The Moderate Syrian Opposition Are Terrorists from All over the World

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Americans are the last people who should sermon morality to the world

Interview conducted by Desislava Pateva with Mohammed Ibrahim, chairman of the Association of Syrians in Bulgaria; Originally appeared at A-specto, translated by Borislav exclusively for SouthFront

Mr. Ibrahim, we are seeing that DAESH has started to use children in their terrorist attacks. Can it be considered that jihadists are turning to this method as young minds are much easily manipulated, and because children can pass easily through checkpoints, as well as it is much more shocking for everyone when they realize that a child has committed this act?

The tool of terrorism always changes. This is one of the strengths of terrorists – they can easily pass from one method to another method. Undoubtedly children are more easily manipulated and are far from the mind of security services. At the same time, there is one very important factor – the territory where terrorists have occupied a geographical area and a part of the population remains, children are not going to school. And if they go to school, then they are thought the material that is taught in Saudi Arabia itself. This is the culture of Wahhabist thinking, and it has nothing to do with Islam. When a child is taught this in school, it believes that this is normal. Thus it is very easy to convince him to carry out such atrocities.

The terrorist organization deliberately used the word “State”, this is deliberately imposed in the media – that’s the plan with which these terrorists came from the entire world. Their aim is to seize the territory between Iraq and Syria. This is a desert, but it is very rich in oil. This so-called “state” will be a copy of Saudi Arabia. It will not be a satellite of the US as they tried to say, but a US base.

The coalition slogans against terrorism are very funny. For a year and a half hundreds of thousands of containers are transported in the desert, American planes and satellites do not see them, but the Russians managed to bombed them all in two months. All of this cacophony is invented and terrorism is a tool.

How can DAESH be destroyed? It seems illogical that the most powerful army in the world, that of the US, along with NATO plus Russia, can not deal with the jihadists? What is your opinion?

They call these terrorists Mujahideen when they are working in favor of the United States, as happened in Afghanistan. When they attack Europe suddenly they become terrorists. These people are terrorists. Maybe they were not bad in the beginning, maybe someone manipulated them. I’m not saying that every boy who comes out of the UK or from Afghanistan or from Morocco is in his soul a terrorist. There are people who work with them, there are people who brainwash them.

Terrorism can be easily fought. These are media manipulations, these are fabrications of the United States. Their doctrine is a clash of civilizations, a clash between Christians and Muslims. Can you tell me what Saudi imams are doing in France? In these neighborhoods where there are only Moroccans? And what does the literature that comes from Saudi Arabia do in France, in Belgium, in all European countries? Not to mention the Arab countries, or Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc.

Photo: Antoinette Kiselincheva

First, we allow them to enter Europe and work with these children. Some of the ancestors of these children have lived in Europe for 100-200 years, so these children are already Europeans. We allow them to be manipulated, we allow this literature to spread. There is no problem to go online and watch a preacher incite people to terrorism. Only recently did Twitter close these channels of communication. If you do try and terrorize a cat on camera, and then play the video on Youtube, it will be quickly removed. But the slaughter of a man remains because someone has an interest in it being promoted. There is also interest about talk that Islam is terror, but it is not. I am a Muslim, I’ve lived in the Muslim community around me and no one thinks that way. Where does this ideology come from? It comes from Saudi Arabia, from Wahhabism.

So the so called radical Islam is actually fabricated for certain purposes?

If we need to talk about the foundation, Islam has existed for 1400 years. Christians have lived in these lands 600 years before Islam. The churches continue to exist, Christians remain. In fact, radicalization is something new for the Middle East. I will give concrete examples. The Church, located in the center of the city of Homs has been there 2000 years, no one bothered it. When the revolutionaries of the West came, only then was the church burned down. That’s what I call them, Syrian revolutionaries from around the world – from Libya, Saudi Arabia, France. Burning a whole wealth of history. Take Maaloula city – the only place in the world where the language of Christ is still spoken. It is located near Damascus. In this town there are Christians and Muslims, but they all speak Aramaic. They have always lived together. Maaloula is a pearl of Christianity.

