Stepashin is impressed by Assad

By Vestnik Kavkaza

Escalation of military activities in Syria is connected with the upcoming presidential elections which have to take place in July. The current head of the state Bashar Assad whose second term is coming to an end hasn’t officially announced that he would take part in the election campaign. However, experts believe that he could stay the president.

Sergei Stepashin, the former prime minister of Russia, the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, spoke about developments in Syria, as he had recently visited it.

Assad’s strength

“Assad’s strength is that unlike Yanukovich, he has almost no internal enemies. He has a consolidated cleaned-out team. His relatives don’t sell medicines or steal money, but fight. His brother commands a tank division and risks his life. His cousin was killed on a battlefield. It is meaningful too. All Syrians know about it…

12-year old son of Assad speaks Russian fluently. Assad says that they have a desire to send him to Moscow to study. I think he will grow up and everything will be alright, and it is right, it was a normal practice in the Soviet Union,” Stepashin recalls.

What did the Syrians want from the former PM?

“I was pleased, especially when we met with the government, that we mainly discussed not military technical aid (of course we provide it and not only we do), but economic cooperation, reconstruction of destroyed facilities, building new factories, and establishing of tourist clusters. They suggested several land lots for construction hotels. This is not giving money and forgetting about it, as God pardons. By the way, we waived 13-billion Soviet debt of Syria. So, the point is in mutually beneficial cooperation. Of course, many people would smile: what can be mutually beneficial cooperation, when there is shooting? It can be! We know similar stories, for example, during the Second World War. Moreover, the majority of the Syrian territory is under control of the governmental troops. The Prime Minister and President Assad addressed me (I informed Vladimir Putin and our government about it) to restore the work of the Russian-Syrian intergovernmental commission. Mr. Khloponin heads the Russian side. I mean he should arrive there, meet officials, watch, calculate, and begin to work in the direction,” Stepashin believes.

Why isn’t Syria Ukraine?

“President Assad told me: “Tell Mr. Putin that I am not Yanukovich, I won’t run away.” In the majority of territories they managed to build active cooperation and a dialogue with the opposition, the constructive opposition. How can one cooperate with bandits? We had once agreed with bandits in Khasavyurt. You remember what a result was. Putin had to start the second Chechen campaign in 1999. That’s enough! And I agree with him,” Stepashin stated.

Forecasts and fears

“Assad said: “During the year an active phase of military activities will be over in Syria. Then, we will have to do what you do – a struggle against terrorists and Shakhids.” He is concerned about the topic. He mentioned Volgograd. By the way, he knows the situation in our country in the sphere very well. He says that the most awful is that young girls are ideologically recruited and they can explode themselves anywhere without fear of death, as they think they immediately get to paradise. The mufti spoke about it. This is the most awful thing. And we should work together,” Stepashin thinks.