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US, allies not after fighting terror in Syria: Analyst

Sunday, 21 February 2016 6:16 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 February 2016 6:15 AM ]

US Secretary of State John Kerry (C-2nL), Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C-L) lead the International Support Group for Syria (ISSG) meeting in Munich, southern Germany, on February 11, 2016. ©AFP

Press TV has interviewed Mark Sleboda, an international relations and security analyst from Moscow, and Matar Matar, a political commentator from New York, to discuss the role of the US and its allies in fueling the deadly crisis in Syria.

Sleboda says the priority of the United States and its allies is not fighting terrorism in Syria as they are after “regime change” there by any means possible.

To reach the goal, the Western alliance has been busy recruiting, training, arming and funding Takfiri militants to overthrow the Syrian government over the past five years, he notes.

He adds that the so-called Syrian opposition has called on Russia to stop air raids against Takfiri groups, including al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, as a condition to attend the peace talks, stressing that such a demand proves the real terroristic nature of the Western-backed front in the conflict.

The analyst also says the US, Saudi Arabia and Turkey should stop supporting terrorism and pursuing regime change in order to pave the ground for a peace process in Syria.

Matar, for his part, argues Washington’s agenda in Syria is different from those of Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia seek to topple the Syrian government, while the United States is after eradicating terrorism, he says.

He highlights the rift between the US and its regional allies over the armed groups that should be considered terrorist.

Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), has the US backing, but Turkey views the group as terrorists allied to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighting for an autonomous region on its own soil, Matar says.

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