The “revolutionaries” of Dzhabhat Al Nusra came, entered Maaloula and wrecked the city. They started to shoot, to poke out the eyes of the icons of the Virgin Mary and Christ. Finally, when the Syrian army and Hezbollah came to liberate this place, Bashar Assad helped priests to stow away the icons. But the world does not see this. The world emphasizes that terrorists kill Christians, but it does not say that Muslims have gone to liberate Maaloula from terrorists. Some in Bulgaria have called Hezbollah a terrorist organization. That has nothing to do with the truth.

The Syrian army is made up of different parts from across the Syrian people – most are Muslim, but there are also Christians. Hezbollah are all Muslims. Muslims in Syria are not a minority. Most Muslims in Syria were Christians once. They converted to Islam when it came to Syria. Just like the Pomaks in Bulgaria who have accepted Islam. They are not Turks. And Christians in Syria are truly Syrians, and Muslims are truly Syrians, except some who remained from the Islamic army that came to Syria. A long time ago, an army from Mecca came to Damascus, and some people from Saudi Arabia remained in these lands.

So the fight against terrorism is very easy, but we have to actually fight against it. Not to work in favor of it, while others pretend to work against it. Until the events in France with “Charlie Ebdo” nobody worked against terrorism – from Bulgaria through Romania, Serbia and Belgium to France, Norway, England and USA, terrorists were sent through there with a purpose. While some still believe that terrorism is a means to achieve goals, we can not fight it.

In Casablanca, Laurent Fabius, the former Foreign Minister of France, said that the Islamists are doing a great job in Syria. When three terrorists entered “Charlie Ebdo”, the entire French army went to look for them, but in Syria it is forbidden for the army to fight against them. Do you see the double standard? On the one hand, we allow them in our societies because Saudis pay a lot of money, and because Americans have an interest in this terror to justify a clash of civilizations. After the Soviet Union collapsed, they no longer have an enemy. They have to create one.

And here something must be mentioned. The people who most fight against Islamic terrorism are Arab armies that are made up of Muslims – the Iraqi army, the Syrian army, the Egyptian army, the Tunisian army. They fight against terrorism, not the US. Americans are just circling in the sky and shooting left and right at imaginary targets.

Many experts, including you, consider that ISIL is only a terrorist organization and should not be legitimized as a state. But from a terrorist formation it is transformed into an ideology that is spreading very quickly around the world. How could this process be interrupted?

Unfortunately, there are victims now in Europe. But if you ask the Syrians, they do not hate Europeans. Some of them, however, are happy that people are beginning to sympathize with the Syrians and Iraqis. Victims of terrorism are hundreds of thousands, but the world does not see them until it does not happen in Europe – in Belgium and in France … Of course, we condemn these brutal attacks.

How do you explain this double standard in the reactions of Europeans?

This happens because of the media owners in the world. In Bulgaria I have been fighting the aggression against Syria for six years and I support the Syrian government. After five years, one popular television invited me to participate, following the request of the legitimate Syrian government to Moscow for help in the war against terrorism. I had to have a counterpart representing the point of view of the so called “revolutionaries” in Syria. This man lives in Bulgaria and is present at this TV everyday. Well, why not show the other point of view? Everything is controlled.

When we come out here to protest in front of the Turkish Embassy or the US one, or go out to a rally in support of the Syrian government, over 60% of the protesters with us are Bulgarian citizens. They know what the truth is. When the so-called opposition comes, with them there is perhaps not a single Bulgarian. The media work for them, but society in Bulgaria is more open than in France, Belgium, England, where manipulation is very strong. This media manipulation has existed in Bulgaria for 20 years, but before that, the Bulgarian people were a friend of those regimes that they are now supposed to fight against – the secular countries like Libya, Algeria, Syria, Egypt.

