Syrian update

Syrian refugee camp in Yarmouk, photo by Associated Press

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared recently that Turkey and Saudi Arabia tried to enter with their armies into Syria for the past two years. Various militant/terrorist groups operating in that country are known to be supported by the ruling elite in Turkey and Saudi Arabia while the legitimate government is allied with Russia, Iran and China.

Regarding this situation, Michael McFaul, former US ambasador to Russia, posted on twitter that "Putin is winning in Syria" on 12 February. He followed up his first remark with: "Creating facts on the ground beneficial to his Syrian ally". McFaul is in present a professor of political science at Stanford University.

Turkey is currently targeting Kurdish militia in Syria, the same militia that is fighting terrorist and rebel forces there. Ankara doesn't want to witness a growing in the power of the Kurdish population in this neighboring country, fearing that it will cause unrest at home, sparking renewed activity for independence by the Kurdish minority in east Turkey.

Russian diplomat Gennady Gatilov declared yesterday in the German magazine Spiegel that "The Syrian government made many mistakes and then foreign forces intervened (...) Bashar Assad could have prevented the escalation if he had taken democratic reforms in time. Without them, the conflict continued to spread". He goes on adding that through his unwillingness to change he inadvertently created the environment that fostered the current crisis. He goes on by saying that "if he stepped down now, Syria would be destroyed as a country. I believe we are on the same footing in this regard even with the Americans".

The Syrian crisis is without a doubt fostering greater conflicts and dangers throughout the region and beyound, reaching as far as western Europe. The European Union is facing disintegration because of the migrant situation and the only solution to this problem is peace in Syria and rebuilding its former thriving economy.