Jordan as an example as the earthquake paves for “Damascus” it’s troubled legal and diplomatic paths

Target Platform – Ahmad Qatma
The central government in Damascus succeeded to some extent in exploiting the
catastrophe of the devastating earthquake on February 6 in Southern Turkey and Northwest
Syria and renewed this, on the 20th of the same month, with the am of paving the paths of
diplomacy and legitimacy that have gone lost in the past decade.
So after 12 years of estrangement between Damascus and Amman, the Jordanian Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs, Ayman Safadi, visited the
capital, Damascus, and met with “Bashar al-Assad” on the 15th of February, during which
he expressed his solidarity with the Syrian people and further affirmed that he would stand
by them in order to surmount the repercussion of the earthquake.
Al-Safadi’s visit was considered the first official visit by a Jordanian foreign minister to
Syria, since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, preceded by a phone call by Jordan’s
King Abdullah II to Bashar al-Assad where he uttered his condolences to the victims of the
earthquake.
The visit, according to Safadi himself, was also a station to discuss the bilateral relations
between Jordan and Syria as well as the determining undergone efforts for the sake of
finding a political solution that would end the crisis, the current catastrophe, and preserve
Syria’s unity, cohesion, and sovereignty, in addition to the restoration its security, stability,
and role.
The politicization of crisis and calamities

While the politicization of crises and calamities, as well as the politicization of aid and
relief work received a lot of attention and attraction among observers, especially with
Damascus seeking to exploit the crisis to return to the Arab environment that boycotted it,
the Jordanian political analyst, Salah Malkawi, stated in an exclusive interview with the
“Target Media Platform” on the Jordanian minister’s visit, that: “It comes at the heart of
managing the interests of international relations, some of which are for the purpose of
achieving gains, while the other is to invest in the crisis for the purpose of exerting
pressure on the distressed party and others again are there to open temporary bridges on
the sidelines of the crisis to benefit from it later.“
He added, “I cannot describe the foreign minister’s visit as being short on the humanitarian
side. It is true that he offered condolences in the name of the king, his name and the
name of the Jordanian people to the Syrian people, but it was an attempt to open
temporary bridges on the sidelines of the crisis to benefit from it later, and this is a
common practice in International relations, and it is not considered reprehensible from a
political point of view, despite what some may see as an exploitative position. This is in
international relations, let alone the relationship between two brotherly and neighboring
peoples as well, as in the case of Jordan and Syria, and here it must be recalled that
Jordan was one of the most affected by the war in Syria politically, economically, socially,
security and militarily.

The Syrian war and Jordan’s damage from it

Jordan was greatly affected by the Syrian crisis, as a result of the closure of the borders,
in addition to the presence of more than a million and a half Syrian refugees on its lands,
and the decrease in trade exchange from 400 million annually before 2011 to 90 million at
the present time.
This is what “Malkawi” went to by saying: “A great burden has fallen on Jordan, as a result
of receiving hundreds of thousands of Syrian brothers, fleeing from fighting and bombing,
in addition to the closure of border crossings between the two countries for several years,
which negatively affected the Jordanian economy as well as the Syrian one, in addition to
the consequences on Jordan has security and military burdens“.
He continued: “We still bear the greatest burden of it until today, and this is not evidenced
by the gangs of infiltration and smuggling of weapons and drugs that have never stopped
targeting Jordan and its stability, in addition to reminding the sectarian militias that exist
along the borders in the Syrian territories, whether in Quneitra or Daraa in its western and
eastern countryside, in addition to the province of As-Suwayda and its valleys“. The
Jordanian political analyst also mentioned the terrorist groups, saying: “There is no
evidence of that, from the killing of the terrorist organization ISIS in the Syrian village of
Jassem, located in the countryside of Daraa, two months ago“, indicating that „”Yes, the
human conditions are an opportunity to liberate the political position. These words are
correct.“
Nearly Arab consensus

Regarding the possibility of establishing a new relationship between Jordan and Syria, in
light of what some observers saw as a difference in Jordan’s position on the Syrian crisis in
recent years, when the country distanced itself from the support for the Syrian
opposition“. Salah Malkawi” stated that “it is not only Jordan whose position has changed,
but rather the position of all Arabs”. He continued by explaining: “All Arab countries
differed in their stances, and they distanced themselves from providing any support or
assistance to the Syrian opposition or the fighting factions, especially in Jordan, as we are
talking about the summer of 2018, since the re-instigation of the regime forces’ control
over all of Southern Syria under Russia’s auspices. This happened outside the Astana
agreement”.
He added: „Let us say that there is almost an Arab consensus that the situation in Syria
should not proceed in this way, and the Syrian people should not continue in this way. In
Southern Turkey, it is like ringing a reminder that there is a forgotten crisis, and that its
pain has lasted for 12 years, reminding that it must be resolved“.
It was further emphasized that the Jordanian position on the Syrian dilemma is consistent,
by stating: 12 years ago, and today, Jordan has been calling for a political solution, and its
position has not changed. The statements of the King, and the current Foreign Minister
Ayman Safadi or the former Nasser Judeh, have always been repeating, namely that Jordan
is calling for a political solution, according to international resolutions issued by the
Security Council.
Damascus and the end of political and diplomatic isolation