Why does this terrorist organization spread very quickly and why is it supposed to be legitimized? 100 years ago there was a plan in the Middle East when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. The territory of Sham was divided – this is the territory of Great Syria, which is now called the Levant. It consists of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. The plan was to give Palestine to the Jews, Lebanon was to be a French base. Lebanon is called the “daughter of the French people,” everyone there speak French, and has a French culture. Syria had also been given to France, but they failed to assimilate us, Iraq was under the rule of the British. But in the 21st century, the so called American century, there is another plan for this region which corresponds to US strategies. There will be a change in geography and politics. Some countries will be broken, others will be created. This is the US plan. In Israel there will be no Palestinians, they are all supposed to be expelled and are now about 20%. And a clean state will exist, which can be extended to Lebanon and Syria. A Kurdish state will emerge, which will take territories from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Israel is supposed to be purely Jewish, the other state will be purely Kurdish. Between them will be an “Islamic state” which will be populated only by fundamentalist Sunnis, like in Saudi Arabia.

This is why this so called “state” gains power with the help of those who call themselves masters of the world. The rest of the Levant will be split into small states – also along ethnic and religious lines. The Druze will have state. The Alawites will have a state, Christians will have a state, moderate Sunnis will have several countries, because this area of ​​the world has a moderate Islam – in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon. But moderate Muslims who are called minorities – they are not minorities, they are the true inhabitants of this region, they are supposed to form small countries and fear Kurdistan, Israel and the “Islamic state.” And they will be forced to call upon foreign powers to keep them safe as once happened under colonialism. But this time the colonizer will be the United States. So this is why the so called “Islamic state” flourishes, because that’s the plan. But Syria thwarted this plan and it can not be carried out.

Recently you cites a report which states that within approximately four years, about 360,000 terrorists worldwide have been trained and directed toward Syria. Who trained them? Who redirected them? How do you explain that the security services of the countries through which they have passed, did not suspect that these people are dangerous?

For six years I have been saying the same thing. Only now is the world starting to repeat our words. These are not just our words, its the truth. They invented a revolution in Syria on March 15, 2011. But I’ve done interviews with guys who have told me that they were trained with weapons in 2009, in Syria. In fact, things had not started with any children who supposedly had their fingernail ripped out. No one has seen these kids, this is a manipulation that started from somewhere else. This looks just like the case of the daughter of the Kuwaiti cultural attache in the US in 1991. A girl came out at the UN and began to scream about how Saddam’s soldiers entered a hospital, how they raped children, how she escaped. And it turned out that she had lived in Washington all of her life. But that girl’s story angered people around the world, because the media focused on it. And everyone said “Let’s go kill the Iraqi army.”

The same thing happened in Bosnia. Serbs were supposedly committing genocide against Muslims, they show a woman running on a bridge, show her child falling into fires. It turned out that this was filmed in Canada. But in Syria this plan did not work, the Syrian people were aware of it. We have always said it. A study of a German Institute for Strategic Studies was recently released. I repeat their data so believe people in our words. Note that the revolution in Syria began on March 15, and these terrorists were arriving on April 1, ie 15 days later. What a revolution. Between April 2011, and the end of 2015, 360 000 terrorists from the entire world have entered. This is unprecedented in history.

Even in Afghanistan were not so many, although the US was also behind them and it was obvious, they were called mujahideen. Now no one dares to say that they are mujahideen, but everyone closes their eyes as they pass. They have passed through Bulgaria. And we don’t know when the terrorists passing through Pazardzhik will brainwash local boys to start doing nonsense in Bulgaria. Fortunately, our Bulgarian services jailed them and thus are keeping both them and Bulgaria safe for now. And this path was interrupted. But all see how these people go to Syria and everyone closes their eyes – some facilitate them, some say they can not prohibit people to freely move.

The terrorists in Syria are of 93 nationalities. Most of the terrorists who have entered Syria are Turks. Most killed in Syria were Saudis – more than 6,000 people. Most women who have fought in Syria, either with guns or those who have done sex jihad are Tunisian – 180 in number. Although Tunisia is nice and open Arab state.

