THE INTRICASIES OF A MALIAN ‘AZAWADSTAN’ ; A RALLYING CALL FOR IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION

"Everyone knew this situation was coming; everyone knew that AQIM was present in the region; everyone knew that the Tuareg rebellion from 2008 in Mali had not been decapitated. And yet the Malians did not act."....... Bazoum Mohammed, Niger's foreign minister.        

The situation in Northern Mali, where a rebellion by Tuaregs and Islamic Militants declared a ‘liberated Azawad’ in the North of Mali and then pushed to the government-controlled South, has alarmed the international community, particularly France. From the dust raised in the recent clash between the Malian Military and extremist Islamic Militant groups, top of which is the ‘Ansar Dine and Mujao’, both are thought to be part of an extensive network of Al-Queda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)- though having different ideologies as against the Tuareg rebels of Northern Mali,  the rebellious forces united for a cause---‘shaking off Northern Mali or Azawad from Malian control’.

The vast arid North of Mali (an area the size of France) is covered by the Sahara and is populated by the Tuaregs (a nomadic people who live in Mali, Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger). Seen as light-skinned (though they are called the ‘blue people’), they’ve complained of marginalization in their respective countries of residence. As such, the Tuaregs have fought several rebellious wars against the government of Niger, Algeria and Mali.

Despite the separatist intrigues of the Tuaregs in the Sahara, their rebellions have been quelled by force and negotiations over the years by the respective governments they rebelled against. However, a statement made by the foreign minister of Niger at the recent Bamako summit in October 2012 hosted to resolve the Malian crises shows that all is not well with Mali, especially the city that hosts the tomb of 333 saints (Timbuktu)! Even her neighbours are alarmed by this dawning, gruelling fact.

The rebel-held Azawad or Northern Mali is already at a phase of derelict lawlessness, and there are fears that it may become Africa’s Afghanistan or Pakistan’s Swat valley…hence the name ‘Azawadstan’!

Among the issues calling for action in Northern Mali are:

      The clash between Tuareg separatist rebels  (MNLA) and Islamist militants. Though having variant ideologies, these groups united to kick out the Malian army from Azawad.

      The destruction of ‘mausoleums’ and tombs of Islamic scholars in Timbuktu—is regarded as a world heritage site by the UN.

      The unhindered operation of Islamic militant groups, especially (Al Queda in the Islamic Maghreb) who are turning Northern Mali into a base or training facility for launching attacks in neighbouring states.

      Most concerned is the Nigerien government, which fears that the Malian instability might just precipitate in their country and serve as a distillery for instability in the West African Subregion.

      The recent capture of Diabaly and the attack on Konna by the Islamist militants thus putting Bamako (the Malian capital) and the remaining government-controlled areas at risk of being united under one ‘Azawadstan.’

Intriguingly, the Malian crises do have some foreign undertones. It is believed to be heightened by the influx of Tuareg fighters from Libya who fought on the side of the defeated Gaddafi loyalist forces during the 2011 Libyan revolution. Surely, the Libyan conflict did not end cheaply. The proliferation of weapons during the conflict must have added to the lethal force of the Tuareg and Islamic separatist forces.

With hard lessons still being learnt from the Pakistani and Afghanistan situation, there’s a concern that the Malian case will not fall in that line.

There have been calls for an Ecowas military intervention force to liberate Northern Mali as any attempt to allow for an ‘Azawadstan’ may spark Tuareg separatist conflicts in other neighbouring countries and most the most chilling terrorist attacks in the West African subregion and even Europe!. Bearing in mind that Al-Queda-linked groups hold sway in the territory, there’s an onus to restore sanity to the rebellious territory.

The Malian North, which is a vast expanse of Sahara, may not be familiar territory for any Ecowas intervention force. Moreover, there will be a need for logistical air support from Western powers—a cause that France is spearheading. With the Islamist militants now pushing towards Bamako, the French President has acceded to demands by the Malian Prime minister for help in the face of the ignominious defeat suffered by the Malian army in the hands of the rebels. The swift response of the French has thus encouraged a mobilization of West African forces to counter the activities of the Malian Islamists.

With the international scene wary of foreign intervention in crises-ridden countries, whilst contention cannot be agreed on Syria, the world cannot afford to watch a helpless and hapless Malian regime turn into Azawadstan!

TURKEY—‘A MUCH NEEDED MIDDLE EASTERN POWER?’

The first major victory of the Seljuk Turks over the forces of the declining Byzantine Empire at the battle of Manzikert on 26th August 1071, gave prominence to the Turkic peoples especially those associated with Osman the great Turkish Muslim warrior. These peoples later became known as the Ottoman Turks or Osmanlılar (Turkish for “those associated with Osman”).

