Walid Jumblatt, is a Lebanese MP. He is a front line politician, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party and also the Druze community in the land of the cedars.This veteran politician plays an important role on the national stage, and is among politicians able to talk about the Syrian crisis. He talked to euronews’ Randa Abou Chacra.
Randa Abou Chacra: “Let’s start with the hottest topic. You said that the bloody attacks in Paris, will cause a feeling of resentment against Arabs and Muslims, in your opinion, will that lead to an escalation of the violence? And how will it happen, what form will it take.”?
Walid Jumblatt: “It will lead to a restriction on Syrian refugees who are fleeing the massacres by the Syrian regime. It will also lead to the rise of the fascist and racist right, Marine Le Pen in France and even the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It is close to the issue which provokes the French and European politicians on the right. It will also express itself in different European countries which see themselves forming the core of the fascist right-wing organizations such as in Germany, Sweden and many other countries.
‘The co-called “Islamic State” is trying to push us and push humanity into a conflict which they call a “conflict between civilizations and religions” a theory put forward by the American political scientist Samuel P Huntington in 1992. The problem is that the third generation of Arab immigrants in Western countries, has not been able to adapt, integrate, and to live in harmony with society, because it knows nothing of its origins or of Islam and refuses French secularism or integration in Western countries. “
Euronews: “What do you think are the consequences of the Turkish attack against the Russian military aircraft on the Syrian border?”
Walid Jumblatt: “Turkey can attack a Russian plane in one way or another but can’t take such action without coordinating with NATO. This is not the first time that Turkish airspace was violated. But this time I think it is a conflict somewhere between NATO and Russia, and this increases the tension on the international stage.
‘It all began with the question in Crimea and in Ukraine and now Russia is opposed to Turkey. The answer was obviously violent, but I do not think now, that there will be a revenge attack against a Turkish plane. Russia will take more time to bomb the Turkmens who are of Syrian origin to drive them out of the Latakia region.”
Euronews: “Do you think the Sykes-Picot agreement – signed a century ago drawing up boundaries in the region should be preserved?”
Walid Jumblatt: “That accord is dead. Today is the beginning of a path that will lead to new boundaries being drawn up between minorities. Kurdish and Turkmen minorities, and also between religions and denominations. We are only at the beginning of a long process. But I do not see the Syrian and Iraqi regimes remaining unchanged. “