Bashar Jaafari, Syria’s representative at the United Nations gave a speech in which he listed the names of “revolutionaries” from all over the world. The moderate Syrian opposition are terrorists from the whole world. Not to say that there are no Syrian terrorists, but to import 360,000 people – an army that has to come to Syria, then that means there were not enough Syrian terrorists to fight the state. Bashar Jaafari said that those who consider themselves rulers of the world, are talking about these terrorists as if they are Syrian revolutionaries fighting against the dictator. But is the US not a dictatorship, didn’t they create a dictatorship in Latin America, is Saudi Arabia no a dictatorship? According to the data so far, about 95,000 terrorists have been killed in Syria. Note that four terrorists in France brought out the entire French army. The truth is that all this is led by the great power called the USA.

If the US were successful, what is currently happening in Syria could happen anywhere in the world. It could happen in Bulgaria. They would go to Russia, under the same pretext – to create a democracy. Then they would go to China, because there they have a Muslim minority of a 100 million. There they would also make such a revolution to fight dictatorship. And only the United States is supposedly not a police state.

What is the situation in Syria and what the mood of the Syrian people in relation to the Assad regime? The media have mainly argued that he was not a legitimate president.

The word “regime” is nice because when there is a regime, there is stability. But the media use it to suggest that it is a dictatorship. I immediately say that I disagree. I’m here in Bulgaria, and I wanted to vote in the Syrian elections. I have a right, as I have dual citizenship. We went to the sections, but our government here and Nikolay Mladenov, who is part of the plan for this terror in Syria, forbade it. He gathered here with the so-called opposition, which favors Dzhabhat Al Nusra in Syria. Mladenov said he did not agree to any voting section. Well, why did they not give me the opportunity to go and vote?

The truth is that regardless of what the media says, over 80% of those living in Bulgaria, support the so-called regime, and 20% oppose it. The Embassy of Syria in Lebanon can not manage to cope counting the ballots from voters that there are about 1.5 million to 2 million people. If the voter does not want Bashar Assad and is now out of Syria, no one can force him to vote. But this is a farce and a lie that had to come out.

“Global Research” had a poll even before these events. Assad has over 72% support of the Syrian people. There is not one EU leader who has such approval. Or American leader? George Bush, who won with so few votes, was declared a legitimate president, the whole world applauded. But Bashar al-Assad, who has such approval is not legitimate? I can say that there are 5-6% for which they are wrong about. In my data there are currently more than 80% support for Assad. Regime or not, dictator or not, the Syrian people decide. If he didn’t have the support of his people, he could not stand six years in power, provided that against him 360,000 terrorists were sent. And there are 10% of Syrians who are against him. And Turkey is also against him, Israel is against him, the Arab states – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc. are against him, NATO is against him. There was no way he could stay in power if he didn’t have the support of the people.

Currently Syria has about 19 million people. In regions controlled by DAESH or the so-called Syrian opposition, there are no more than 1-2 million. These two million do not support the factions there, but there is nowhere to go and so they sit there silent until the army frees them. The rest live in Syrian government controlled areas. There it can seem like there is no war. If you do not see pictures of fallen soldiers in the streets, you might not know that there is a war. Yes, of course there are security measures in Syria due to the terrorists. Yes, life has become expensive, but the streets are paved, goods are everywhere, the restaurants are full, people are going to the pool, the beach, nightclubs. Sea side there are more people than in Bulgaria’s beaches.

Syrian men are fighting at the front against terrorists, but the rest of the people live their lives. Soldiers provide security and most support Assad. Over 70% of those who left Syria support Assad. I saw it with my own eyes in our refugee camps. Firstly, not all who are there are Syrians. Merkel was very surprised because she wanted 1 million Syrians, but it turned out that only 20% of migrants are Syrian.

