ibrahim Qashoush" was reported to be killed in Hama on 3 July 2011 by regime mercenaries, they cut his throat to try to stop his chant spreading. Please spread this to prove them wrong and show their violence will never defeat us. Additional Music & Translation added by the Creative Syrian Revolution - http://www.facebook.com/CreativeSyrian

Raw video below:

An Assad Father's Day

Libyan Truck- Welded Tank Turret

Would a Victorious Syrian People Hand Bashar Assad & Cronies to the STL?

 

One of the first videos of Syria's Arab Spring. The regime's increasing brutality led to increasing numbers in the streets demanding freedom, rights and dignity.

Maybe its wrong to engage in such fanciful musings on the [near?] future while innocent civilians are today being crushed by tanks and tortured in cellars, but one question preoccupied me this morning.

The Question: Throughout the developments in Lebanon of the past 6 years, detractors of the STL have used the argument that even if the STL were to indict [let alone find guilty] top members of the Syrian regime, no organisation, government or body was going to go into Syria, catch them, and deliver them to the Hague for trial and/or imprisonment.  As the Arab Spring has swept through Syria, one possible body for the deliverance of those called to appear in the Hague has arisen, the Syrian people themselves. Would a victorious people's revolution in Syria hand over the top echelon of the Assad regime for prosecution in an international court for the murder and assassination of various Lebanese figures & personalities (including Rafic Hariri, of course) if it were possible? Or, given that the Syrian people have revolted against repression under the banner of dignity, would they insist that any prosecution of the Assad regime address first and foremost that regime's crimes against humanity perpetrated on the Syrian people? Their dignity and rights lend themselves the latter proposal, while the practicality of having a fully functional court and proceedings lend themselves to the former.  Both of the propositions are presume a lot ... a lot a lot ... but why not, who would've thought we'd be here six months ago?

PBS Video Roundup of Brutal Crackdown in Syria

Ghaddafi Cartoon Posters

People stand next to caricatures of Moammar Khadafy in Benghazi May 8. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters via Big Picture)

Al Majalla Interviews Kamal Salibi on Arab Spring

The Majalla magazine, via , interviews renowned Arab historian, Kamal Salibi. Abridged version below, read the whole thing at Hussain Abdul Hussain's The Arab Spring blog:

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The Majalla: A few observers have argued that the ongoing Arab revolutions are similar to Europe 1848. Then, the telegraph helped spread freedom principles from one European capital to another and today social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter have managed to break Arab autocratic censorship, and thus allowed citizens to communicate, organize and disseminate their activity to win world sympathy? Do you agree with such assessment?

The ongoing Arab revolutions—if revolutions they are—do bear a striking surface similarity to the European revolutions of 1848. Beneath the surface, however, the differences are blatant. The European revolutions of 1848 aimed at replacing an existing European order that had outlived its use with a new one that was, hopefully, more promising and flexible. I have been observing the ongoing Arab revolutions from their onset to date, and apart from the catharsis they inspire, it seems to me that they still need to find their bearings. And these they would have to find from their own resources, rather than import them from friendly parties, no matter how well-meaning. As Goethe once put it, "No true refreshment can restore thee, save from what from thine own soul spontaneous breaks."

...

Q: Some argue that revolutions have hit regimes at peace with Israel or in alliance with the United States. But the fact that unrest reached Syria suggests that foreign policies account for little when it comes to the ongoing popular rage. To what extent have the traditional complaints of so called imperial schemes or the occupation of Palestine affected the Arab popular rage?

Popular rage can be real, and it can be played as a game. To be enraged, one has first to be serious, and take things seriously. Otherwise, rage becomes an insipid game of charades. The problem is, a person or body of people playing rage as a game, if caught at their game and exposed as being dishonest, can turn very dangerous. There is nothing more dangerous than someone caught at his lie.

...

Q: In February, Bernard Lewis told The Jerusalem Post in an interview: "We, in the Western world particularly, tend to think of democracy in our own terms—that’s natural and normal—to mean periodic elections in our style. But I think it’s a great mistake to try and think of the Middle East in those terms and that can only lead to disastrous results, as you’ve already seen in various places. They are simply not ready for free and fair elections." Do you agree with Lewis that the Arabs are simply not ready for democracy?

The proposition advanced by Professor Lewis is not of the sort that can be settled by argument. Arabs who are ready for democracy periodically hold free and fair elections following set norms and abide by the outcome, whatever it may chance to be. The same applies universally. Arabs who are not ready for democracy do not do this, or fail in doing it on enough scores to end up being ruled by tyrants. Denials of the Arab readiness for democracy will remain valid for as long as the Arabs (as a people, and not as a panel of brittle intellectuals) do nothing about it. It is they, and they alone, who can prove the proposition advanced by Professor Lewis right or wrong.

...

Q: The case of Lebanon. Lebanon was always viewed as vanguard on issues of democracy and governance. However, amidst the Arab spring, Lebanon seems to be the furthest away from fundamental change that is sweeping through some countries. Why is Lebanon behind this time?

