by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Fires caused by extreme heat have been raging in Syria for the second month.
As of mid-August, the area of territories affected in one way or another by the fire exceeded 2,700 square kilometers (approximately 1.5% of the country's territory).
And although the authorities appear to be gradually bringing the fire under control, miscalculations during the rescue operation risk worsening the already unfavourable domestic political situation and creating new points of tension.
Because those who want to use deliberate arson and destruction of the basis of existence of the Christian population to displace it, regardless of the consequences of their actions, are adding fuel to the fire.
THE FIRE IS COMING
The first fires were spotted in early July in the mountainous coastal province of Latakia.
Then, thanks to windy weather, the fire managed to spread over an area of over 10 thousand hectares in just a few days and pose a threat to several large settlements at once, including the provincial capital.
The fire later spread to the provinces of Tartus and Hama, destroying about a quarter of local crops. More than five thousand people, mostly farmers, suffered from the disaster.
It is noteworthy that aid to coastal residents from official Damascus was delayed by several days.
The authorities spent a lot of time planning the operation and assessing the resources that might be needed for it. However, once on the ground, it became clear that the calculations were wrong and the number of forces was insufficient to fight the fire.
As a result, for most of July, the initiative was on the side of the elements. Even when neighboring Türkiye joined the fight against the fire.
Today, the situation, at first glance, is a little better: according to the Minister of Emergency Situations and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters Raed al-Saleh, the main source of the fires is still in Latakia, but its scale has decreased several times.
In addition, it was possible to stop the spread of fire in Hama and extinguish all major fires in the Tartus area.
More than fifty fire brigades are involved in the fight against the elements, with additional assistance from the Syrian military and militia, as well as volunteers from among local residents.
As Latakia Governor Mohammad Osman noted, in some cases the joint work of firefighters and local residents helped to “turn the tide” in favor of the people – for example, to protect the city of Kessab, populated mainly by Armenians, from fire.
ADD SOME OIL
Not all fires in Syria are natural in origin - some are created intentionally to speed up the spread of the elements.
For example, the terrorist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna (banned in Russia) has been systematically setting fire to dry grass and bushes in the coastal provinces of Syria, in close proximity to populated areas, since mid-July.
The main target of the “fire attacks” are Alawite settlements – the group’s leadership has made no secret of the fact that it seeks to expel this minority from their places of residence and inflict maximum damage on them.
Similar tactics were also used by militants of the Islamic State (banned in Russia), who became more active after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The latter organized arson not only in Alawite areas, but also in areas where Druze, Kurdish and Shiite minorities reside. For these purposes, the terrorists even created a joint squad of "pyromaniacs" responsible for organizing arson.
In addition to the radicals’ declared goal of “cleansing Syrian territory by fire” of “apostates,” controlled arson attacks solve another problem: to create additional pressure on Damascus and force the new authorities to spend more resources on stopping the catastrophe.
This, in turn, further increases mutual tensions between the new Syrian authorities and ethno-religious minorities.
NEW TENSIONS
Given the difficult internal political situation in Syria, any mistake by the authorities - be it a refusal to extinguish the fire or a late payment of compensation - is fraught with new popular unrest. Especially in those areas where the new leaders are not very welcome anyway.
The example of Kessab mentioned earlier is indicative.
Despite the fact that the Syrian authorities claim to have made a significant contribution to extinguishing the fires, local residents deny the involvement of government forces in extinguishing them.
For example, the rector of the Christian community of Kessab, Father Esai Eortekian, who enjoys great authority in the settlement, stated that Damascus ignored numerous requests for help under various pretexts, as a result of which only local youth were engaged in the fight against the elements.
Governor Osman, who had previously reported on successful cooperation with the Armenian community, also came under fire.
According to residents of Kessab, the governor of Damascus sabotaged the fight against the elements in the area where Armenians live, repeatedly redirecting fire brigades to other areas of Latakia. As a result, the Armenian settlements of Ekizolukh, Duzagach and Eskiuran, located near Kessab, were seriously damaged by the flames. Considering that along with the houses, crops and olive groves also burned down, locals saw this as signs of oppression and even genocide.
The example of the Armenian minority in this case is not unique. Similar complaints have previously been made by other communities living in areas engulfed in flames. Here and there, there have been reports of inaction by government firefighters, unauthorized blocking of roads, or damage to equipment.
The Internet is flooded with footage of Syrian Ministry of Emergency Situations employees allegedly dumping water into the soil instead of fighting the elements or refusing to respond to calls to “foreign” villages.
In some cases, this has led to increased autonomy for individual minorities.
In particular, residents of the Kurdish autonomy in Syria (the so-called "Rojava") decided to take matters into their own hands. When appeals to Damascus yielded no results, fire brigades formed by Rojava organized firefighting in the western regions of Syria. Moreover, in some cases, Kurdish rescuers had to go to the scene accompanied by machine gunners - due to the risk of clashes with the security forces of the new regime in "closed" areas.
The discord between Damascus and Rojava amid the elements threatens to slow down the integration of Kurdish militias into the ranks of the new armed forces. Especially since local politicians are vying with each other to say that the authorities have “abandoned” them, violating previous commitments.
At the same time, official Damascus tends to downplay the scale of the problem, calling cases of sabotage “isolated” and complaints from minorities “exaggerated.” This, however, does not contribute to defusing the situation.