Orientalist: the Liberation of Palmyra has a Strategic Importance

• 03.30.2016, 15:06
•  Near East,  World,  Interview

armenpress.am

The news of liberation of Palmyra by Syrian army has caused quite a strong reaction from the international community. Many people began to talk about the significance of this breakthrough success of the Syrian army. However the orientalist Sargis Grigoryan in his interview with "Armedia" IAA said that the liberation of Palmyra cannot be decisive for the resolution of the Syrian conflict. "In Syria, a lot has happened and continues to happen, the stakes are quite high,"  he said, not excluding at the same time that the victory of the Syrian army could become breakthrough in the fight against the terrorist group "Islamic State." "The liberation of Palmyra is a great military success, which gives the government troops of Syria the possibility to move to the east, to the areas controlled by ISIL", - Grigoryan noted, stressing that it’s about two years the government forces haven’t had such military success.

It should be noted that Palmyra is of great strategic importance in terms of location of the city - it is close to the oil and gas fields, allowing Damascus to prevent the illegal sale of oil and gas by Islamists, which can also be a serious blow to ISIL.

At the same time the psychological importance of the liberation of Palmyra should also be mentioned. According to Sargis Grigoryan, the success of the army of Assad is also a message to the international community that "we can punish the IS, who dared to destroy Syria's cultural heritage."

However it should be noted that this message came rather late to some of the key international players, in particular to the US and the UK. Washington and London have responded to the release of Palmyra two days later, and in this regard did not forget to accuse Assad of everything that is happening in Syria.