ISTANBUL
Whatever you read, hear or see about the atrocities unfolding in the Syrian city of Aleppo, be wary, because all these fall utterly short of reflecting the reality as it is. The killing fields of Aleppo, and of Syria in general, go beyond what human perception or simple words can convey. The historical city of Aleppo, which was violated by the invading Mongol hordes of Hulagu Khan in 1260 A.D., now faces a much similar, if not more horrific, fate at the hands of Bashar Assad and his patrons.
Over the last few months, the Assad regime, supported by their regional and international allies, have launched an offensive to retake the remaining rebellious eastern sector of the city. The Syrian rebels who so valiantly repealed earlier attacks have now been virtually cut off from the outside world and their lifeline with northern Syria.
The rebels’ defeat came only after the Russian Air Force and the combined forces of the pro-Iranian and pro-Assad militias indiscriminately bombarded eastern Aleppo into submission. The horrors of the fall of Aleppo, however, came post-battle as the invading forces unleashed a reign of terror which included sabotaging repeated attempts of a UN-brokered evacuation of the civilian inhabitants as well as the besieged fighters of the city.
Other gruesome acts included the systematic roundup and execution of the male inhabitants of these captured quarters, and the abduction of many families, whose fate will never ever be known. What is more nauseatingly gruesome is the manner in which the so-called triumphant side has been celebrating the ongoing genocide with festive dancing and the customary distribution of sweets to bless this “divine victory”.
The blame, however, does not only fall on the butchers and maniacs killing the innocent men and women of Aleppo, but rather on the world, and each and every one of us who has turned a blind eye to all these series of massacres. These massacres started when Assad gassed his own people in Ghouta while the Western world and its top leaders, primarily U.S. President Barack Obama, allowed this to go on with impunity.
The spineless manner in which the international community has turned its back on the people of Syria will have great repercussions not only on the moral fiber of our communities but rather how in the future harm might befall our countries, which will be, one way or another, connected to the crimes being perpetrated in the streets of Aleppo.
The primary obsession of the international community is to shield itself from the attacks of the allegedly Islamic terrorist acts of groups, such as Daesh and whatever group which might come after it. Consequently, the West has given a free hand to Russia and its local allies to exterminate these groups and in extension the Syrian revolution which was supposedly responsible for their emergence. However, given the sequence and the manner in which the events have unfolded, the West should be aware that their investment in the Russian killing machine will backfire sooner rather than later.
The terrorist cells and lone wolves who carry out acts of terror across the world will soon incorporate the fall of Aleppo into their metanarrative to justify and legitimatize their next attack against those who have facilitated and allowed for such terrible massacres to transpire. The West’s sanctioning of the Russians to replicate the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia will further alienate the people of Syria from the West and further cement in their thinking the notion that further radicalization is their only way to achieve freedom and liberty.
The sight of what has remained of the inhabitants of eastern Aleppo as they are being evacuated from their utterly battered city ought to serve as a lesson that refraining from taking the right action is no different from committing the actual crime. It is also pertinent to always keep in mind that the people of Aleppo, just like their Syrian brethren around the county, are only guilty of one thing: demanding to live a dignified life away from the oppressive rule of the Assad regime.
Most importantly, next time anyone of us hears of a terrible terrorist act committed against civilians somewhere in the world, take one second and ask yourself: What were you doing when Aleppo fell and what did you do to stop it?
* Opinions expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu Agency's editorial policy
