De facto division of Syria into areas of influence of Turkey, Israel and US is underway — Andrey Areshev

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist Andrey Areshev commented on the situation in Syria and noted that if the Americans leave and abandon their allies, this will be the second unpleasant wake-up call after Afghanistan for all other allies in the Middle East.

“The Syrian history has been going on for quite a long time. Its active phase began back in 2011, when mass unrest broke out. Then there was a terrorist intervention, and then the government of Bashar al-Assad managed to stay in power. There were battles in Aleppo and in Damascus, but nevertheless, the so-called people’s self-defense forces were on the side of Assad and the government. These were people who, due to various ethnic, religious, and social circumstances, took up arms against foreign terrorists and extremists who flooded Syria, including through the Turkish border.

Already in 2015, Russia began the military operation that Vladimir Putin spoke about, and even earlier, Iran joined in through its so-called proxy forces. First of all, this is the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which was quite active already in 2012-2013, but lately, the situation has stagnated and frankly deteriorated due to various factors. I believe that, according to the laws of dialectics, quantity has simply turned into quality. Foreign and Russian sources testified that social and religious protests were taking place in various provinces.

Unrest broke out in the so-called de-escalation zone in Idlib, which was organized in accordance with the 2018 agreements, and then in 2020 it escalated. If you remember, back then, Recep Erdogan urgently came to Sochi to see Vladimir Putin to agree on ending the armed conflict, which was quite serious.

There was a certain state formation headed by the leader of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, banned in Russia, Julani, who is now much talked about as a ‘progressive terrorist’. They started making a politician out of him several years ago; global media have become skilled in such matters and serve certain purposes. Now it is enough to look at the reports of news agencies to see that a high-ranking American delegation is flying to Damascus; tomorrow the leader of the Lebanese Druze is going there, which is also quite interesting.

Hakan Fidan’s visit has been announced, and even earlier, the head of Turkish intelligence, Ibrahim Kalin, was received with great honors in Damascus. I believe now there are talks about preparations for the visit of Turkish President Erdogan to Syria. Syria has always been the object of close attention throughout its history. The French have already sent their mission, it is known that they have been present in Syria for quite a long time.

France is a former mandate holder, 100 years ago, it was the mandate holder state for Syria, and its interest is also understandable. But the point is that we are talking about the de facto division of Syria into areas of influence of Turkey, Israel, and, of course, America. I do not believe in stories that Americans will leave, no matter what Mr. Trump says. And if they leave and abandon their allies, this will be the second unpleasant wake-up call after Afghanistan for all other allies or partners of America in the Middle East,” Areshev noted.