Why do you consider Lebanon "behind this time?" I consider it far ahead, for as long as nobody bashes it on the head to destroy it. Next to the US, Lebanon has the oldest constitution in the world which remains in operation, ever since its promulgation on 23 May 1926. The Lebanese may not love the law as much as they should; but there is hardly a Lebanese person who cannot distinguish constitutional and legal from unconstitutional and illegal procedure, or spot the least fault in due process. Breaking the law is one thing; knowing what one is breaking is another. In political sophistication, the Lebanese are hard to beat. And one mark of their addiction to democracy is their political corruption. While I personally hate corruption in whatever form it takes, I recognize, at the same time, that only the free can be truly corrupt.

Q: Will the region see the mushrooming of democracies while Lebanon is left behind? Or do you believe that Lebanon will catch up?

Lebanon is so far ahead of the region of which it forms part that her neighbors will need centuries to catch up with her. That is, unless someone bashes us on the head and destroys us to no return.

...

Q: What's your view of the role of the United States and Europe. Do you think they are doing enough to help the Arabs achieve freedom? Are they doing too little or should they do nothing at all?

I am an Arab and I am Lebanese, and I would consider it disgraceful for me to depend on any non-Arab or non-Lebanese potentate in the world to do the things I and my ilk can do for ourselves.

Q: What's your view of the role of other powers, such as Russia, China, and now Turkey, who seem to be the first to defend the status quo (Turkey voiced support toward Qadhafi and Assad, Russia and China shows support too).

Lebanon can have friends; and friends are preferable to enemies. On the other hand, I do not relish seeing foreign powers getting overly involved in our happy little world—so it can remain a happy little world.

Hizballah Still on the Wrong Side of Arab Spring

Video allegedly shows Syrian protesters in the city of Homs burning the Hizballah flag on May 22 2011.

Michael Young with an excellent view of Hizballah's headaches when it comes to the Arab Spring - and the Syrian Revolution in particular:

...

First, as hard as Nasrallah tries, he just cannot seem to convince Arabs anymore that “resistance” must be given priority over most other aspects of their lives. In Egypt, Tunisia and Syria, people have talked about emancipation, democracy and liberty, with the targets of their opprobrium almost exclusively domestic. Protestors may dislike America and Israel, but for now their aim is to rewrite failed social contracts, impose states that reflect their needs, and be rid of leaders and their families who have suffocated and robbed them for decades.

...

There was something terribly off-key in Nasrallah’s comments, showing how alienated he seems to be from the spirit of this Arab moment. The language of rockets, guns and combat is jarring against a backdrop of societies demanding freedom. In armed resistance there is an implicit call for regimentation, for compulsory unity and the banishment of dissent in the greater cause of defeating the enemy. Yet everything about the Arab uprisings has been directed at undermining regimentation and authorizing dissent. Those in the region know all too well that their despots have spent decades using the conflict with Israel as justification for building up vast military and security apparatuses to facilitate open-ended internal repression.

Nasrallah’s second cause of fear is that he’s on the wrong side of the revolt in Syria. Hezbollah, which has always claimed to be the champion of the downtrodden, is defending a leadership crushing its own people. Nasrallah is covering for the soldiers, security officers and gang members who have fired live ammunition at unarmed civilians, killing an estimated 1,100 people in the last two months. He is covering for the unit in Daraa that placed a prisoner under a tank tread before running him over twice, tearing him to shreds.

... The reaction on social media outlets was acerbic from many in Syria. They saw that in defense of his party’s and Iran’s interests, Nasrallah would abandon justice and applaud their tormentors. If Syrian protestors prevail, they will not soon forgive him his double-standards.

A third headache for Nasrallah is that he now finds himself at the epicenter of a sectarian confrontation in the Middle East. For a long time Hezbollah managed to transcend Sunni-Shia differences thanks to its accomplishments on an issue that most Arabs sympathize with, namely the battle against Israel. But much has changed since then. To a great extent Iran’s Arab enemies have made headway in portraying the Islamic Republic and Hezbollah as pursuing a project of Shia hegemony, regardless of the merits of such an accusation.

And in Syria Hezbollah’s ally, the Assad regime, also appears to be implementing a sectarian strategy. Many Arabs will have read or heard lately that Alawites are expelling Sunnis from places such as Tal Kalakh. Even diplomats in Beirut worry that this may be a step in establishing an ethnically cleansed Alawite mini-state. It would be disastrous for Nasrallah if a majority of Arabs were to begin lumping his Shia community together with the Alawites in an alleged partnership against Sunnis. He knows that for Hezbollah to be depicted as a sectarian group would undermine it as the vanguard in a model of regional resistance. And yet this has already started.

Hassan Nasrallah is behind the curve on what is going on around us in the Middle East. The Hezbollah leader is employing both rhetoric and imagery that are anachronistic in these transformative times. The future, we hope, will bring a promise of free societies, the reflexes of compromise and greater pluralism. If that fails, as it may, Nasrallah will have saved himself; but at the expense of many innocents.

