Don't expect Turkey and Syria to normalise relations any time soon

Turkish talk urging reconciliation between Assad and the Syrian opposition has met with hostility, but from refugees to deep animosity there are huge hurdles to clear

Demonstrators with a Syrian opposition flag protest against Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's comments on reconciliation, in the rebel-held city of Azaz, Syria, 12 August (Reuters)

By Ragip Soylu in Ankara
Published date: 13 August 2022 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's revelation on Thursday that he met his Syrian counterpart after a decade of broken ties over Syria's civil war has surprised and angered many, including the rebel groups and civilians in opposition-held northern Syria.

But don't expect any diplomatic breakthrough between Ankara and Damascus any time soon, sources and experts told Middle East Eye.

Cavusoglu said he met Faisal Mekdad in Belgrade in October on the margins of the Non-Aligned Movement summit.

"There, too, I conveyed that the only solution for Syria was political reconciliation," he said.

"Terrorists should be cleared from Syria. On the other hand, I said that there should be peace between the Syrian opposition and the regime, and that we, as Turkey, can provide support in such a situation."

'I don't think anyone could find a middle ground and cut a deal right now. It would take a long time to bridge differences between them'

- Oytun Orhan, analyst

Cavusoglu was responding to a question asking whether there was a possibility of a phone call between Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria's Bashar al-Assad, which was alleged by a recent Turkish newspaper report with dubious sourcing.

Cavusoglu said that "right now" there were no diplomatic contacts between Ankara and Damascus.

Domestic pressure is growing on Ankara to warm relations with Damascus. The Turkish opposition's calls for a reconciliation between Turkey and Syria are increasing every day as the public grows increasingly hostile to the nearly four million Syrian refugees in the country.

A Turkish official said there was nothing new in Cavusoglu's statement, which referenced the political negotiations conducted through the Syrian government and the opposition in Geneva and later Nur-Sultan, formerly Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

"Turkey is already trying to establish peace through these formal mechanisms," the source said. "But the regime blocks progress, as they do at the committee that works on drafting a constitution."
Seeking common ground

In recent weeks, Erdogan has vocally supported the prospect of a fresh Turkish offensive on Syrian Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, specifically around the cities of Tal Rifaat and Manbij.

Last week, the Turkish president said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, proposed that Ankara work with the Syrian government to clear Kurdish YPG militants from those locations. But sources told MEE that Ankara doesn't believe that Damascus has neither the will nor the power to do so.

Oytun Orhan, a Middle East expert at the Ankara-based Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, says there are parties in both the Turkish and Syrian governments who are calling for normalisation and suggesting a deal could be cut over PKK-linked groups such as the YPG and the return of refugees.

"However, Syrian regime officials speaking to a local news agency this week made clear that their government wouldn't even meet with any Turkish officials until Turkey completely withdraws from northern Syria," Orhan said.

"I don't think anyone could find a middle ground and cut a deal right now. It would take a long time to bridge differences between them on the PKK and refugees."

Ongoing dialogue

The Syrian government became an international pariah when it violently cracked down on protests in 2011 and sparked a civil war that is continuing and believed to have cost half-a-million lives.

But in recent years, many Arab countries, most prominently the UAE, have resumed ties with Damascus. Several have been urging the Arab League to reinstate Syria, and meanwhile Washington has held direct talks with Syrian officials seeking compromises and the release of US journalist Austin Tice.

Crippled by a decade of war, harsh sanctions and a shocking economic crisis, Damascus is keen to re-engage, but many in Ankara find the Syrian government's conditions for talks, not only with Turkey but also with the US and the Arab League, unrealistic.

Turkey's Cavusoglu says he met Syrian foreign minister in October

Read More »

Despite Syria's insistence on major concessions for talks, both Cavusoglu and Erdogan have said discussions between the two countries are being conducted through their respective intelligence agencies.

Murat Yesiltas, a security expert at Ankara-based think-tank SETA, said Ankara has never used these intelligence dialogues to pursue normalisation.

"They directly talked to the Syrian muhkabarat [secret police] and discussed issues related to specific and tangible security files," Yesiltas told MEE. "I don't think there are any plans to change Turkey's Syria policy, but they still might be testing the waters."

Yesiltas said the Turkish government nevertheless needs to ease the domestic pressure it is facing over the issue of refugees, with less than a year until presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey, but finding a solution isn't easy.

"It needs to be done through a deal with the regime, or you will evacuate more territories in Syria and allow more refugees to return to those areas," he said.

"But I don’t think Turkey can cut such a deal with the regime yet or anyone would want to return to regime-held territories."

Thousands of Bangladesh tea workers strike 


Bangladesh's tea garden workers protest in Srimangal on August 13, 2022. Nearly 150,000 workers at more than 200 Bangladeshi tea plantations went on strike Saturday to demand a 150 percent rise to their dollar-a-day wages, which researchers say are among the lowest in the world. (AFP)

AFP
Published: 13 August ,2022

Nearly 150,000 workers at more than 200 Bangladeshi tea plantations went on strike Saturday to demand a 150 percent rise to their dollar-a-day wages, which researchers say are among the lowest in the world.