The truth is that the Syrians are very hardworking, very educated and many are craftsmen. This is welcome for any economy. Of the few Syrian refugees who decided to stay in Bulgaria, several were people at a very high level and they work in international companies here. Most people in the camps are not Syrians, a lot of them are Turkish Kurds, many of them do not speak Arabic. But most of the Syrians we saw support Assad. They left because of shortages due to the economic blockade against Syria, or they were running away from terrorism. But they weren’t running away from the regime.

In Bulgaria before the crisis there was not a single refugee. There were several political opponents of Bashar Assad who have been here for about 60 years. But no one is running away because a dictator is killing people. In 2008-2010, there was a global crisis, which reflected on the Bulgarian market. Many of my friends who were businessmen in Bulgaria, began to fail. Many of them moved to Syria, because there was an economic boom there. When the events began, some of them turned against the Syrian regime, although they wanted to live there in peace. Now they regret it because they helped to brake Syria.

Syria’s president Bashar Assad accused a number of western countries that they are applying double standards in their foreign policy – they criticize the Syrian government, but secretly negotiate with it, so they don’t anger Big Brother. How do you explain these attempts at agreements under the table? Can it be said that many countries do not agree with US policy in the Middle East, but are afraid to express it officially?

For five years in Bulgaria not a single Bulgarian politician in power said anything close to the truth in Syria. On the contrary, Nikolay Mladenov supported the so-called revolutionaries in Syria and could not see that they cut heads, destroyed the country, destroyed the Syrian army. Mr. Boyko Borisov for five years had nothing to say, although I’m sure he knows the truth.

No country has ever resisted the American invasion. In just a week Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ran away from Tunisia and nobody talks about him. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak remained 18 days and was swept away. Not to mention Ukraine – the President fled on the first day. Only Bashar Assad resisted for six years. Not one politician in Europe believed that Assad would resist and stay in power. So nobody wanted to risk and bet on a lost cause. Therefore, all were silent.

But Russia from day one said: This is not a war in Syria, this is a war on Syria. Because Syria supports Russia, supports China, and the US wants Syria to support the United States, to be a friend of NATO, to be a friend of Israel. Across the Mediterranean region, only Syria does not support NATO. If Syria buckled, the Mediterranean sea would become a NATO Sea. So nobody really dared to take such a decision and say something that is closer to the truth about Syria.

But Borisov had some truthful statements in the last four months. I quote his words: “What was wrong in Syria? I was in Syria six months before the events. I saw a very ordered country, with a very good infrastructure, a very developed economy, that looks like an average European country. We are all to blame for what happened.” This is a general change in position. I’m sure Borisov knows the truth, though he can not say it. All though that Syria would fall, as the other countries fell. If all European countries realize this and have a common position, then the US can do nothing.

Britain and America have always had a singular policy, but they got France on their side with leaders like Sarkozy and Hollande and their foreign ministers. Some other European countries have a more favorable position. For example Romania did not expel the Syrian ambassador. The Czech Republic did not expel the Syrian ambassador. And the president of the Czech Republic several times said that what is happening in Syria is terrorism, not a revolution.

Our Plevneliev does not say it, because he is completely missing in world politics, not to mention domestic politics. Borisov recently said: “We condemn ISIL for what they do in Europe, but the truth is that we have to say something about those who wants to bring democracy with bombs and missiles to those countries. We are breaking these countries.” Europe made a huge mistake. Europe helped dismantle Libya. European planes bombed Libya, gave it on a gold platter to the terrorists. And then they got millions of immigrants from all over Africa and Asia though Libya.

Europe helped Tunisia get terrorists. They sent Bernard-Henri Levy, a French thinker, to Tunisia and Libya to import democracy. He imports Islamic terrorism there. And it was all planned. He has been in Egypt, in Ukraine, he could not get to Syria, so he called Syrians to come to him. US Senator John McCain has also been everywhere where there are problems. He was in northern Syria with Dzhabhat Al Nusra. Things are very clear, but the whole of Europe had to speak with one voice.