Like the battle of Gaugamela in 331BC, in which Alexander the great dealt a crushing blow to the glorious Persian armies of Darius III, the Seljuk Turks or Ottomans in series of military triumphs, dealt the final blow to what was left of Emperor Constantine’s empire in the levant in the subjugation of Constatinople by Mehmed II in 1453. The conversion of the Hagia Sophia (the capitol of orthodox Christianity and the seat of the Patriach of Constatinople) an architectural master piece of Athemios of Tralles and Isodorus of Miletus by the victorious Ottomans to a mosque emphatically announced the rise of another Islamic power after the decline of the glorious age of the Arab Caliphs and Caliphates.

The Ottomans (a non-Arab Muslim people) struck a chord different to the rulership style of their spiritual Arab brethren (the originators of Islam) in that, they sought a blend between the Orient and Occident. This was clearly emphasized in the administration of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror (1432-1481) to Süleyman I, The Magnificent (1494-1566), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520-1566), during whose reign the empire reached its zenith of power and splendour. During his reign, the Ottomans rocked the gates of Vienna----the seat of the Hapsburgs and lords of the Holy Roman empire.

At a moment when the Arabs lacked natural leadership, the Ottomans (Spiritual Bethren of the majority Arab Muslim middle east), proved a congruous force in bringing the middle east at par with advances of the ever seeking dominant European powers. The Ottomans were able to effectively administer their heterogenous religious and ethnic populations with minimal issues of tensions among the various subjugated peoples.

                              A   PATH       TO         DECLINE

In signing the treaty of Karlowitz in 1699, the Ottoman Empire began to tread the path of a steady decline and non-relevance in international politics; and by the end the first world war in 1918, the Ottoman empire was in ruins! All subjugated peoples of the empire had gotten their agitation for independence and Constatinople (the Seat of Ottoman power) was under Allied (British, French and U.S) occupation.
At the moment of Ottoman desperation, a vanguard for Turkic liberation arose in Mustafa Kemal who in his nationalistic fervour  revoked the Treaty of Sèvres and pushed the Allied occupation force out of Constatinople. Abolishing what was left in the 623 year rule of the Ottoman Sultanate in deposition of Mehmed IV Vhadettin, Turkey became a republic on November 1, 1922. Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk (Father of the Turks) instituted revolutionary reforms in his new found republic among which are:

  The abolishment of  the Sultanate and Caliphate (making Turkey a republic),

  The ban on the wearing of Islamic dress in public (the fez cap and the hijab),

  The separation of religion from state,

  The Latinization of the alphabetical characters used in writing the Turkish language—a departure from the use of Arabic alphabetical characters. He also de-Arabized the Turkish language.

  The introduction of European styled canonical law for governance.
Ever since then, Turkey began a pro-western path and it was no surprise when Turkey joined the western military alliance (NATO) in 1952; becoming a buffer against Soviet expansion in the Levant during the height of the cold war.

Thus, Turkey has been a darling to both the western powers and its Arab and Muslim neighbours in its unique relationship with both the middle orient and the occident. No wonder Turkey (a Muslim nation) has diplomatic relations with Israel (an unwanted entity to most Arabs) to the tune of joint military cooperations.

From its fall after the second world war, the population of Anatolia has witnessed a steady rise in Muslim population while the traditional Christian population has declined. Persecuted Muslim populations of the Caucasus found a welcoming home in Turkey and thus the Muslim population of Turkey has swelled from over 50% in the early 1900’s to 99%.


Despite Turkish attempts in joining the European Union after series of westernization policies, Turkish membership has been declined in reminisce of  its religious significance as a Muslim majority nation. This may not be seen as a set back for Turkish cause as she needs to identify her role as a bridge between the Levant and the Occident.

Whilst this role was well administered by the defunct Ottoman empire in its glory days, mordern day Turkey can draw an inspiration from its glorious Ottoman past. Her ability to chide Israel and still maintain diplomatic sanity with the Jewish state, walk arm in arms with the Western powers and still maintain spiritual communion with its Arab muslim neigbours most of whom practice Sunni Islam (the orthodox form of Islam) does lends a credence to any purported form of Turkish dominance of levantine politics.

Whilst Egypt, Iraq, and Syria have tried and failed trump the Arab and Muslim cause in the middle east and Iran (a majority Shiite nation) not seen as a credible option by most Sunni Arab Muslims, Turkey provides a worthy leadership.

At a time when western powers are wary of military intervention in the middle east in the face of inconclusive battles and withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, there’s a vacuum for a Muslim leadership in the middle east as the Arab league lacks clear leadership vigour in tackling the unrest in the middle east.

As the Syrian conflict drags unending with countless hundreds of thousands of civilian causalities and the UN security council powers bickering their interests rather than resolve the quagmire, the initiative beckons on Turkey to front the leadership of the Muslim middle east!

AN ELEGY FOR GADDAFI

The beauty of Libya is slain upon thy sewer holes:
how are the King of
Kings of Africa and the Imam of Muslims fallen!

Tell it not in London,
publish it not in the streets of Washington and Paris;
lest the
daughters of the "IMPERIALISTS" rejoice,
 lest the
daughters of the
COLONIST triumph.
Ye mountains of Nafusa, let there be no dew, neither
let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for the golden
pistol of Gaddafi had not been corked.