Most tea workers in the overwhelmingly Muslim country are low-caste Hindus, the descendants of laborers brought to the plantations by colonial-era British planters.

The minimum wage for a tea plantation worker in the country is 120 taka a day -- about $1.25 at official rates, but only just over a dollar on the free market.

One worker said that was barely enough to buy food, let alone other necessities.

“Nowadays we can’t even afford coarse rice for our family with this amount,” said Anjana Bhuyian, 50.

“A wage of one day can’t buy a liter of edible oil. How can we then even think about our nutrition, medication, or children's education?” she told AFP.

Unions are demanding an increase to 300 taka a day, with inflation rising and the currency depreciating, and said that workers in the country’s 232 tea gardens began a full-scale strike on Saturday, after four days of two-hour stoppages.

“Nearly 150,000 tea workers have joined the strike today,” said Sitaram Bin, a committee member of the Bangladesh Tea Workers’ Union.

“No tea worker will pluck tea leaves or work in the leaf processing plants as long as the authority doesn’t pay heed to our demands,” he told AFP.

Plantation owners have offered an increase of 14 taka a day, after an 18-taka rise last year and M. Shah Alom, chairman of the Bangladesh Tea Association, said operators were “going through difficult times with profit declining in recent times.”

“The cost of production is increasing. Our expenses have increased as the price of gas, fertilizer and diesel have gone up,” he told AFP.

Researchers say tea workers -- who live in some of the country's most remote areas -- have been systematically exploited by the industry for decades.

“Tea workers are like modern-day slaves,” said Philip Gain, director of the Society for Environment and Human Development, a research group, who has written books on tea workers.

“The plantation owners have hijacked the minimum wage authorities and kept the wages some of the lowest in the world.”

Sri Lanka allows entry for controversial Chinese vessel


A group of Sri Lankan visitors at the new deep water shipping port watch Chinese dredging ships work in Hambantota, 240 kilometers (149 miles) southeast of Colombo, on March 24, 2010. (Reuters)

AFP, Colombo
Published: 13 August ,2022

Sri Lanka’s government granted permission on Saturday for a controversial Chinese research vessel to visit the island despite neighboring India’s concerns that it could spy on New Delhi’s military installations, officials said.

The Yuan Wang 5 is described as a research and survey vessel by international shipping and analytics sites, but according to Indian media it is a dual-use spy ship.

New Delhi is suspicious of Beijing’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean and influence in Sri Lanka, seeing both as being firmly within its sphere of influence.

The Yuan Wang 5 was originally due to call at Sri Lanka’s Chinese-run Hambantota port on August 11, only for Colombo to ask Beijing to indefinitely defer the visit following India’s objections.

But Sri Lanka’s harbor master, Nirmal P Silva, said he had received foreign ministry clearance for the ship to call at Hambantota from August 16 to 22.

“The diplomatic clearance was received by me today. We will work with the local agent appointed by the vessel to ensure logistics at the port,” Silva told AFP.

Foreign ministry sources confirmed that Colombo had renewed permission for the visit, which had initially been granted on July 12, a day before former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled following months of protests over the country’s worst-ever economic crisis.

Rajapaksa - whose brother Mahinda borrowed heavily from China while president from 2005 to 2015 - resigned after escaping to Singapore.

Tens of thousands of protesters overran his palace and home in Colombo after accusing him of mismanagement in an economic crisis that has led to acute shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

Port officials said the Chinese vessel was about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south-east of Sri Lanka on Friday night and was heading slowly toward the Hambantota deep sea port.

Sri Lanka leased the port to China for 99 years for $1.12 billion, less than the $1.4 billion Sri Lanka paid a Chinese company to build it.

According to Indian reports, the Yuan Wang 5 could be employed for space and satellite tracking, and has specific uses in intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

The Indian government has expressed concern that the ship could spy on its activities, and had lodged a complaint with Colombo.

New Delhi’s foreign ministry has said it will closely monitor “any bearing on India’s security and economic interests and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them.”

Taliban use violence to break up rare women's protest

Kabul marchers demanded freedom and justice after a year under repressive rule of hardliners

Afghan women stage a protest in Kabul that was broken up by the Taliban on Saturday. 

AFP
AFP

Aug 13, 2022

The Taliban beat women protesters and fired into the air as they violently dispersed a rare rally in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Saturday, days before the first anniversary of the hardliners' return to power.

Since seizing power on August 15 last year, the extremist group have rolled back the marginal gains made by women during the two decades of US intervention in Afghanistan.

About 40 women chanting “Bread, work and freedom” marched in front of the education ministry building in Kabul, before Taliban members dispersed them by firing their guns into the air.

Some of the women who took refuge in nearby shops were chased and beaten with rifle butts.

The protesters carried a banner reading “August 15 is a black day” as they demanded the right to work and participate in politics.

“Justice, justice. We're fed up with ignorance,” chanted the protesters, many of whom were not wearing face veils.

Some journalists covering the protest — the first women's rally in months — were also beaten by the Taliban fighters.

