Archive 2004: The Lesson of Alexandretta

IMRA'S COMMENTARY: The Lesson of Alexandretta

Aaron Lerner Date: 1 January 2004

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made an important point this week when he stated that negotiations with Syria, if renewed, would start from scratch rather than on the coastline of the Kineret (Sea of Galilee).

The "experts" however, insist that the Syrians would never accept less than
the entire Golan Heights. They point to the full Israeli withdrawal from the
Sinai as a precedent that set the standard for all future dealings with the
Arab world. Some also assert that territorial compromise is simply
impossible for Syria from a cultural standpoint.

Syrian President Assad's visit next week to Turkey provides a unique
opportunity remind the world that, when it sees fit, Syria can swallow its
pride on such matters.

Take a look at many Syrian maps of their country and you will find that they
show the port city of Alexandretta inside Syrian territory. But it has been
a part of Turkey since 1939.

Alexandretta holds a special place in the heart of President Assad and all
his fellow Allawites. Before Turkey took over control of the area,
Alexandretta was part of the Allawites autonomy inside Syria. And if this
wasn't enough, when Alexandretta was transformed into Turkish Iskenderun,
the Turks pressured non-Turks in the area who would not accept Turkish
citizenship to leave.

Syrian policy to this day is that they will never concede Alexandretta.

And yet, despite what Syria sees as the ongoing Turkish occupation of
sovereign Syrian territory, Syria and Turkey have full diplomatic relations.
And as part of Syrian efforts to warm these relations, President Assad will
soon be stepping off a plane on the first visit of a Syrian president to a
country they consider an occupier of Syrian land.

Assad isn't doing this because he accepts the Turkish occupation of a port
city in an area near and dear to his Allawite heart. He is doing this
despite it.

And that's an important precedent for the Golan Heights.
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