The Presence of Russia in Syria according to the Barakah Circle Theory: The Tartus Naval Base

Abstract

Throughout history, the central issue for Muslims all over the world relates to al-Quds and Bayt al-Maqdis. Any state that would like to have control of the globe has aimed to occupy Islamicjerusalem. This is a region that almost every superpower wants to control, and Russia has emerged as one such modern superpower. Since the time of the Soviet Union, it has had ambitions in Syria’s important port of Tartus on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and these aims are closely connected with the Holy Land. This study aims to theoretically highlight the geopolitical importance of Bayt al-Maqdis according to the Barakah Circle Theory of El-Awaisi (2005) with a case study of Russia’s Naval Base in Tartus in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. In this study, a qualitative research method is used to collect primary and secondary data. In this regard, Bayt al-Maqdis’s Barakah Circle Theory is tested according to the case study of Russia’s presence in the Mediterranean Sea.