Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05DAMASCUS5789
2005-11-02 14:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:  

OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR BASHAR'S RESIGNATION

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SY 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 005789 

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR BASHAR'S RESIGNATION

Classified By: CDA Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 005789

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION LEADER CALLS FOR BASHAR'S RESIGNATION

Classified By: CDA Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Long-time SARG critic Riad al-Turk publicly
called for President Bashar al-Asad to step down earlier this
week, a statement which has since been circulated among
Damascus civil society as a petition for signature. Press
reports and contacts indicate that other prominent activists
are holding back from endorsing Turk's call. The SARG has
not taken any action yet against Turk for this statement.


2. (C) RIAD TURK'S CALL FOR BASHAR'S RESIGNATION MOBILIZES
OPPOSITION: Prominent opposition leader Riad al-Turk demanded
the resignation of President Bashar al-Asad as a way out of
the "current crisis" during an interview on London-based
satellite station al-Demokratiya on October 30. Turk, one of
the most prominent signers of the Damascus Declaration,
stated that "our experience with the five-year rule of
Bashar al-Asad has shown to wide circles of Syrians that he
did not prove his merits as an experienced politician or
sophisticated statesman...As a result, the country
encountered difficulties that should have been avoided and
the latest was the extension for Lahoud, then the killing of
Hariri." (Note: Turk, long-time Communist Party leader in
Syria, was imprisoned by Hafez al-Asad for nearly twenty
years. Turk is considered by age and his long years in
prison as the dean of the opposition and civil society in
Syria).


3. (C) Turk,s statement, and the lack of SARG response to
it, have been lauded by a number of civil-society activists
as an important moment that has served to embolden the
opposition. Activists Mohanned al-Hasani and Anwar al-Bunni
both explained that Turk,s prominence and age have made him
'untouchable' for regime retaliation, leaving the way open
for him to make highly charged statements like this.
According to Bunni, Turk,s statement to al-Demokratiya is
now being circulated throughout Damascus civil-society
circles as a petition to be published in the near future.
However, at least one civil-society activist, Maan Abdul
Salam, told Poloff that he will not sign for fear of losing
SARG permission to hold workshops and receive foreign funding
for projects.


4. (C) Comment: Press reports indicate that many other
prominent activists are also holding back from endorsing
Turk's call. In the current atmosphere, with cross-currents
of nationalism and anti-Americanism, and criticism of the
regime whipping through the opposition and Syrian society at
large, it is doubtful if Turk's controversial call for Asad's
resignation will gain much public support. The fact that
Turk made it, and has not been jailed or harassed, however,
shows--as the Damascus Declaration did last month-- that the
regime feels itself under intense international scrutiny, and
must be cautious as it moves to silence its critics .
SECHE