BANGKOK, December 9. /TASS/. Bashar Assad stepping down as Syrian president benefits Israel, the US and Turkey under current geopolitical conditions, Roostum Vansu, expert in international affairs and lecturer at the Institute for Peace Studies, Prince of Songkla University, told a TASS correspondent.
"The beneficiaries of what happened in Syria are Israel, the United States and Turkey. Israel's inability to defeat Hamas in the ongoing war since October 2023 is explained by Iran's assistance to Palestine, which also supports Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq. Iran has put Israel in the face of a war on several fronts that is difficult to win. The loss of the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut land corridor will significantly reduce Iran's influence and weaken Hezbollah. Military aid to Hamas will be reduced, which will allow Israel to focus on achieving complete victory over its opponent," he said.
"For the United States, Russia's ability to maintain the Syrian government in 2015 meant that they lost political influence in the Middle East, as a major power like Russia challenged them and gained a foothold in a region where the United States had a near monopoly on political influence after the Cold War period. The fall of Bashar al-Assad's government means that Russia's influence will be reduced, while opening up space for the United States to restore its monopoly of influence in the region. However, in addition to Russia, China has an increasing influence in the Middle East, which can become a serious obstacle for the United States," the analyst believes.
According to the expert, Assad's departure also "provides Turkey with the opportunity to exert more influence on Syria." "This makes it possible to implement the Turkish government's plan to send 3.5 million Syrian refugees back to their homeland. The way is now open for Turkey to expand the buffer zone in northern Syria occupied by the Kurds," Vansu added.
On November 27, Syria’s armed opposition launched a large-scale offensive on the positions of government forces in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. By the evening of December 7, President Bashar Assad’s opponents had seized several major cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Daraa, and Homs. On December 8, they entered the Syrian capital, Damascus, while the army withdrew from the city. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali expressed his readiness to peacefully transfer power in the republic. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Assad stepped down and left the country, having given instructions for the peaceful transfer of power.