UAE Emphasizes the Necessity for Arab Countries to Counter Iran and Turkey's Influence in Syria

Anwar Gargash, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, emphasized the necessity for Arab countries to play a role in Syria to counter the influence of Iran and Turkey in the country in a tweet on Thursday, December 27. The Minister stated that the role of Arab countries in Syria has become more essential than ever, and the UAE is striving to play such a role with an active presence in Damascus, as the presence of Arab countries could have a positive impact on ending the war and strengthening opportunities for establishing peace and stability for the Syrian people. The UAE reopened its embassy in Damascus on Thursday after seven years of severed relations with Syria. The UAE had closed its embassy in Damascus in 2011 as the conflict escalated. However, on Thursday, Abdul Hakim Naeimi, the chargé d'affaires of the UAE embassy in Damascus, visited the embassy and witnessed the raising of his country's flag over it. Naeimi stated that the reopening of the UAE embassy in Damascus is the first step towards the reopening of embassies of other Arab countries. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the UAE also mentioned in an interview that Syria's return to the Arab League requires consensus among the member states of the league. According to Reuters, Anwar Gargash made these remarks in an interview with Al Arabiya, a Saudi Arabian television network. Media outlets referred to the reopening of the UAE embassy in Damascus as a precursor to Syria's return to the Arab League. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in 2011 following the expansion of popular protests in Syria and the government's crackdown on these protests. Meanwhile, Reuters previously reported, citing an Arab diplomat, that now the majority of Arab League member states, except for three or four countries, want Syria to return to the league, although no formal proposal has been presented in this regard. Earlier, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, who is an Egyptian diplomat, stated that Syria's suspension from the league was a 'hasty' action. Since the protests began in Syria in 2011, the UAE, like several other Arab Gulf countries, has supported the opponents of Bashar al-Assad's government. The Syrian civil war has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced. While the opposition was able to capture large parts of Syria in the early years of the conflict, Russia's military intervention in Syria in 2015 and the presence of Iranian-backed militias shifted the balance of power in favor of Bashar al-Assad's government. Currently, Bashar al-Assad's government controls a large part of the country and major cities, and efforts to establish peace in the country are underway in cooperation with Russia, Turkey, and Iran.