Millions of Iraqis fled to Syria because of the West’s aggression. Between 2-3 million Iraqis did not come to Europe because they found security near them. When Circassians once fled, they also came to Syria. Greeks when fleeing from World War 1, they came to Syria. And there are still Greeks in Syria. When Palestinians fled Palestine, they came to Syria – there are 800 000 of them.

We Europeans, we saw how foolish European leaders went to the damn and cracked the wall. Of course refugees will come to Europe. This is a big mistake. For all these refugees for whom you speak, 3 million Iraqis, almost 800,000 Palestinians, etc., not to mention 500,000 Lebanese from southern Lebanon when the war happened in 2006 who entered Syria in just three days. But Syria has not taken a dollar aid from the world, but it took all the burden. Syrians have taken them in their homes, in schools because they are Arab nations, they are brothers. Syria had a very strong economy. There is free education, free health, the refugees eat the food of the Syrians, but Syria was not in any difficulty. Syria has not requested assistance from the United Nations or from the EU.

5000 refugees enter here and all of Bulgaria is upset. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be, because we are not guilty. Those who created the war in Syria, have to bear this burden. But you know how many Syrian refugees there are in the US? About 400 people – they came and chose the brilliant, educated and took them with an airplane. And the whole of Europe is now flooded with refugees. Is it not Europe’s fault? Yes it is. Europe is much stronger than the US, but Britain pulls to one side, France to the other, and there is no common European policy.

What do you think of the accusations by the US military that the Syrian regime, supported by Russia and Iran, is escalating tensions in Syria with indiscriminate bombing? Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook warned Syrian planes to not to fly over areas where there are US military. He even threatened that it is possible to shoot them down, if deemed to pose a threat to the US military.

Well if that is not super-arrogance I don’t know what is! First, Americans have military bases in 70 countries and their aircraft carriers are located worldwide. And now they are protesting that the Russians came to Syria at the request of the legitimate Syrian government. Several aircraft landed in Iran so they can fight against terrorists. Second, they have no right to prohibit Syrian aircraft to fly where they want over Syrian territory, because there they are Americans aggressors. No UN resolution allowed their arrival, and they did not receive a request from the legitimate Syrian government. So if we really had international law the Americans and the coalition would be punished one by one, because they are violating international rules. It is not true that these areas are prohibited to us. On the contrary, Syrian planes bombed the Kurds who had attacked the Syrian army, and then US aircraft appeared in the sky. And the Americans said: “They are our coalition forces, you should leave.” And the Syrians answered: “If you do not leave Syria, we will shoot you down”.

Of course the Americans can bring down Syrian aircraft. But they don’t want a major war. This is the problem of the Syrian crisis – it is a localized World War. If it grows a little, there will be many casualties. So all the forces tend to leave it inside Syria. Only the Syrian people are suffering, but if it grow a little, then tens of millions will die very quickly.

Americans are the last people who can say that Syrian bombardment is indiscriminate. The Americans who bombed weddings in Afghanistan, hospitals in Somalia have come to preach morality to us. Yes, there are temporary hospitals in places where there is opposition. Under the hospital is Dzhabhat Al Nusra’s apartments. I’m for destroying this hospital because it only treats the terrorists from Dzhabhat Al Nusra.

When that child was removed from the ruins in Syria a few days ago, the world wept for him. But I want to know – when the moderate opposition cut off the head of a child on camera, why was there no crying? Why does no one show the thousands of children who were torn to pieces, thanks to the car bombs detonated in the center of Syria – Damascus, Homs, or those in Iraq, in Baghdad, in Mosul. Now they show a child who has been removed from the rubble … And so now the international community is supposed to intervene. Americans have broken all of these countries, but now they are complaining about a bomb that fell somewhere. All this is thanks to US policies and the imposition of their “democracy.” I would say to Obama’s face that he is a criminal. George Bush is also a criminal. And they are to blame for what is happening in this region.