Afghan women living under Taliban rule - in pictures




















This combination of photos shows women posing for portraits in different cities in Afghanistan. Since their takeover a year ago, the Taliban have squeezed Afghan women out of public life, imposing suffocating restrictions on where they can work, how they can travel and what they can wear. All photos by AFP

After seizing power, the Taliban had promised a softer version of the harsh interpretation of Islamist rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

But many restrictions have already been reimposed.

Tens of thousands of girls have been shut out of secondary schools, while women have been barred from returning to many government jobs.

Women have also been banned from travelling alone on long trips, and can only visit public gardens and parks in the capital on days separate from men.

READ MORE
Taliban takeover one year on: Afghanistan's only female guide is now running virtual tours
A year under Taliban: young girls are more 'depressed, hungry and anxious'
Education for Afghan girls has become an issue of money under the Taliban

In May, the country's leader and chief of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, ordered women to fully cover themselves in public, including their faces — ideally with an all-encompassing burqa.

Some Afghan women tried to stand firm against the curbs, holding small protests.

But the Taliban soon rounded up the protest leaders, holding them incommunicado while denying they had been detained.

Updated: August 13, 2022, 

Taliban fighters break women's stir by beating protesters, journalists: Report

World News

Published on Aug 13, 2022 

• Taliban fighters tore the banners that the women demonstrators displayed and confiscated mobile phones of many protesters. Some journalists - covering the stir - were also reportedly beaten by the fighters.

Taliban fighters walk as they fire in air to disperse Afghan women protesters in Kabul on Saturday, August 13, 2022. Photo by Wakil KOHSAR/AFP

Written by Sharangee Dutta | Edited by Swati Bhasin, New Delhi

Two days before the Taliban marks the first anniversary of Afghanistan takeover, fighters of the hardline group beat women protesters and fired in the air on Saturday as they dispersed a rally in the capital city of Kabul. Nearly 40 women marched and gathered outside the education ministry building chanting “bread, work and freedom” before Taliban fighters broke them up by firing in the air, news agency AFP reported. Some women protesters who took shelter in nearby shops were chased and thrashed by the fighters with their rifle butts.

Some journalists covering the stir - the first women's rally in several months - were also reportedly beaten by the fighters.

Also Read | Women rights crumbling under Taliban regime "depressing": Afghan feminists

The women protesters carried a banner that read - ‘August 15 is a black day’ - as they demanded rights to work and political participation. Zholia Parsi, one of the organisers of the demonstration, told AFP that Taliban fighters tore their banners and also confiscated mobile phones of many women. The demonstrators chanted: “Justice…we're fed up with ignorance”, with many not wearing face veils.

Also Read | Taliban fighters swap arms for books as hundreds return to school

Despite promising a softer version of their rigid rule during the 1990s, Taliban have imposed several restrictions, especially on women's rights, ever since it came to power last year on August 15. Thousands of young girls have been out of secondary schools as they continue to remain shut, while many women have been prohibited from returning to several government jobs.

Taliban have also banned women from travelling alone on long trips and allowed them to only visit parks and public gardens in Kabul on days different from men.

Furthermore, in May, Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered women to completely cover themselves in public, including their faces.

The United Nations and other rights groups have consistently lashed out at the regime for imposing curbs on women. In May, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, told reporters in Kabul that the policies of the Islamist group show a “pattern of absolute gender segregation and are aimed at making women invisible in the society”.

Not just women, Afghanistan has been drowning in poverty ever since the Taliban took control. The situation has escalated to new levels triggered by drought, and inflation since Russia's offensive in its former Soviet neighbour Ukraine.

WTF!!!

UK

Sunak’s extremism plans could criminalise supporters of Welsh and Scottish independence

03 Aug 2022

Rishi Sunak. Photo Jacob King PA Images

Tory leadership hopeful Rishi Sunak has been warned that plans to treat those who “vilify” Britain as extremists could criminalise supporters of Scottish and Welsh independence.

The plans floated earlier today included widening the “definition of extremism to include people who vilify the country”.

According to the Telegraph newspaper, “sources in the Sunak camp said he believed extremists did not just want to attack the UK’s values but also the country’s very existence”.

Rishi Sunak pledged to focus on “rooting out those who are vocal in their hatred of our country”.

independence campaigners

Dr Maria Norris, assistant professor in international relations at Coventry University, told The Scottish National the plans were an attack on independence campaigners.

“That is very, very telling as those who are arguing for and campaigning for Scottish independence or Welsh independence or Irish reunification, they do want the United Kingdom to stop existing as it currently is,” she said.

“So is this going to be a form of extremism as well?”

“I have been researching UK counter-terrorism for decades, I am an expert on terrorism and extremism and this is not something you see from Islamic terrorism.

“They are not attacking the UK’s right to exist or anything like that, the whole thing about attacking the country’s very existence – that is about separatism and independence, so it is a very deliberate inclusion.

“It is an attack, really, on those that are campaigning for independence.” she added.

Counter-terrorism chief Sir Peter Fahy, who was also chief constable of Greater Manchester police, told The Guardian that “vilification” could be far too broad a brush to define extremism.

“The widening of Prevent could damage its credibility and reputation. It makes it more about people’s thoughts and opinions.

“It is straying into thought crimes and political opinions.

“Political opposition is not where police should be, it is those who pose a serious threat and risk of violence, not those opposed to political systems.”

