US embassy cable - 05DAMASCUS5789

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