Dorothy Parvaz Discusses Detention in Syria

 

After returning to Doha, Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz has described her experiences while being detained in Syria for three days and then in Iran for 16 more.

Parvaz was first held and interrogated in Damascus, Syria's capital, upon her arrival there on April 29 to cover anti-government demonstrations.

She was then deported to Iran. She was finally freed on Wednesday morning.

Michael Moore: People of Syria, History is on Your Side

 

... via Angie Nassar at NOWLebanon Blog ...

Erdogan has doubts about Assad

Protesters chant slogans as they hold Syrian flags during a demonstration after Friday prayers on April 29, 2011 in Istanbul against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the deadly crackdown on opposition protests. About 1,000 people demonstrated in Istanbul Friday to denounce a bloody crackdown on protests in Syria, calling for President Bashar al-Assad's departure. Following Friday prayers at an ancient mosque, the crowd, including Syrians based in Turkey's largest city, staged a march, chanting slogans against Assad and burning his portraits ... (Getty Images via Daylife)

Some light analysis,via Reuters, on Turkey's inability to get the Assad regime to reform (duh!):

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Having embraced Assad as a new found friend in recent years, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has been reduced to hand-wringing over the killing of unarmed civilian protesters after the Syrian leader turned tanks against their own cities.

...

Erdogan, whose foreign policy over the past decade has been to eliminate all Turkey's old problems with neighbours, increase trade and become a regional power, says that when the first Arab popular uprising broke out in Tunisia, he urged Assad to reform.

Late last month Erdogan sent his intelligence chief to Damascus to try to persuade Assad to take the reform path, but there was no sign of success. "Could Turkey have done anything more -- I don't think so," said Soli Ozel, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Bilgi University.

"The real problem concerns Turkey's claims of influence, its abilities and capacities," he said. "It could not induce Bashar al-Assad or the Baathist regime to implement reforms in time."

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"Syrian issues are almost an issue of domestic policy for us," Erdogan said on Monday in an interview with Channel 7, a Turkish television station regarded as close to his party.

Erdogan said more than 1,000 people had been killed in Syria and that he did not want to see a repeat of the 1982 bloodshed in Hama, where Assad's father crushed an Islamist uprising, or the 1988 gassing of Kurds in the Iraqi town of Halabja during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, who headed Iraq's Baathists.

Paul Salem, from the Carnegie Endowment think tank in Washington, said Turkey would have done better in the eyes of many Arabs by speaking out more strongly against the actions of Assad and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's security forces.

"The Arab uprisings are effectively calling for the Arab world to be more like Turkey, democratic, with a vibrant civil society and political pluralism, secularism alongside Islam, and a productive and fairly balanced economy," Salem wrote in the Los Angeles Times this week. "This could have been Turkey's moment in the Middle East: the moment was lost."

...

"So far, the Iranians have more influence on the Syrian government than the Turkish government," Walid Saffour, the London-based president of the Syrian Human Rights Committee, told Reuters during a meeting of Syrian opposition and rights groups in Istanbul in late April.

"But I think if the Syrian government is sane enough to listen to the language of logic, it will listen to the advice of the Turkish government."

Hardliners in the Syrian government could be antagonised if Erdogan pushed harder for urgent reforms and more restraint.

"Because Turkey couldn't unequivocally support the Syrian regime the way Iran has, the Syrians are rather cross with Turkey," said Ozel. "Relations are going to be frostier."

Turkey and Syria, which share an 850-km (530-mile) border, have come along way since 1998 when they almost went to war over Kurdish militants operating from Syrian territory.

Erdogan and Assad have had a visible rapport. In the past couple of years visa requirements were dropped for travel between the two countries, and Turkish and Syrian ministers have held regular strategic cooperation meetings.

Just a couple of weeks earlier, Erdogan revealed growing uncertainty over Assad's intentions regarding reforms.

"Honestly I am having doubts," Erdogan told the ATV news channel, adding he was unsure if Assad was being blocked, or he feared that reforms would not work, or he was being indecisive.

...

Critics say that Erdogan's reluctance to choose sides stems from concern over Turkey's sizable business interests in Libya and Syria. Though in the case of Libya, Erdogan's first priority was evacuating more than 20,000 Turks working there.

... It is a familiar position for Erdogan to be in. Two years ago he congratulated Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his victory in an election the opposition said was fixed.

Last year, Erdogan opposed the imposition of more U.N. sanctions on Iran over its refusal to curb its nuclear energy programme and dispel concerns that it may be aimed at developing atom bombs, rather than generate electricity as Tehran says.

...

... Despite having good relations with repressive governments, they [the Turks] say they want democracy to triumph in the region. They had no qualms about the toppling of autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia in January and February.

...

For Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, nowhere poses more risk than Syria, with its mix of Sunni Arabs, Alawites, Kurds and Druze.

"This will hit us in the end," Erdogan told ATV two days after the first refugees crossed into Turkey in late April.