Rishi Sunak’s new policy announcement comes as he and leadership rival Liz Truss are set to conduct the latest in a string of hustings in Cardiff today.

UK: Rishi Sunak's Prevent proposals are truly Orwellian

It is anti-racism that the government defines as extremist and not racism itself. This is not a sign of worrying authoritarianism to come - it is already here

Rishi Sunak, Britain's former chancellor of the exchequer and candidate to become the next prime minister, leaves his house in west London on 20 July 2022 (AFP)

John Holmwood
12 August 2022

Rishi Sunak’s announcement that he would use Prevent - the government’s counter-extremism strategy - against those who "vilified" Britain has attracted much derision.

At the same time, he proposed the redirection of Prevent away from right-wing extremism, to the dismay of researchers and teachers. They have identified a rising number of referrals associated with right-wing extremism and a lowering of the age at which young people are accessing extremist material online.

The issue is not to seek an 'equal opportunities' Prevent - one applied to the right-wing as well as to supposed 'Islamists' - but to understand how Prevent undermines the rights of everyone

Sunak also proposed that there should be a "weeding out" of charities and organisations that supported extremism.

This has been widely viewed as "red meat" for Tory members as he seeks to close the gap with Liz Truss in the Tory leadership battle. Her response was interesting. She thought it was all a bit "thin" and a restatement of what was already government policy.

She is right. For those who think this is a sign of worrying authoritarianism to come, it is a wake-up call about what is already in place.

The issue is not to seek an "equal opportunities" Prevent - one applied to the right-wing as well as to supposed "Islamists" - but to understand how Prevent undermines the rights of everyone.

It is also important to understand how Prevent (and wider counter-terrorism legislation) generates a moral panic about children and young people.
'Adultification' of Black children

The shocking treatment of Child Q and other children has cast a light on the "adultification" of Black children. This is also a feature of Prevent applied to ethnic minority children more generally. If not strip-searched, they are nonetheless regularly subject to interview by counter-terrorism police without a responsible adult being present.

This is occurring to thousands of children each year. Yet they are not under suspicion of a terrorism offence, only of potentially coming under the influence of an extremist "ideology".

But what of the reports that a child as young as 13 has been found guilty of a terrorist offence? First, let us recall that the Home Office’s internal review of the Prevent Strategy in 2011 expressed no concern about the radicalisation of children and no concern about publicly-funded schools.

Rishi Sunak launches plans to refer those who 'vilify Britain' to Prevent

Read More »

This changed after the Birmingham Trojan Horse affair, which was used to establish a Prevent safeguarding duty on all public authorities, including schools.

Children under 15 make up around a third of all referrals (there were 7,318 referrals in total in 2017-18, the last full year before Covid, and fewer than five percent were deemed serious enough to warrant a Channel intervention).

What has also changed is that the government passed a new Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act in 2019. This was widely criticised at the time, including by Liberty, for introducing new non-violent terrorism offences such as the "reckless" expression of support for a proscribed organisation, the publication of associated images (such as flags), and viewing material over the internet (which can include just one viewing).

The government is now discovering that this act is drawing in more right-wing offenders than "Islamists".

But it is not clear what the role of Prevent would be for identifying supposed precursor indicators. After all, the issue is not online access at school - this is already monitored - and the problem of the legislation is that an individual passes easily and quickly to (possibly inadvertently) commit an offence.
'Pop-up' ads

We anticipate the government plans to take action under the Protect and Pursue strands of its counter-terrorism strategy, rather than Prevent.

This would involve the use of data analytics to provide Home Office "pop-up" ads for individuals who meet a specified profile warning them about going further. This is already done for pre-crime knife interventions (say, a 16-year-old male accessing an online DIY site receiving a message, asking if he is looking for a knife and warning not to proceed).

The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act (2019) also included a clause requiring an Independent Review of Prevent. This was to be the first review of Prevent since 2011. Indeed, the extensive powers it embodies have no statutory oversight (as is the case of terrorism legislation for which there is an independent reviewer and annual reports).

Muslims leave after the Eid al-Fitr prayer, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, at Bradford Central Mosque, northern England, 13 May 2021 (AFP)

However, the government has subverted its independence (by the appointment of William Shawcross), leading to a boycott by Muslim civil society organisations and wider human rights groups. They have also delayed the report. In the meantime, they have been pressing ahead with changes to Prevent. I will detail a few of these before returning to the issue of right-wing extremism.

The first is the refocusing of the Home Office on Prevent in its security aspects. This is indicated by the closure of the Building a Stronger Britain Together programme and the concentration of community cohesion activities in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, where Sarah Khan was appointed in March 2021 as an independent adviser for social cohesion and resilience.

Khan was formerly the head of the Commission for Countering Extremism in the Home Office. An interim head, Robin Simcox, was appointed in March 2021. He has strong links with neo-conservative and far-right think tanks.

His first announcement was the need to redefine the policy toward right-wing extremism to distinguish far-right groups who operated within the law which, he claimed, were part of normal democratic politics. In the period since his appointment, the commission has been largely inactive, judging by its recently published annual report.