A few months ago Tony Blair apologized to the Iraqi people after three million were killed in Iraq. Where is the international community, to put him in jail? George Bush before him said they had been misled by his staff who showed them nuclear and chemical weapons. What happened? It turns out that the chief of the American services has retired. Americans are the last people in the world who can afford to talk about morals to us as Bulgarians, as Syrians, etc. For them, the end justifies the means.

Now they see these terrorists and you fell sorrow for them, but where were they just a year ago, when one of these moderate terrorists drove a car bomb into a primary school in the city of Homs? 65 children were torn apart and hundreds of them were disabled. The world does not see this, but it sees the child rescued from ruins. Did you know that the person who filmed the child in the ambulance is the same who filmed the child beheaded by the terrorists? But no one speaks about this.

My prediction is that the American plan will fail because the power is not in them. The power is in the people of the world. What do you think, do people in Bulgaria like the American policies? Believe me, that over 70% do not approve. I like democracy, where you can say whatever you want, but there is also a dictatorship within it. And there, if you are not a corporation, you can not exist. All wars in the world now, are thanks to them. Now some will blame Russia, but Russia responds to US policy, as does China. The Syrian army reacts to US policy. These are reflex actions. I repeat – what are US aircraft carriers doing in the world if nobody is attacking America?

There is talk of the possibility for Turkey to leave NATO. It is believed that its military might could grow, as will no longer be under pressure and could sign deals with countries outside NATO. What do you think about this?

This will be a good move for the world. It would be great if Bulgaria then leaves NATO. And everyone leaves NATO. We don’t need military alliances, because they only lead to collisions. Americans should remain in the US and we can respect them and they can respect us. And hopefully there would be peace and tranquility. We can go to them to see the Grand Canyon, and they come to us to see the Madara Horseman.

NATO currently provokes the formation of the Eurasian Union and the SCO, and other unions. Why should there ever be nuclear weapons in the world? Syria had chemical weapons. Yes, there were chemical weapons, but why do they have nuclear ones? Why does Israel have nuclear weapons? If we all work together, the world will become a beautiful place to live.

Now they regret that Turkey may leave NATO. I hope they leave! In fact, if Erdogan was not in NATO, there would not be a problem in Syria. Syria was supposed to invade Turkey because of aggression by Turkey. When you open all border and transfer terrorists to Syria, it is aggression. Syria had the right to attack Turkey. But if even one bomb had fallen from Syria to Turkey, all NATO dogs would have attacked Syria. Article 5 of the Treaty …

Erdogan was misguided into shooting down the Russian plane. He thought that NATO would stand behind him, but no one did. Turkish people suffer because of this. The economy suffers, inflation increases, no tourists, no place to send the goods. And NATO can not start a major war against Russia, against China, against Iran. Let’s be realistic. NATO is the US, Turkey and the UK. Beyond this there are no armies. European countries suffer from a lack of young people, they can not lead a major war. We saw the hysteria in France and Belgium because of a bombing.

Why should there be war? As I said at the beginning – Wahhabism was created in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism as an ideology was created by the British authorities to fight against the Ottoman empire. While terrorism is a tool to achieve goals, we can not bring it down. To fight it, we should fight with its creators. I do not know how this will happen, but we – as people, as humans, as people – will win. If something God forbid happens in Bulgaria, I’m ready right away to protect her as I would Syria.

Could the doctrine of neo-Ottomanism, which has been permanently revived in Turkey, create trouble for Turkey’s neighbors?

The US has a plan for the Middle East, but they do not want to participate directly. They need to rely on countries in the region. Initially, they relied on the “Muslim Brotherhood” not on the Wahhabi. These so called revolutions were supported by the “Muslim Brotherhood” because they have a presence in these countries – Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria, albeit slightly. But the United States failed in Syria. The “Muslim brothers” had given bad information to the United States, Britain and France that they are the majority in Syria and that they will quickly rile people and will immediately bring down Assad. But this was misleading. In Tunisia and Egypt, their plan worked, and millions immediately overthrew the government. And in Syria, millions came out in support of Bashar Assad, but nobody shows this on television. They show a hundred people who hide their faces in some alley, and appeal for the regime to fall.

