Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 14
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva - Trend:
The horrific terrorist attacks in Paris that killed at least 150 people, are a serious message to the world: a terrorist group, which is firmly rooted in the Middle East, has challenged Europe to a deadly duel.
It is, of course, difficult to assume such a thing, but the crash of a Russian aircraft in Egypt, which by all indications had a bomb placed aboard before its took-off, and the numerous terrorist attacks in Paris, are seen as links in one chain, and perhaps not the final ones.
From all appearances, the "Islamic State" is trying to incite Europe to take action in response to these attacks by beginning ground operations in Syria.
The fact that the attacks were carried out on Nov. 14 - the day when Vienna was to host the next round of talks among world powers to find a solution to the Syrian crisis, might be seen as a quite "logical" action on the part of the terrorists.
Aside from that, Turkey's Antalya will host the Summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) on Sunday, which brings together participants from around the world. And the main topic of discussions there will now be the problem of security in Europe.
The reason behind terrorists' targeting France is obvious. Next week, the only French aircraft carrier, the 'Charles de Gaulle', will depart for the Persian Gulf to fight the "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria, where France's war planes have been carrying out bombing missions.
So, the strategically thought-out timing and place for a major terrorist attack has drawn the world's attention to the Syrian problem and the plague called IS, which is spreading across the Middle East.
For the first time, the "Islamic State" faces what has been difficult for it to overcome - the bombing campaign by the Russian air force.
Terrorists are not satisfied with their ability to wage a defense against this operation in the air, so the only option the IS has is to transform the European operation in Syria to the ground, where the IS will certainly have more room to maneuver.
In order to do this, it is necessary to force European capitals to take real action. Full-scale fighting by Russia and the United States, along with their allies in the region, would create a "Vietnamese" scenario, in which a large-scale ground operation would be a lost cause, and terrorist leaders in the Middle East are well aware of this.
In this scenario, the United States may not resist the temptation to strike at Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, which would either force the Kremlin to protect him by air from the Americans or to provide management to the Syrian army.
In that case, the fight against IS will become protracted, and that obviously would assist the IS fighters.
Alas, mistakes by European leaders, who have decided to help the United States in introducing a needless democracy, such as the "European model" into Syria, became an indirect cause of the tragedy.
Further, the influx of refugees in Europe from such countries as Syria will only increase the probability of penetration bye members of terrorist groups in the migration flow, and then it will be quite easy for extremists to organize more than one terrorist attack in Europe.
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Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian News Service
