Syrians relatively at ease with Trump's winning U.S. elections

Segments of the Syrian society expressed Wednesday relative reliefs with U.S. Republican Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential elections.

Big part of the relief is due to Trump's previous remarks about his will to cooperate with Russia in the war on terrorism, and thus a possible cooperation with the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

This move resonates with the supporters of the Syrian government, particularly after the leaked emails of Democrat Hillary Clinton, which indicated a role in inflaming the situation in the Middle East.

"When you think about it, wouldn't it be nice if we got along with Russia?" Trump said in July. "Wouldn't it be nice if we got together with Russia and knocked the hell out of IS (the Islamic State)?"

Another aspect that encourages the Syrians to feel good about Trump's winning is his desire not to interfere in other countries' internal affairs.

The Syrian government has always complained of the U.S. foreign policy toward Syria and regional issues, as President Barack Obama and even Clinton always showed a tendency toward backing the rebels in Syria against the Syrian government, with repeated calls for the ouster of Assad.

"We are optimistic about Trump's winning, because, frankly, Clinton is much worse," said Liza Elias, a Syrian journalist.

Elias said the American people appear to have become fed up with the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and that's why they chose Trump in the hope of achieving a change.

She added that the Syrians were not comfortable with Clinton claiming the seat in the White House, due to her "backing of the terrorist groups in Syria and her repeated calls on President Bashar al-Assad to leave."

For his part, Samir Saed, a Syrian university student, said the winning of Trump could usher in bringing a solution to the Syrian crisis, through cooperating with the countries that are desirous to bring this issue to an end.

"Trump's remarks on possible cooperation with President Assad raised his popularity among the Syrians," Saed said.

Rola Ghanem, another university student, also expressed content with Trump's winning, saying "his willingness to cooperate with Russia means something good for us."

However, Maher Ihsan, another Syrian journalist, said that he doesn't expect much from the United States, no matter who is the president.

"I think that countries such as the United States have plans for 50 or more years ahead, and even though they change presidents every four or eight years, but there are fundamental parts in the American policy which will not change with the president," he said.

He added that "the new U.S. president could do a change on a low-scale, but nothing so fundamental that we could see a real change in the U.S. policy toward our region, or the Syrian crisis for that matter."

Ihsan said that the Syrians don't know much about Clinton or Trump, except the few information provided on TV stations, noting that "this is not enough to know what these people could do."

"A lot of Syrians don't even know the difference between the Democrat and Republican parties in United States, and the few remarks made on TVs by either one of the nominees don't reflect the reality of what they are going to do next," he said.

Still, Ihsan hoped that Trump could walk the talk, and cooperate with Russia on fighting terrorism, mainly in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential election, saying he would do everything he could to repair ties between the two countries.

"Russia is ready and wants to restore full-scale relations with the U.S.," Putin said. "We understand it will be a difficult path, but we are ready to play our part."

Even though Russia and Syria are on the same page, the Syrian government hasn't given a stance on Trump's winning.