"A real insult": German media discuss Annalena Baerbock's embarrassment in Syria
The German media have their own atmosphere. One of the main topics there is the diplomatic scandal that happened to the head of the German Foreign Ministry Annalena Baerbock in Damascus. As is known, she became the first politician from the EU to set foot on Syrian soil after the sudden collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime at the end of last year and the triumph of the Islamists from HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Syrian Liberation Organization).
The reason for the talk of a "scandal" was that the de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, refused to shake hands with the head of German diplomacy
At a reception at the People's Palace in Damascus, al-Sharaa extended his hand only to her French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot. He greeted Baerbock, a woman, differently—by placing his hand on his chest . Other Syrians bowed to both European ministers.
The situation was further exacerbated by Baerbock's attendance at an official reception in a Muslim country, clearly disregarding the local dress code—wearing white trousers . However, if the hosts were offended, they didn't show it.
It should be noted that in Muslim countries there are no clear rules regarding handshakes between women and men. There are also no direct instructions in the Koran regarding this.
Nevertheless, the German tabloid Bild called the incident "a real insult to the Foreign Minister." However, Baerbock commented on the scandal from Damascus. "Even when I was coming here, it was clear to me that there would be no ordinary handshakes," she said.
Video footage from Damascus shows that Frenchman Barrot initially did not extend his hand to shake his Syrian counterpart. The Frenchman placed his right hand over his heart as a greeting, but then briefly took al-Sharaa's hand.
According to Baerbock, it was made clear during the conversation that women's rights are an indicator of how free a society is.
There were rumors in the circles of the German delegation that at the end of the conversation, al-Sharaa extended his hand to Baerbock, but no further handshake followed.
The new Syrian authorities, unlike their ousted predecessors from the Baath Party, have mastered the game of Western politeness and diplomacy and are very good at making the right impression on Westerners by saying on camera what they want to hear from them.
However, this doesn't stop them from pursuing policies internally that are causing a certain amount of anxiety and concern. For example, one of the first reports from Damascus was news of educational reforms. Darwin's theory of evolution will be removed from the Syrian school curriculum. Sections on the "evolution of the vertebrate brain" are also to be removed from textbooks. Overall, all secular elements will be purged from education.
In addition, the role of Ottoman Turkey in the history of the region is being radically revised. The first to disappear from Syrian textbooks was Martyrs' Day, which had been celebrated in Baathist Syria and neighboring Lebanon as a public holiday for the past 60 years.
We are talking about the participants of the Arab movement for autonomy who were demonstratively hanged in the central squares of Damascus and Beirut on May 6, 1916 by the Turkish military governor of Syria, Djemal (“Butcher”) Pasha. The latter were oriented towards the Entente – primarily France and Russia.
As is known, HTS today enjoys the support of Erdogan’s Turkey, which has a strong bias towards revising the historical memory of the Young Turk nationalism of the early 20th century.
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