It is not Safadi’s first Arab visit since the earthquake occurred, as the Emirati Foreign
Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also visited the country on the 12th of
February, while the US State Department announced the temporary lifting of some
sanctions imposed on figures in the ruling regime in Damascus, with the aim of delivering
aid to those affected by the earthquake as quickly as possible.Accordingly, Damascus is accused of seeking to end its political and diplomatic isolation,
and reduce the severity of Western sanctions against it, by investing in the humanitarian
situation in northwestern Syria, as the disaster created a door to break the stalemate in
Damascus’s relations in the Arab arena. During his meeting with Safadi, Bashar al-Assad
welcomed any „positive stance” issued by the Arab countries, many of whom have broken
up relations with Damascus, since the beginning of the conflict in Syria.
In the context, Malkawi believes that Damascus has “began to really succeed in ending its
isolation politically and diplomatically,” adding, “We saw Bashar al-Assad visit Muscat as
head of state, contrary to what we have become accustomed to during the past 12 years.
We saw him on a Syrian plane, not on a plane carrying the flag of the country to which he
will be transferred as happened with Russia previously, and we even saw a Syrian plane,
and he acted according to the protocol that he used to follow before 2011, after the Syrian
authorities sent a plane that transported the Syrian officials participating in the visit
before Bashar al-Assad’s plane arrived. Furthermore, we saw a review of the honor guard,
and a public display of the visit, not as before, when It was announced after the return of
Bashar al-Assad to Syria, but rather it was announced directly,” noting that al-Assad “began
to act as if he was a legitimate head of state, and this means a kind of use of the crisis.“
Jordan and the exception to the Caesar Act

Observers believe that Jordan tried, in 2021, to obtain an American exemption from the
“Caesar” law, when King Abdullah II met with US President Joe Biden at the “White
House”, where the land borders were opened after the visit, in order to revive transit
lines.
However, the Jordanian analyst “Malkawi” did not agree with this theory, and he said to
“Target”: “We did not get an exception. The project was to transfer electricity produced by
Egyptian gas to Lebanon via Syria, and this project has not been achieved so far as a result
of reservations about it, and I do not think We got an exception. This information is
inaccurate. There is an international and Arab understanding of the sensitivity of Jordan’s
situation, due to its poor economic conditions and the burden placed on it as a result of
receiving more than a million and a half Syrians on our lands. This puts pressure on the
infrastructure, the economy and the various sectors. Jordan is moving within almost an
Arab consensus on the need to return to discussing a real solution to the Syrian crisis, and
not to remain suspended.
Regarding the possibility of freezing the Caesar Act now, due to the humanitarian
conditions resulting from the earthquake in Syria, Malkawi told Target: “The Americans will
not tolerate its application, especially during the next stage, with the escalation of the
Russian-Ukrainian war.“
And he explained the reasons by saying: “Syria has become a card for competition between
the Russians and the Americans, so I do not think that the Americans may tolerate its
application, but governments are temporary turning a blind eye on the issue because of
the earthquake and the humanitarian conditions, so that they are not held responsible for
any humanitarian disasters or tragedies that may occur. As for the political part, the
Americans seek to strengthen their cards in Syria, and the Syrian crisis is going to heat up
more than it is to be resolved, according to the American point of view“.
The new Damascus

Jordan has two frameworks, tripartite and quadruple, for joint cooperation with regional
countries, and it seems that it aspires for Syria to be part of this joint cooperation, asJordan can only supply electricity to Lebanon through Syria, just as Jordan aspires for
Syria, Iraq and Egypt to be part of a large regional project and investment projects.
This was confirmed by “Salah Malkawi” to “Target”, by saying: “It is certain that there are
ambitions that are not only Jordanian, even Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. This is the first
alliance. In fact, there is an integral part of the project that also includes Syria, but it was
not talked about because of the current conditions; we are talking about the new
Damascus, and even the quadripartite partnership also includes Syria, but all these
projects are still stalled in their Syrian part, due to the events in Syria,” adding on the
relationship between Caesar’s sanctions and cooperation frameworks between Jordan and
Syria: “I don’t think there will be leniency only by annexing Syria, whether for the tripartite
axis or the quadruple axis“.