Denied public funding

It has recently been announced that Simcox will be the new head of the Commission for Countering Extremism. But what will its role be? A clue is found in Sunak’s statement. It mirrors a recent report from Policy Exchange which recommends that its role should be research into extremism, countering criticisms, and evaluating and providing certification for NGOs in terms of their alignment with government policy.

Those that are not properly aligned should be denied public funding and engagement by government and local authorities alike. Their only targeted organisations are Muslim NGOs which they describe as "Islamist", notwithstanding their express commitment to democratic and lawful means. The Commission for Countering Extremism is designed to function in a manner equivalent to George Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.

The Commission for Countering Extremism is designed to function in a manner equivalent to George Orwell’s 'Ministry of Truth'

This is what it means to redirect the focus of Prevent, and it is already in train.

But the nature of democratic and lawful means is also in question in the context of the new Public Order Bill and the creation of new criminal offences associated with extra-parliamentary action.

In effect, new laws create a new set of offences, and new offences create a widened penumbra of pre-crime behaviours or attitudes in which the Prevent strategy sits.

So, at the same time as there is an intention to refocus away from right-wing extremism, there is an expansion of concern elsewhere. This is more or less where Sunak put it, and why Truss said that what he was proposing was nothing new.

The Department for Education’s guidelines as to what counts as extremism in curriculum material are very clear: “schools should not under any circumstances work with external agencies that take or promote extreme positions or use materials produced by such agencies.

"Examples of extreme positions include, but are not limited to: promoting non-democratic political systems rather than those based on democracy, whether for political or religious reasons or otherwise; teaching that requirements of English civil or criminal law may be disregarded whether for political or religious reasons or otherwise; engaging in or encouraging active or persistent harassment or intimidation of individuals in support of their cause; promoting divisive or victim narratives that are harmful to British society; selecting and presenting information to make unsubstantiated accusations against state institutions.”
Fever dream

I have emphasised how the definition includes religion as a category alongside politically extremist positions. But notice the last two categories that relate to so-called "woke" criticisms of structural racism, as well as to accusations against state institutions.

I have already indicated that the implication of the government’s ignoring of right-wing extremism online is partly because it is taking place outside schools, colleges, and other publicly regulated spaces. There are things that schools could do, such as anti-racist education.

An alternative to Prevent? How about democracy Read More »

This has been systematically dismantled by the government in the sense that it provides no directed support for it and local authorities that used to take the lead have no responsibility for academy schools (which make up three-quarters of all secondary schools in England).

More concerning, however, is the fact that it is anti-racism that the government defines as extremist and not racism.

Recent announcements have not been a fever dream brought on by the politics of the Conservative leadership race from which we shall all wake up and return to reality once a new leader is announced in September.

The fever dream is the reality we are currently living.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.


John Holmwood is Professor of Sociology at University of Nottingham and was expert witness for the defence in the professional misconduct case brought against senior teachers in the Birmingham Trojan Horse affair.

Who was al-Farabi? The renowned Muslim philosopher and musical theorist

Known in the west as Alpharabius, the intellectual had a significant influence in a number of disparate fields, especially music and Aristotelian philosophy

Al-Farabi is known for his theories on the ideal society, as well as on music 

(Public domain)

By Nadda Osman
11 August 2022 

Little is known for certain about Abu Nasr al-Farabi’s origins but many historians suspect he was born somewhere in central Asia around 878 CE and was likely of Persian origin.

Known as Alfarabius by medieval Latin scholars, Farabi was a Muslim polymath who lived during the early stage of what has come to be known as the “Islamic golden age”.

The term refers to a period starting in the late ninth century and lasting until around the mid-13th century in which Muslim scholars working primarily in the Arabic language made great advances in the sciences, philosophy, and mathematics, among other fields.

Farabi made significant contributions to these areas of study, but his standout work was on Aristotelian philosophy.

Like other Muslim intellectuals of the era, Farabi’s influence lay not only in his original ideas but also because he helped preserve the ancient Greek scholarship that became available to the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of the Levant in the seventh century.

In particular, Farabi and his peers made the works of Greek philosophers more accessible with their commentaries and explanations.

Who was al-Farabi?

The Muslim scholar grew up in Damascus and lived during the rule of the Abbasid caliphs, to whom he offered his services.

As he did not write an autobiography, more is known about his ideas than the man himself.

Nevertheless, his name suggests Persian ancestry and he lived during a period when non-Arab officers were able to advance to higher ranks in Muslim armies.

Many historians suspect that his father was a military officer of Persian origin and that he was probably born in what is today Afghanistan. Others believe that Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan are more likely candidates for his birthplace.

A stamp issued in Qatar in 1971 commemorates al-Farabi (Wikimedia )

Secondary sources describe Farabi as an introverted character who spent most of his time studying in the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.

Some sources suggest that he was influenced by the Sufi tradition of Islam and that he spent time in the city of Bukhara, which is in what is Uzbekistan today, and was once a major centre for Islamic learning.

During a prolific career, Farabi worked as a jurist and academic, producing works on logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, music, and medicine, as well as other fields.

Greek inspiration

Farabi is most widely known for his commentaries on Aristotle and Plato’s works, which he published in his book, Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. The book includes summaries and interpretations of their works and goes into topics such as the origins of modern philosophy.

