Radar Armenia's interlocutor is international affairs expert Shahan Gandaharian.
- How would you comment on the events taking place in Syria? Is this an action aimed at suppressing the uprising of political opponents and thus strengthening power, or is it something else?
- These are the first large-scale incidents in the form of military clashes after establishing the new Syrian authorities. On the surface, the clashes are occurring against the remnants of the previous regime or the Alawites, but we can consider several circumstances. From a global perspective, these events follow the National Dialogue Congress, with the decision to develop a new draft Constitution. The Syrian transitional government has fundamental problems not only with the Alawites but mainly with the Kurds and the Tigris. Syria has clashed to form new zones of influence connected with large-scale processes in the region. The influences of Iran and Russia have been neutralized. New zones are being redrawn in Syria, where Turkey and Israel divide their territories.
- It is reported that ordinary citizens, even families, have also been killed. Why?
- Most of the victims are civilians. These are military clashes, and during these clashes, non-combatants and civilians are also killed. They are mainly from the Alawite community.
- How do you assess the international reactions in this regard? There was a reaction from the EU that was more supportive of the government's actions, and Russia and the United States also wanted to make this issue a subject of discussion at the UN.
- So far, these are purely declarative accusations, calls to cease fire, to respect sovereignty. These are slogans. Two statements are noteworthy. The representative of Damascus stated that Iran is behind the armed actions of the remnants of the previous regime. And the representative of Tehran hinted at the role of Ankara.
- What developments can be expected after this?
- It is difficult to predict the main direction of the process. The upheavals will continue. New formations of zones of influence and demographic changes are taking place in Syria. Israel and Turkey mainly fill the positions left by Tehran and Moscow. The United States controls these distributions, specifying red lines and borders. This is just a part of the new map of the Middle East.
