Despite experts' statements on the achievement of a turning point in the Syrian conflict, the situation remains tense. On March 15, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the Palace of Justice in Damascus, dozens people died as a result. Then another terrorist, pursued by the police, blew himself up in a restaurant in the western part of Syrian capital. On the evening of March 16 media reported that local mosque was destroyed and many people were killed as a result of an air strike on the outskirts of Al-Jin village in Syria's Idlib. Russia was blamed for this air strike. However, fragments of ammunition were found at the site of this tragedy, which made it possible to conclude that Hellfire missile was used, and the US military officially confirmed that they are responsible for this strike. Their aim was to hit a building located across the street from the mosque, where meetings of Al Qaeda terrorists were held.
In this connection, Moscow proposes to establish closer coordination between all involved in the fight against international terrorists on the territory of Syria. It could significantly improve the accuracy of attacks, as well as held to avoid questionable military actions, particularly bombings of dams or oil production facilities by the coalition.
Senior researcher of the Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Boris Dolgov, believes that the conflict in Syria, which began in March of 2011, is part of the Arab Spring: "In other countries affected by the Arab Spring, especially in Tunisia and Egypt, the main reason for internal discord were internal factors, but in Syria, just like in Libya, external forces were the main factor of conflicts. Syria had no social or political crisis. Youth unemployment rate in Tunisia and Egypt reached almost 50%. In Syria, according to official data of the IMF, unemployment rate has raised only slightly by 2011, from 11% to 14%. Moreover, unemployment in the EU countries in 2011, namely in Spain and Portugal, reached 26%. Syria had few illiterates, the country produced enough food. Syria exported olive oil to Israel even during the war."
All of this, according to the expert, indicates that there was no social, political or socio-economic crisis in Syria: "Yes, there were problems. When he was elected president in 2000 after the death of his father, Bashar Assad has pursued the policy that was later called Syrian Spring - democratization of public and political life. He created public forums, organizations of intellectuals, which expressed their opinion on the democratization of the country. They worked up until the conflict began."
According to Dolgov, the problems began when Muslim Brotherhood raised: "Back in 1982, when Muslim Brotherhood started a military riot in a number of Syrian cities, it was suppressed by the Syrian authorities. But after the beginning of the Arab Spring, opposition to this regime began to raise - and the Muslim Brotherhood, just like other Islamist organizations, Kurdish organizations, began to demand greater autonomy. Former Syrian oppositionists, who openly stated that their goal is a regime change, have created two political parties in the US. This situation, as well as the events in Tunisia and Egypt, triggered the crisis in Syria."
Photos of pre-war Syria were originally published on http://krabov.net