The Muslim philosopher's ideas on logic (mantiq) stated that the notion originated from the concept of speech. Ancient philosophers used an inward speech to articulate concepts that lack a physical form.

In his book The Attainment of Happiness, Farabi wrote that the ultimate point of logic was to achieve happiness because that was the purpose of life and the main reason for human existence. Accordingly, anything that obstructs a person from achieving happiness is evil.

A statue of al-Farabi is seen in front of the Kazakh National State University

 (Wikimedia Commons)

The pursuit of happiness was made up of four virtues, including the theoretical (knowledge of what is true and good), the deliberative (knowledge of how to attain what is good), the moral (desire for good), and practical acts (conduct to attain what is good).

His work was also influenced by Islamic theology and he distinguished between worldly happiness and that of the afterlife, which Muslims are meant to strive towards.

When describing the soul, Farabi combined religion with science. He subscribed to Plato’s idea that the human soul had three main parts, including the appetitive (our desires), the spirited (our emotions), and the rational (our reason), which should all work together in harmony to allow us to be our best.

An illustration from al-Farabi's 'The Book of Music' (Wikimedia )

The best example of these parts working in harmony was the Prophet Muhammad, who Muslims consider the human ideal.

Everyone else, according to Farabi, could move towards this ideal but were not inherently in harmony.

Another Greek influence came in the form of Plato’s ideal community described in his work The Republic.

Engagement with other human beings formed part of the pursuit of happiness described above and Farabi described his own ideal society in a work titled: Opinions of the Inhabitants of the Virtuous City.

In this vision of the ideal state, the world is made up of nations, which are in turn made up of city-states that uphold a mixture of platonic and Islamic virtues, such as piety, moderation, unity, and justice.

Such a community stood in contrast to defective cities, which he described as containing citizens who do not seek knowledge and are instead caught up in the pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.

Farabi condemned such societies for their rejection of God, morality, and the idea of the afterlife.

Rulers of virtuous societies were the inheritors of prophets and were tasked with ensuring group happiness, according to Farabi.
On Music

One of Farabi’s most renowned contributions to scholarship is his book Kitab al-Musiqa (The Book of Music).

This musical treatise was one of the most comprehensive produced in the Islamic world and discusses the elements of composition and the role of instruments, as well as the philosophy, theory, and practice of music.

Farabi was one of the first scholars of music to study the music of the Turkic people and one of the earliest to systematise the study of music with a system of common notations and rules to write down compositions and rhythms.

A linguist and logician himself, the scholar saw similarities between the structure of music and the structure of poetry and logic.

A statue of al-Farabi in front of the Kazakh National State University in Nursultan, Kazakhstan (Wikimedia)

He argued that just as poetry was formed from a finite grouping of letters in the form of an alphabet, music was also formed from a finite palette of sounds. The concept of this catalogue of sounds was determined by nature.

According to Farabi, the music of a particular culture allowed an academic to learn more about different peoples, as their particular nature and characteristics had an impact on their musical tastes.

Farabi died at the age of 80 in Damascus but his legacy inspired Muslim and Western scholars for centuries to come.

Today postage stamps are issued in his honour in parts of the Muslim world and an asteroid belt is named after him.

Authorities in Kazakhstan, one of the candidates for being his birthplace, have also constructed a statue of the polymath in their country’s capital, Nursultan.

Alpharabius - The Precursor to Modernity

Published on February 14, 2017



Farzan J. Chishti

Alpharabius - A master of solving intellectual jigsaw puzzles, navigated and shaped the humanistic thoughts of a period now referred to as the as the Golden Age of the East. Al-Farabi made a fundamental contribution to Arabic literature and produced Arabic commentary and interpretation of Aristotle, Plato, and other ancient classics at a time when European were heedless about the Greek Language, and neither had the taste to understand the Greek contribution. In fact, it took about two hundred years for Al- Farabi’s commentary to be translated into Latin, by which Greece became the foundation of Western cultural history as per record.

For a long time I've been thinking about seriously understanding logic from a serious and well-grounded effort just to know that the decisions i make in my life are the right ones. The more I ponder about, what is actually logical, the more grainy and hazy things become, to me logic can be quite elusive. Actually i have been wondering if the same metrics, variables, characteristics that apply and create beauty and serenity in music, art, design, poetry, so on and so forth, could be somehow applied to create a well frame-worked civic society, one that functions with beauty and grace. But such things are easier said than done, its hard to combine practice with theory. Especially with innovative ideas regarding areas where new things don't happen much or is frowned upon. The solutions might lie somewhere else, people might just be looking in the wrong box. This is why I feel it is quite important, to look at scenarios from multiple perspectives and a have a multi-disciplinary understanding of things. This enables humanity to push the boundaries and achieve overall progress with regards to the human condition.

Al-Farabi also known as Alpharabius in the western circles was a man of multiple disciplines. He explored areas such as political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, ethics, and logic. One of the quotes he is well known for is “An isolated individual could not achieve all the perfections by himself, without the aid of other individuals.” One possible interpretation of this thought is that one cannot perform in isolation in order to grow or prosper.

