بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | فبراير 27, 2019 | Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Evacuation from “Hell”
25 February 2019
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are expecting the evacuation of more civilians from the last ISIS pocket in east Syria, as the exit of thousands of people in recent days is adding another burden on the Kurds and aid organizations.
The completion of the evacuation should set the countdown for the SDF to resolve the battle, either through the surrender of the jihadists or by launching the final offensive, in a prelude to declaring the end of a “caliphate” that has caused terror for years.
The head of the SDF’s media office Mustafa Bali expects that there are “around five thousand people inside,” according to the latest update based on information gathered from evacuees recently.
During its battles with ISIS, the SDF arrested hundreds of foreign fighters (non-Syrian and non-Iraqi) from various nationalities, including British, French, and German. The SDF has repeatedly demanded the concerned countries to take back their citizens and assume responsibility for them.
Ending the battle in Deir Azzor does not mean the end of the group’s danger, due to its ability to mobilize sleeper cells in liberated areas and disperse in the vast Syrian desert.
Iraqi ISIS Fighters Back in their Home Country
24 February 2019
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have handed to Iraq two hundred and eighty Iraqi and foreign detainees in recent days, Iraq’s military said in a statement on Sunday.
An Iraqi military colonel confirmed to Reuters that one hundred and thirty people were transferred on Sunday, adding to the one hundred and fifty transferred on Thursday. They included the first known transfers of non-Iraqi detainees to Iraq, but it was unclear if they will remain in Iraqi custody.
There are meant to be more such handovers under an agreement to transfer a group of some five hundred detainees held by the SDF in Syria, Iraqi military sources said.
The Iraqi military has said only Iraqi nationals were handed over by the SDF.
Around eight hundred foreign fighters who joined ISIS, including many Iraqis, are being held in Syria by the SDF, the group has said. More than two thousand family members are also in camps, with dozens more arriving each day.
Sixteen Workers, One Cylinder
24 February 2019
A gas cylinder explosion inside a warehouse in al-Hol camp in north-east Syria injured sixteen workers, most of them suffered from second degree burns, the International Rescue Committee told the AFP on Sunday.
The camp, which is overseen by the SDF and located in Hasaka governorate, holds more than forty-five thousand people, including five thousand people evacuated since Wednesday from the last pocket under ISIS control in eastern Syria.
The fire destroyed more than two hundred family tents stored inside the warehouse before it was extinguished.
Funeral for Refugees in Canada
23 February 2019
Hundreds of people attended the funeral on Saturday of seven Syrian refugee children killed in a house fire earlier this week in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax.
The Bahro family had moved to Canada in 2017, after being sponsored by a Halifax refugee society, and a widely watched YouTube video showed them being welcomed at an airport with flowers and balloons. The children ranged in age from fifteen years old to four months.
The fire also left their father in critical condition in hospital and their mother was released from hospital.
The cause of the fire remains unknown to authorities, who say the investigation could take months to complete.
Russian Train, Syrian Weapons
23 February 2019
A Russian train carrying various weapons captured by the Russian army from Syrian militants left Moscow on Saturday on a tour to parade Russia’s military gains in Syria.
The train headed from Moscow to Crimea before making its way to the Russian far east and then back to Moscow, visiting 60 cities along the 28,500-kilometer-long journey.
On Saturday, Muscovites were invited to see the nine-trailer train, which carries tanks and other military vehicles captured from Syrian rebels and jihadists, in addition to drones and various other weapons.
“The aim is to show a maximum amount of people in our country the success of the Russian army in the fight with international terrorism,” said Russian Colonel Dmitry Serobaba.
Aleksey, a 31-year-old railway worker, brought his toddler son to see the train. He brought his son “so that he can see that we have a strong army” and said “I am really proud that they are winning in this far away region.”
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian war veterans and serving soldiers on their role in Syria. “By freeing Syrian lands from bandits and saving peaceful civilians, our soldiers are acting boldly, decisively and effectively,” he said at a Kremlin ceremony.
Russia deployed in Syria in September of 2015 upon a request from Syrian authorities. The Russian intervention changed the course of the eight-year conflict and left more than three hundred and sixty thousand dead.
Staying in Light of Withdrawal
22 February 2019
US administration officials said that the United States will not withdraw all its troops from Syria, contrary to what was previously declared, and will leave about four hundred troops instead of the two hundred previously announced.
The White House spokeswoman Sara Sanders said on Sunday that only two hundred troops would remain in Syria as a “peacekeeping group.”
US President Donald Trump, in December, ordered a withdrawal of the two thousand American troops in Syria, saying they had defeated Islamic State militants there.
Syria’s Kurds praised the decision to leave US troops in the area, describing it as a “positive decision.”
The acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan met his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar at the Pentagon on Friday.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staffs Joseph Dunford said that the war against ISIS, in which numerous international parties take part, would continue. The resources for this war will be proportional with the magnitude of the threats.
