We heard the Turkish Foreign Minister speaking in Washington about Syria and the Arab revolutions, but then after that we did not hear a word from the Turks about what is happening in Syria, just as nothing useful so far has come out of Washington on the same subject, despite all these crimes! For the Turks, the question is: has Ahmet Davutoğlu returned from Washington? As for the Americans, this is another story!

The Turkish and American stances towards Syria are very confusing, and have reached the point of suspicion. Ankara was late even by the standards of the lagging Arab countries, and we did not hear, for example, that the Turks had withdrawn their ambassador from Damascus, despite all the crimes committed against the unarmed Syrians. As for Washington, there is more cause for suspicion, especially in recent statements about the likelihood of an al-Qaeda presence in Syria! This was said by the Americans before in Libya, with the fall of Gaddafi, and so far we have not seen any concrete evidence of al-Qaeda there. The Americans also said this about Yemen, but then they supported the departure of Ali Abdullah Saleh, and he is living among them in New York! Often, and for a long time, Washington talked about al-Qaeda carrying out operations in Iraq from the Syrian border, under the eyes of the al-Assad regime, so how can it now fear that al-Qaeda is supporting the unarmed Syrians?

This is a puzzling matter, and a cause for doubt and suspicion. What does Washington want exactly? Does it want to continue its series of mistaken interpretations of every issue in the region? In Iraq, Obama has withdrawn his forces in a manner that leaves the country with a new Saddam Hussein. In Egypt, Obama rushed to demand the fall of Mubarak, without asking the military council to wait for the right opportunity, even though Washington knew that the Islamists would be the heir to power. In Damascus, although the Syrian masses are giving the international community and everyone all the incentives requires, Washington continues to wait, and the longer the fall of al-Assad is delayed, the stronger the Islamists will become in Syria. We are not talking about military intervention, but rather hard work to support the Syrian rebels, all forms of support, most importantly weaponry. Do Washington and Obama want to repeat the silence they adopted at the time of the Green Revolution? This is indeed puzzling! If the US Chief of Staff says he does not know who the Syrian opposition are, do the Americans not know that this is normal because the Syrian people are the ones opposing al-Assad, not the social elite? Who initially knew who the Libyan opposition were, or could the Americans tell us who the leader of the Egyptian revolution was?

The tyrant of Damascus has not offered one political solution, but rather he and his troops have turned into occupying forces. His troops have run wild across all Syria, committing the worst and most heinous crimes, throughout the course of an entire year. Despite all this the US Secretary of State is still reluctant to answer the question about the need to support the Syrian revolutionaries with arms, despite all the unarmed Syrians who have been killed in a heartbreaking manner. And yet, the Secretary of State was never reluctant in the cases of Egypt and Libya!

Hence, the question is: If America is acting in the interests of Israel, which is very clear, despite all al-Assad's crimes, then what is the Turks' excuse? Has their foreign minister returned from Washington or not?

Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's degree from George Washington University in Washington D.C. He is based in London.