USA initially relied on Turkey and Qatar for the demolition of all these secular regimes in the region. The Sultan of Oman was not ousted, the Emir of Kuwait was not deposed, the King in Morocco was left in peace, and they only brought down secular presidents. Tunisia was a pearl, and they ruined it. Syria was an economic power, it was ruined. Since Erdogan came to power they destroyed the secular regimes and in his head is the ideology of the Strategic Depth of his Davutoglu. They wanted the return of the influence of Ottomanism in all the territories where previously was the Ottoman Empire. Erdogan, dreamed that if all these regimes fall, he will become sultan. He had one ideology and one dream – to rule the Muslim world under the umbrella of the “Muslim Brotherhood”. And here is where northern Greece, southern Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia, etc come in. Everything is included in this plan, but it tripped over Syria. But at some point, Erdogan realized that the American plan is not to appoint him as chief, but to crush all countries, including Turkey. It will lose the most. Half of Turkey will be in Kurdistan. It was then that he felt that he should not continue.

Erdogan could stop the US plan for Kurdistan only if he changes course. That was the meeting with Putin. To change course and instead of being an enemy of Syria, to be her friend, and of Iraq and Iran. Because Kurdistan will be formed in these four countries. Erdogan may oppose this plan only with the help of Russia and China so there is no change in geography. Because when you change the borders of Syria, you will change those of Turkey and Iraq … This be done to Bulgaria as well, God forbid …!

We rely on the point that we are friend with America, and so nothing will happen to us. But Americans do not have friends, they have interests. If they decide it is in their interest to have a new Kosovo in Bulgaria, there will be a new Kosovo. So far, it has not decided for this to happen. This is the truth. I advise all Bulgarian Muslims to live in Bulgaria as Bulgarians and not to fall in the direction of war, because everyone loses from war. Who won in Syria? No one. We can talk about Assad’s strategic victory because he didn’t fall in six years, but that’s it.

In a “New York Times” ranking for 2010, out of 31 cities in the world as destinations for tourism, Damascus was in seventh place. There was a very high security level, an ancient culture, delicious food and very cheap. There is plenty to see – it is the cradle of Islam, the cradle of Christianity, the cradle of understanding between peoples. There is the biggest mosque of the Omayyad in which Erdogan wanted to pray. In this mosque, which is Sunni, there is a Shiite shrine. There is also a shrine for Christians – there is the head of John the Baptist.

There was no clash between Shiites and Sunnis, or Christians and Muslims anywhere. That was Syria, but they wrecked it. There are no two cities in Syria, not connected by a highway. The average salary averaged between 500 and 1,000 dollars, and 7 liters of naphtha cost $ 2, 10 kg of bread – 1 dollar. Free school. All people go to school. There is no village in Syria, where there is no school, not like our Bulgarian villages that have disappeared from the map. With my own eyes I saw in schools built in Syrian villages, a highway being built between Damask and Homs, which will be only for heavy trucks.

That was Syria. Why was it torn down? Is it not great insolence for someone who is a leader in the world to say that Assad is not legitimate. Only the Syrian people can say that. We as a people must not allow this to happen. If I vote in Bulgaria for a leader to become a prime minister or president, how can someone from somewhere else tell me that he is not legitimate.

Syria was a country that didn’t have a single dollar of external debt, which produced 93% of its medicine, which had a reserve of grain for five years ahead. From first grade until university graduation, a child cost his parents only $ 100 in fees. This is a country that exported specialists across the Arab world. Now there is no electricity, highways and bridges were blown up. And for what? To sell weapons and pharmaceuticals. Corporations win. They had no levers to control a Syria without debt. There was a strong army. So they didn’t attack from the outside, but from the inside.

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