He stated “It is the innate disposition of every human to join others in the labor they ought to perform. In order to achieve what they can of that perfection, every man needs to stay in the neighborhood of others and associate with them." He came up with such ideas in 872 in his text Al-Madina al-Fadila.

Alpharabius's contribution to Philosophy was so deep that there is a school of thought named after him, commonly referred to as Farabism, this school of thought was later forgotten when Avicennism took over. Regardless what was highly important about Farabism is that it broke with the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, since it jumped from metaphysics to methodology. Many scholars are of the opinion that his research can be interpreted as pre-cursor to modernity.

Al-Farabi was one of the few who united theory and practice, thus he was pushing the limits of human knowledge. He had a great influence on science and philosophy for several centuries and is widely regarded and second only to Aristotle in understanding the depth of human condition.

Al-Farabi viewed religion as a symbolic rendering of the truth. His life goal as a philosopher was to provide guidance to the state. Just like senior management gives governance/consulting advise to external organizations and their subordinates before, during, after a project. Al-Farabi’s goal was to provide guidance to the state aiming for peace & progress.

Al-Farabi’s argument was that the ideal state was the city of Medina which was governed by the Prophet Muhammed (P.B.U.H) as the head of state, because the Prophet was in direct communion with Allah, via Arch-Angel Gabriel and sacred text/law was revealed to him without a barrier as opposed to regular people.

Almost everyone who’s into the art scene knows that Pablo Picasso was a genius, he is known for cubism, the most influential avant-garde movement of the 20th century. Anyone who’s ever about read about technology understands Steve Job’s immense contribution to the technology industry. But Geniuses do not always work on their own. Their ideas and concepts are implemented by others and the outcome results in innovation and growth. Similarly Al-Farabi a.k.a Alpharabius was a genius in his own right.

The article is only serves as a guide to people who are seeking the truth.

A quarter of America's 400 wars have been in the Middle East and Africa, study finds

Authors conclude end of Cold War unchained America's global military ambitions, with the MENA and Sahel regions 'increasingly' targeted

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute puts the cost of the US military at more than $800bn a year, almost 40 percent of global military spending (AFP)

By Elis Gjevori
Published date: 12 August 2022 

A major new study has concluded that US military interventions "increasingly" target the Middle East and Africa, making up more than a quarter of the country's campaigns throughout its history.

From its founding in 1776 to 2019, the US has undertaken almost 400 military interventions, with more than a quarter occurring in the post-Cold War period, the report also found.

The first major study of its kind, titled Introducing the Military Intervention Project: A New Dataset on US Military Interventions, 1776–2019, also found the post-9/11 era resulted in "higher hostility levels", with US military adventures becoming "overwhelmingly commonplace".

"The cumulative impact of what we discovered from our data collection effort was indeed surprising," said Sidita Kushi, an assistant professor at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, and one of the study's authors. "We hadn't expected both the quantity and quality of US military interventions to be as large as revealed in the data," Kushi told Middle East Eye.

'Currently, the United States has US special forces deployed in more countries than it does ambassadors'

- Professor Monica Duffy Toft, the Fletcher School of Tufts University

Following the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US emerged as the dominant military power globally. However, this did not translate into a decrease in military interventions.

"The post-Cold War era has produced fewer great power conflicts and instances in which to defend vital US interests, yet US military interventions continue at high rates and higher hostilities," the report concluded. "This militaristic pattern persists during a time of relative peace, one of arguably fewer direct threats to the US homeland and security."

'Global War on Terror'

Following the end of the Cold War, US humanitarian military interventions were increasingly justified under the banner of human rights.

During the post-9/11 US "Global War on Terror" (GWOT), it should not be surprising that Washington chose to use military force to "solve its problems", said Monica Duffy Toft, professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Tufts University, also in Massachusetts.

"The GWOT is, in fact, emblematic of the way in which the US came to solve problems in this period: war," Toft, co-author of the study, told MEE.

The study found that the end of the Cold War unchained US military global ambitions. Even as US rivals reduced their military intervention, Washington "began to escalate its hostilities", resulting in a "widening gap between US actions relative to its opponents".

Today, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute puts the cost of the US military at more than $800bn annually, accounting for almost 40 percent of global military spending.

"The US continues to dramatically prioritise funding of its Department of Defense while limiting funding and roles for its Department of State," said Toft, adding that "currently, the United States has US special forces deployed in more countries than it does ambassadors".

US military interventions have also become more obscure. Gone are the days when Washington threw the full might of its army into a conflict, as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, remote military bases, such as the $110m Agadez airfield in Niger, conduct drone strikes away from the public eye across much of the Sahel.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration expanded the US military footprint in Africa by reversing a decision by former US President Donald Trump to pull troops out of Somalia, thereby establishing a permanent military base in the country.
'Violence tends to beget violence'

America's global military footprints "might be surprising to Americans. Unfortunately, they are hardly surprising to the rest of the world," Kushi told MEE, adding that "US legitimacy has seriously suffered, largely as a result of its now decades-long hyper-interventionist stance".

