War in Syria Considered Main 2015 Global Event by 43% of Russians

43 percent of Russians named the Syrian war as the main event of 2015, according to the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM),

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Syrian war is considered to be the main global development of 2015 by 43 percent of Russians, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) said Thursday.

The conflict between Russia and Turkey was named as the main world event by 26 percent of respondents, and by 12 percent as the main event in Russia.

Other important events include the Russian airliner crash over Egypt, the economic crisis, inflation and the depreciation of the ruble, according to a VTsIOM end of year press release, published on its website.

The year's top three events that received the most media coverage were the conflict in Ukraine, the crisis in Greece and the terrorist attacks in Paris, according to the press release, which referenced the Medialogia monitoring and analysis system's analysis of the Russian media.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011. The country’s government is fighting a number of opposition forces, as well as radical Islamist militant organizations, including the Nusra Front and Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh in Arabic), a group which is outlawed in a number of states worldwide, including Russia.

Russia has been conducting airstrikes against terrorist targets in Syria at the request of Damascus since September 30. On November 24, a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down over Syrian territory by a Turkish aircraft while carrying out anti-Daesh strikes in Syria, which led to a significant deterioration of relations between Turkey in Russia.