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| Ural Hatemi |
The ethnic and sectarian wars, airstrikes, and terrorist attacks that have spread across the Middle East have resulted in the deaths of not only military forces but also many civilian citizens. In an interview with Voice of America, southern sociologist Bilal Hatemi discussed this situation, which international organizations frequently bring up, and also talked about the reasons for the lack of a serious public movement and collective efforts against weapons and violence in the region.
The southern activist states that not only regional dynamics but also international legal mechanisms have been insufficient in bringing an end to the civil wars and bloody confrontations between various groups:
"If we consider the most serious international organization, the United Nations, its structural philosophy does not explicitly address intervention in conflicts within nation-states, especially ethnic and sectarian conflicts. Intervention mostly occurs when events pose a threat to the international community... Even an official body like the United Nations has such limited involvement in internal wars taking place in these countries."
Hatemi also mentions that various groups and activists in the region are all tied to a single ideology and that they operate strictly within these ideologies, rather than working towards peace restoration.
The researcher, who lives in Ankara, specifically discusses the sociological reasons for the crimes committed by some groups belonging to minority communities in Iraq and Syria.
"From a sociological or social-psychological perspective, groups that have been subjected to severe cultural and economic oppression for a long time tend to seek revenge when there is a slight weakening of power... It is natural for a group or community that has been oppressed for years to turn to radical revenge when the power of the great leaders is challenged, when it weakens, and there is a power vacuum," he states.
Hatemi also draws attention to the role of regional governments' actions in their own interests as a factor contributing to the ongoing tensions.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
"Basqı altında yaşamış toplumlar intiqama meylli olur"