Aleppo Liberation: French Became 'Victims of Misinformation About Russia, Syria'

Eric Denece, director of the French Center for Research in the field of Intelligence, spoke with Sputnik in an interview about the liberation of Aleppo and how the Western politicians and mainstream media continue to twist the story.

“I believe that the French public, the French with whom we communicate understand what is happening because there is common sense. At the same time, the French political elite, as well as the media, are completely under the influence of Anglo-Saxon or Arab media,” the director told Sputnik France.

He said that as soon as Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabia, CNN, ABC or BBC News report something, the French media picks this information up and does not bother going against the main trends of the media, as “some French journalists do not do their job, do not treat it seriously.”

“On the other hand, many in France, including the ruling elite circles share the American Neo-conservatism and have become victims of this misinformation about Russia, about Libya, about Syria and about what happened during the Arab [Spring] revolutions. It is still difficult to assess the situation, although slowly it is happening,” Denece told Sputnik.

The director further said that the French political elite are no longer following real politics, they do not have a sober and realistic analysis of international relations; on the contrary, their position is based on ideology or emotions.

“Exactly the same can be said for media. Today there is no sober, realistic and neutral analysis of what is happening in the Middle East.”

According to the director, it is well known that there is a YouTube page which has a series of videos that display so-called tragic events in East Aleppo but in reality these videos were filmed in Iraq and in other cities and not in Aleppo.

“All this is done in order to try and generate more sympathy from the Western public regarding the tragedy of Aleppo. However, it is never told how these districts were retained by the jihadists and how these jihadists did not stop shelling Christian or Shiite neighborhoods located on the outskirts of the neighborhoods controlled by Damascus,” Denece said.

Talking about the liberation of Aleppo, the director said that this is an incredible victory for the Syrian Army and the residents of the city.

He said that life was unbearable for the civilians there and only now after the liberation, the Syrian government can finally claim its sovereignty over the city and peace can return.

“I think that first of all Syrians, Syria’s legitimate government and its allies should restore order and regain territory. Only after that, the question regarding how the regime should be changed can be looked upon,” the director concluded.