While for much of its history, the US looked at its use of military force as a last resort, recent decades have upended that tradition, warns Kushi, and with it, a "lot of respect for the United States, even among our allies".

The authors are quick to note that in some instances, American power has been a force for good, such as the US-led intervention in Kosovo, which prevented a potential genocide. More broadly, however, the study "serves as a warning" that continued US military interventions are having a less than positive impact on America's national security and the world.

9/11 attacks: Why the 'war on terror' has no clear ending

Ibrahim al-Marashi    Read More »

A swift course correction by America's elite, who have become conditioned to seeing a military solution to so much of the country's perceived global problems, is unlikely in the near term at least, said Toft.

"Violence tends to beget violence, and even a smart return toward a multi-factor foreign policy - a foreign policy which relies on allies' wisdom, which engages diplomacy, trade and aid first, and force last - can take years to bear fruit," added Toft.

Given that America's adversaries have also become inured to US military interventions, they can be "forgiven for their scepticism" and for not believing that the country's foreign policy elite could have a change of heart. On foreign policy, at least, the Democratic and Republican parties have mainly held a consistent line, which more or less advanced US military interventions abroad.

"Given the current landscape of interventions, and inertia, we expect to see a continuing upward trend on US interventions in both MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa," warned Toft.

President Yoon, UN chief discuss N. Korea, voice concern over growing nuclear threat

UN fully supports S.Korea’s every effort to resume dialogue with N. Korea, says Guterres

By Ji Da-gyum
Published : Aug 12, 2022 

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (2nd from L) holds talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (1st from R) over lunch at the presidential office in Seoul Friday. (Yonhap)

The South Korean President and the UN chief had a “candid” discussion on the North Korean nuclear issue and shared their view that the country’s development of missile and nuclear weapons posed a “major challenge” to regional and world peace.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had a luncheon meeting that lasted for 2 hours and 20 minutes on Friday in Seoul, the South Korean presidential office said.

Both sides discussed the North Korean nuclear issue and other major global issues, including the regional situation, climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals, during the in-person meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul.

Candid discussion on N. Korea

Yoon and Guterres “exchanged candid views on the history and controversial points of the North Korean nuclear issue,” the South Korean presidential office said in a press statement.

The two leaders “shared their view that the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs pose a major challenge to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) system as well as peace in Northeast Asia and in the world.”

“Secretary-General Guterres expressed his view on the situation in North Korea based on his visit to North Korea in 1999 and said that he would continue to support our government’s efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue,” according to the presidential office.

During the meeting, Yoon also discussed concrete ways to advance cooperation between South Korea and the UN with other senior UN officials in charge of development, peace building and climate change.

Guterres was accompanied by UN Undersecretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenca, and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action Selwin Hart, among others.

Ganbold Baasanjav, head of the East and North-East Asia Office at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, also attended the meeting.

Yoon also said his government would fulfill its responsibilities and role worthy of its global status in the fields of climate change, international development cooperation, peacebuilding and human rights.

The South Korean president explained that the government “values solidarity and cooperation to maintain international order based on universal values and norms.”

In return, Guterres said he looks forward that the South Korean government and the UN will strengthen cooperation in the areas of international peace and security, human rights, development and climate change.

Against that backdrop, Guterres asked Yoon to attend the UN General Assembly in New York in the middle of next month.

“I thank President Yoon Suk-yeol for his kind invitation and the rich discussions on non-proliferation, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula & climate action,” the UN chief said Friday on his official Twitter. “The Republic of Korea‘s strong commitments are a solid contribution to peace among nations & peace with nature.”


South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (right) holds talks with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during their meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

S. Korea calls for UN support

The UN chief also met South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on Friday afternoon.

Park and Guterres discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, global issues such as the war in Ukraine and the upcoming 77th UN General Assembly, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.

During the meeting, Park pointed out that the “international community including the UN need to be united and send a clear message that they do not tolerate North Korea’s nuclear development.” The South Korean foreign minister also called for the UN to “provide continuous support to come up with effective countermeasures against the North Korea nuclear issue.”

In response, Guterres reaffirmed his support for the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s efforts to establish sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

“Everything that can be done to launch a process of dialogue aiming at denuclearization … will be very much welcome and you will have the full support of the United Nations,” Guterres said in his opening remark.

In his remark, the UN chief underlined that he was very impressed with South Korea’s strong commitment to “do everything for full, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

During the meeting, Park also said the government seeks to strengthen its partnership and cooperation with the UN as the country moves forward toward the “global pivotal state.”

Park said the South Korean government intends to “play a more proactive role in defending the fundamental values of the UN Charter as a global pivotal state which contributes to freedom, peace and prosperity,” according to Foreign Ministry.

South Korea is currently a member of the UN Economic and Social Council and Human Rights Council. The country plans to bid for its third non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council for the 2024-25 period.

In response,Guterres called for the South Korean government to continue to contribute to protecting and developing multilateralism, underscoring the importance of international cooperation in the areas of climate change, humanitarian aid, international peace and security and others, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The UN chief arrived in South Korea on Thursday afternoon for a two-day trip on the third leg of his tour to three Asian countries including Japan and Mongolia. Guterres’ visit to South Korea marks the first time in four years since the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)