From the blood of the slain
protesters, the Guns of Khammis and Mutasim turned not back, and the
threat of Muammar returned not empty from Benghazi, thus incurring the
wrath of NATO.

Ye daughters of Libya, weep over Muammar, who shared
your oil wealth judiciously amongst your families for the benefit of
all.






How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Muammar,
thou wast slain in thine low places. Thou wast not cowardly like
Gbagbo, Ben Ali, Mubarak; though thou wast tripped from Tripoli,
Made Miserable at Misrata and Swallowed at Sirte.

Your lovers are
distressed for thee, comrade Muammar.
Very pleasant hast thou been
unto Uganda: thy love to Charles Taylor and Fordey Sankoh was
wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, and
the weapons of war perished!

SYRIA- A NEMESIS OF WORLD POWERS?

On the streets of Dimashq, Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Deraa...Syrians welcome people with an outstretched hand while saying Marhaba (“Hello”). It is however shattering to note that the once happy faces that lit the Syrian milieu is haunted by the thought of the Shabiha, Mukharabat, the Syrian army and the deafening sound of mortars and raving MIG fighter jets dropping deadly  rounds at low altitudes. No doubt, there must be war in the air!

On 31st January 2011, inspired by the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, six young Damascenes organised the first major demonstration of the Syrian uprising. They prepared placards, modest in their message, calling on the Egyptian army not to kill Egypt's young people and adding "Yes to freedom!", and they posted an invitation on Facebook urging people to show their support by demonstrating outside the Egyptian embassy. Like the hazy hamattan dust, the embers of the Arab spring had spread from its birth place in Tunisia to Libya, Egypt and across the Suez canal it found solidarity among the youth of Syria. A modest crowd of about 100 people turned up for the event, which at the time was only filmed by a Russian TV crew!

Filming by Russia?...Yes Russia for no undertones! Little was it known that this little demonstration would be quelled with the most brutal force ever imagined! The fact that Syria had been governed by emergency rule for over three decades and the Jisr al-Shughour massacre of 1980, Tadmor Prison massacre of 1980, and the Hama massacre of 1982 gives the prelude of the reaction of the Syrian government to any form of uprising. From the peaceful protests, the Syrian case turned bloody; pitting the Syrian government forces against the Free Syrian Army and other armed opposition elements. Thus, the Syrian senario began to trend the 2011 Libyan uprising.

The drenching of Libya in the Arab spring and the resultant debate for foreign intervention on the floors of the United Nations Security Council no doubt generated ripples. Aside the first Gulf war in 1990-1991, the United States had had a heck of time pulling up resolutions for intervention into middle eastern conflicts. This calls to question the Iraq and Afghanistan mess- a stench that irks the thought of international diplomats, Arabs and indeed the Islamic world. With this in mind, ‘Never again’ to American intervention remains the unsung parlance in the middle east. Whilst the Libyan case was addressed tactfully, the respite shown to the Syrian case among the world powers calls for some concern. The question is for how long will the carnage in Syria continue while nemesis brings to bare the unwholesome actions of the permanent members of the Security council? For how long will USA, UK, France vs Russia and China trade tackles, and flex their veto muscles?

Syria is a strategic country to note. It holds the world’s fourth largest arsenal of Chemical weaponry, its common border with Turkey lies at the NATO eastern frontier. It is still unfinished business between Syria and Israel. Both belligerents only ceased fire—No peace deal/treaty!.

On the quest for regional power, Syria remains strategic. From the formation of the Baath party to the days of the United Arab Republic, Syria has been a strategic ally for any serious contender for Arab dominance! Little wonder the Syria-Iran alliance which has Hezbollah and Hamas as its protegee to counterbalance 1979 peace accord between Israel and once friendly Syria friendly Egypt.

Tartus elucidates another flash point in the Syrian quagmire. A Russian Naval outlet to the Mediterranean, the divergent interplay of world powers underscores some salient undertones.

While Israel is viewed as a Zionist outpost of the United States and an unacceptable state to most nations of the Arab world (Jordan and Egypt are the only Arab nations to recognise Israel), it is consequential for the world powers to take sides in the conflict. With Israel finding a permanent ally in the US, the UK and France too may lend some sympathy to the allied cause while Russia and China try to counterbalance by backing the other party to the conflict.

The story of the Syrian dilema calls to question the consience of the civilized world. Everyday, Syrians wake up to the thought of an endless conflict, there’s a school of thought that the Syrian regime is weakening. Assassinations of some of the core members of the governing inner circle and occasional bombings of government safe points may lend some credence but that does not dispel the fact that countless Syrians are suffering from the pangs of an endless conflict. It is a tug of war with no foreseeable end: despite temporary gains made by the government and the opposition in different parts of the country, neither side can deliver a knockout blow.

The sooner the United Nations heavy weights realize this, the better. Ideologies should be put aside for the common good of the Syrian people. The failure and frustration of Kofi Annan must not be repeated in Lahkdar Brahimi!.