Trump had declared in December victory over ISIS in Syria, although there are still thousands of the groups fighters defending their last stronghold.
Return After Absence
21 February 2019
Ayman Alloush, the Chargé d’affaires of the Syrian embassy in Amman, Jordan, handed over his country’s approval to participate in the conference of the Union of the Arab Parliaments, scheduled to be held next month.
Alloush said he met with the Nassar al-Qaisi, Deputy Speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives, and handed him a letter from the Chairman of the Syrian People’s Assembly Hammoudeh Sabbagh.
The letter mentioned “participation with pleasure and gratitude in the conference, as Syria is the first country to receive an invitation to participate in the conference,” Alloush added.
Syria’s problem is with some Arab government and not with the people, Allsoush said, adding that the invitation from Jordan is not only from the people, as it carries a political message that Damascus appreciates.
Regarding his country’s participation in the Arab summit if it receives an invitation, Alloush said: “We hope that we do not go there just to take photographs. We hope Arab governments can take decisions that serve the region and its peoples.”
“Syria does not look backward, but forward as President Bashar al-Assad wants,” he added.
The Speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives Atif al-Tarawneh said recently that he invited the Chairman of the Syrian People’s Assembly Hammoudeh Sabbagh to attend the conference for the Union of Arab Parliaments, which will be held in Amman in March under the slogan “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine.”
Syria’s membership in the Arab league was suspended with the onset of the conflict in the country in 2011. It is still outside the league, and Arab countries are divided on its return to the organization.
Withdrawal of the Passport
21 February 2019
Britain stripped a teenager who travelled to Syria to join ISIS of her citizenship on security grounds, triggering a row over the ramifications of leaving a 19-year-old mother with a jihadist fighter’s child to fend for herself in a war zone.
The fate of Shamima Begum, who was found in a detention camp in Syria last week, has illustrated the ethical, legal and security conundrum that governments face when dealing with the families of militants who swore to destroy the West.
With ISIS depleted and Kurdish-led militia poised to seize the group’s last holdout in eastern Syria, Western capitals are trying to work out what to do with battle-hardened foreign jihadist fighters, and their wives and children.
Begum, who gave birth to a son at the weekend, prompted a public backlash in Britain by appearing unrepentant about seeing severed heads and even claiming the 2017 Manchester suicide attack, which killed twenty-two people, was justified.
She had pleaded to be repatriated back to her family in London and said that she was not a threat.
But ITV News published a February 19 letter from the interior ministry to her mother that said Home Secretary Sajid Javid had taken the decision to deprive Begum of her British citizenship. “In light of the circumstances of your daughter… the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made,” the letter said.
Against “Autonomy”
19 February 2019
Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on Tuesday flatly rejected the idea of giving Syrian Kurds a measure of autonomy, saying such a move would open the door to the partition of the country.
The Kurdish-led authority that runs much of north and east Syria has presented a road map for a deal with Assad in recent meetings with his key ally Russia.
The Kurds want to safeguard their autonomous region inside a decentralized state when US troops currently backing them pull out. They also hope a deal with Damascus would dissuade neighboring Turkey from attacking them.
But when asked on Tuesday if Damascus was willing to do a deal that would hand the Kurds some measure of autonomy, Bouthaina Shaaban flatly rejected the suggestion.
“Autonomy means the partition of Syria. We have no way to partition Syria,” she told Reuters on the sidelines of a Middle East conference in Moscow organized by the Valdai Discussion Club.
“Syria is a country that is a melting pot for all people and all people are equal in front of the Syrian law and in front of the Syrian constitution,” she added, calling the Kurds “a precious and very important part of the Syrian people”.
Her comments come after Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad expressed optimism last month over dialogue with Kurdish groups, and suggest the Kurds will face an uphill struggle to wring concessions from Damascus, which has said it wants to retake every inch of territory lost during eight years of war.
Shaaban sat next to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister at the conference and lavishly praised Moscow for its Syria intervention.
She was scathing about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his idea of carving out “a safe zone” in northeast Syria however.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | فبراير 12, 2019 | Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Last Gasp for ISIS
10 February 2019
The US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) engaged in fierce battles, on Sunday, in eastern Syria as part of their “decisive battle” to oust ISIS from the last stronghold in its self-declared caliphate.
ISIS, which declared the Islamic caliphate in 2014 over vast areas it controlled in Syria and neighboring Iraq estimated to be around the size of Britain, has suffered major losses in the last two years. Its presence is now restricted to desert areas along the border between Iraq and Syria.
The SDF announced, on Saturday, the start of the “decisive battle” to eliminate the group’s elements after a one week pause to allow civilians to escape.
