MOSCOW (Sputnik) — This Western meddling, according to the deputy defense minister, has resulted in a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving conflict-torn countries in the Middle East.
"The troubles in the Middle East are a result of Western meddling, as well as of regional powers that act to the West's benefit," Mahmoud Shawa said on the sidelines of the fifth Moscow Conference on International Security.
According to the official, some Middle Eastern states also use tools to disrupt the domestic affairs of countries in the region.
"That is Turkey and Saudi Arabia who under the pretext of protecting freedoms and rights mobilize using the mass media to interfere with our internal affairs of Middle Eastern countries, often resorting to direct and indirect hostile actions and using for that the agents of influence and creating the controlled anarchy in our region," Shawa added.