The ongoing battle for Aleppo will be decisive in terms of determining the outcome of the Syria crisis, according to Suren Manukyan, an Arab studies specialist.

At a news conference on Tuesday, the expert said that all the future developments depend on the current fight.

“The battle for Aleppo is important as the city managed to remain secure for a year and a half until this month. And because Aleppo is Syria’s economic – trade and industrial – center, the authorities’ attention [to the city] was greater. Realizing that, the opposition would refrain from operations in Aleppo, but the tactics changed over the recent days,” he noted.

Manukyan said that to the best of his knowledge, around 10,000 opposition forces are now concentrated in the Syrian capital, the number being serious enough for a war imposed on the country under foreign pressure.

“This crisis is not a domestic issue. Were that the case, the question would have been resolved in a matter of a week. But there is a continuous flow of weapons, money and information assistance, which demonstrates that it has an international character,” he explained.

The Syrian authorities, according to the expert, have now to rely only upon Russia.

“Russia is fully determined to back Syria, so the Russians are their only hope now,” he said, pointing out to the deteriorating economic situation in Iran, and China’s policies to refrain from a military battle against a superpower without other countries’ support.

Manukyan believes the issue will be settled in the opposition’s favor in case the Russians yield and question their own
resoluteness a little bit.

He said the opposition cannot, in the current circumstances, gain any advantages in Aleppo.

“They cannot have any advantages. The authorities will clear the city step by step, especially because they use heavy equipment,” he added.

On the other hand, Manukyan noted that battles like this can undermine the opposition powers.

He said further that the death of a former defense minister’s son was of a landmark importance in the current crisis.

“As soon the news about his defection and membership in the Syrian opposition came, I thought they had a mutual agreement that Manaf Tlass would go and return as a compromising figure. There seems to be a consensus over this person,” he said.

Manukyan also called attention to the Kurdish issue, considering it very important in the current turmoil.

“The tens of millions of Kurds do not have a statehood, with crises like this making them active everywhere. It is noteworthy that Syria’s northern region is under the Kurds’ control. The Kurds back the authorities, which means there is an agreement with the authorities to establish a vast sovereignty here,” he said, adding that Syria uses Kurds as tool of pressure against Turkey.