Western Intervention in Syria Triggered Migrant Wave – Cypriot Party Leader

The wave of Syrian migration toward Europe and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus was fomented by Western intervention in a Syrian internal struggle, the leader of the Cypriot Communist party AKEL told Sputnik on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A US-led coalition of some 60 nations, including several EU member states, has been launching airstrikes in the Middle East for over a year. The United States, Britain and France extended bombing missions in Syria without first securing the support of Damascus. Instead, the United States and Turkey pledged air support to what they refer to as a moderate Syrian opposition.

AKEL Secretary General Andros Kyprianou criticized the way the United States, NATO, the EU "interfered in the domestic affairs of Syria."

"We thought their intervention would be very negative for the Syrian people, and unfortunately we have been proved to be correct."

"This is one of the reasons why we have all these immigration waves from countries like Syria, Libya and other countries in the region – due to foreign interventions, wars which are launched by these foreign countries and only promote their own interests," Kyprianou said.

Europe is struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people flee conflict-torn regions in the Middle East and North Africa, seeking asylum in the bloc. According to the European Commission, over 500,000 asylum seekers have entered the European Union this year alone.