Surely many of you will have had the opportunity to follow the updates that Tamara and Francesco of the AMU Projects Sector are sending daily from their mission in Syria. They are stories and testimonies of simple people who after years of war still have the strength and courage to look ahead, to hope and to commit themselves, their families, their people. They are stories of ordinary people, like us, who have been overwhelmed by tragic events without the possibility of avoiding them and defending themselves, as would happen to us if a similar tragedy were to happen to us. And many in this tragedy have already spent nine very long years of torment and vain waiting still unfinished.
At the same time, some other information other than anything related to Covid-19 is starting to filter out from newspapers and news reports, and coincidentally it is about facts related to the Syrian crisis: the Syrian national army that (with Russian support) attacked, causing losses and damage, the Turkish military forces (one of the strongest armies in NATO) that a few weeks ago had penetrated Syrian territory with the pretext of creating a “buffer zone” along the border of the Kurdish area (there would be a lot to speculate about the real reasons for this invasion). The Turkish response promises to be harsh and furious, in military terms against the Syrians and in political terms against NATO’s European allies (can we still call them that?) guilty of not having supported it with sufficient conviction in this adventure. The beauty is that Russia, a very skilled player on these geopolitical tables that are fundamental to strengthening its sphere of influence in the region, is a friend of the Turks when it comes to rejecting the accusations of the Western world for the violation of freedoms and harsh repression after the failed coup attempt in 2016, to the point of selling its own weapons systems to a NATO country (in exchange for who knows what military secrets), and at the same time it is an ally and protector of the Syrian government against Western interference attempts that, covered by the now increasingly worn-out and fake pretext of fighting terrorism (a good excuse for all seasons and all places, without ever having truly given a serious and objective account), want to divide the country and maintain control of the natural resources of the entire region. But Russia must also help the Syrian government defend itself from Turkish designs, and so with Olympian coolness and formidable unscrupulousness it manages to be simultaneously a friend of its own enemy, and an enemy of its own friend. All this is reality, not stage fiction or the plot of a spy novel!!! But the dance of hypocrisies extends also on this side of the Bosphorus, always with the active participation of Turkey, or rather of its president (with all due respect to the Turkish people) engaged in its claims towards the countries of Europe, or rather of the European Union, also entangled in this dance of hypocrisies although with more mellifluous and persuasive ways (all in all public opinion counts a little more than in other parts). Now the Turkish government has begun to use a powerful strategic weapon: the gradual release of the mass of more than three million Syrian refugees who fled the war and destruction in their own country, and trapped in Turkish camps (one day we will know what the real living conditions in those camps are). Europe, or rather Greece in its name (it has been authoritatively stated that “the Greek borders are the European borders”: what a discovery!!!) resorts to force to prevent the desperate from entering, and in the meantime another child drowns following his parents in this ordeal. I think that no sensible person could really believe that the six billion euros promised to Turkey for the reception of refugees really had the power to leave us in peace and without this nuisance of refugees who, who knows why, put their lives at risk to come and have fun here with us. In the meantime we move forward, obviously in no particular order, to manage our interests in controlling natural resources in the region, and in selling weapons to countries involved in conflicts and with serious responsibilities for violations of the most basic international and humanitarian norms. For those who believe that ultimately all this is a sacred duty of patriotism and defense of national interests, I would like to return to the Covid-19 story and how we Italians reacted with composure and firmness to the criticisms that the Chinese government had made against us in January after we had suspended all incoming commercial flights; it was a matter of defending ourselves from a dangerous outbreak of infection and therefore our decision was right and proportionate. Today, a month later, other countries are closing their borders to Italians, and then all hell breaks loose (and goodbye affected and arrogant composure): our health system is efficient, these measures are disproportionate if not illegitimate, etc. Obviously I do not question in the slightest the ability and heroism of those in our health system and civil protection who have spent and continue to spend themselves on this emergency, and rightly feel offended and resentful by such unjust and offensive measures. But deep down, didn’t even those in China who fought (and sometimes even to the point of sacrificing their own lives) the same emergency have the right to feel offended by our decisions? Here then is the difference in finding oneself on one side or the other of this mirror of deception: today I am the one who sees myself reflected and does not want (or can?) see what is really behind it, but tomorrow? We are fighting the battle to defeat the new coronavirus nCoV-2019, but there is another “virus” even more pernicious and insidious that we must fight, that of hypocrisy and cynical disinterest towards the multitude of human beings who succumb because of wicked decisions that we personally neither wanted nor implemented, but that thanks to our indifference and disinterest, one day history will judge harshly. Let’s not let our collective conscience fade away and take away from us the courage of a healthy and constructive commitment to “leave no one behind”.