There are still around six hundred jihadists, mostly foreigners, trapped inside. It is unclear if the group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is inside the encircled enclave. Military operations have forced more than thirty-seven thousand people to leave the area, mostly women and children from the group’s families including three thousand and four hundred militants, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Idlib Between Two Solutions
9 February 2019
A race between allies Russia and Turkey over the Syrian “northern triangle” has emerged, with Moscow talking about a “limited operation” in Idlib’s countryside amid bombardment by the Syrian government and Ankara seeking to incorporate local elements from Nusra Front into a military formation affiliated with the opposition.
Turkish intelligence has intensified their contacts with opponents to such a formation and is discussing the distribution of “powers and responsibilities” and the fate of foreign fighters in Tahrir al-Sham, which includes Nusra.
The city of Khan Shaikhoon, south of Idlib, was bombed as Damascus continues to send reinforcements to the neighboring countryside and Moscow talking about a “limited military operation” that may include the city of Jisr al-Shoghoor, where the Islamic Turkestan Party is based.
This comes days before the Russian-Turkish-Iranian summit in the Russian city of Sochi next Thursday.
Three Issues and Three Presidents
8 February 2019
Three issues will be put on the discussion table when Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meet in Sochi on Thursday: filling the void left after the US withdrawal, the fate of the Syrian “northern triangle,” and the constitutional committee and agreement of the third list.
Russia, Turkey, and Iran have different interests in regards to each of the three issues, which leaves the door open for potential bargains between the “sponsors.” One of the scenarios is that Moscow will settle for a limited operation in Idlib while giving Ankara more time in exchange for Turkish “flexibility” on the constitutional committee and Ankara’s acceptance of the Adana Accord as an alternative to the “safe zone.”
Disaster Warning
7 February 2019
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has warned that the situation of more than forty thousand people in al-Rikban camp in southern Syria is deteriorating rapidly.
The spokeswoman for the WFP in Syria Marwa Awad said this is one of the worst humanitarian crises witnessed in recent history, adding that “people are exhausted. You can see the exhaustion in their eyes.”
Awad took part in the one hundred and thirty truck aid convoy that arrived last Wednesday carrying food supplies, medicine, and warm clothes. This is the first convoy to arrive in the area in three months, and the largest UN convoy ever in Syria, according to Awad.
Most of the refugees in al-Rikban camp are woman and children. It lies in a desert area near the Jordanian border. Many children, including infants, died in recent weeks because of shortage in supplies and cold winter weather.
In June 2017, Jordan considered al-Rikban a closed military zone after an attack that targeted a Jordanian border post that provided assistance to the refugees, killing six soldiers and injuring others. ISIS declared responsibility for the attack.
Full Withdrawal, No April’s Fool
7 February 2019
The Wall Street Journal said that the US army is getting ready to withdraw all its troops from Syria by the end of April.
Unless the Trump administration changes course, the army plans to withdraw a big portion of its two thousand troops by mid-March, with full withdrawal by the end of April, according to the newspaper.
The Pentagon refused to comment on these plans. “We are not discussing the timeline of the US withdrawal from Syria,” Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson told the newspaper.
US President Donald Trump earlier said that he believed that he would be able to declare the defeat of ISIS by next week. “I want to wait for the official word. I don’t want to say it too early,” President Trump said to a gathering of foreign ministers of the global coalition against ISIS in Washington.
Trump had ordered the army to end its presence in Syria with no timeline in place. Officials from several European countries expressed their concern over the potential “void” after the withdrawal of US forces.
Iran Mobilizing to Fill the Void
6 February 2019
Iran stepped up its field maneuvers to recruit elements into its militias east of Syria in an attempt to “fill the void” after the US withdrawal.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that an Iranian delegation visited the city of al-Mayadeen, urging the youth in the city and the countryside to go back to their areas and join the ranks of Iranian forces and pro-government militias.
This comes after the Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Mohammed Islami, declared the inauguration of a highway linking Kerman Shah in west Iran with Hamil east of Syria. The Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, met the Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid Moualem, in Tehran to discuss economic cooperation.
Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, said that his county would play the role of mediator between Ankara and Damascus. “You cannot replace an occupation with another occupation,” said Zarif in an indirect criticism of Ankara’s insistence on establishing a security zone.
The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, held a meeting in Washington with the foreign ministers of countries representing the “small group” of US allies concentrating on Syria, before a meeting for the international coalition against ISIS. Pompeo said the United States would “continue to lead” the international coalition against ISIS despite its planned withdrawal from Syria.
Arabs and Kurds to Fill the Void
6 February 2019
The President of the Tomorrow Movement, Ahmad al-Jarba, presented US and Turkish officials and the former President of Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barazani, with a proposal to deploy ten thousand Arab and Kurdish fighters in the “security zone” north-east of Syria.
Washington and Ankara are finalizing a plan to establish a twenty-eight to thirty-two-kilometer-deep security zone between Jarablus north of Aleppo to Faish Khabor near the Iraqi border after the US withdraws from east of the Euphrates. Turkey has demanded that the zone be free from US military bases and heavy weaponry, in addition to the removal of some seven thousand Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Sources say that the US and Turkish officials and Barazni support Jarba’s proposal to deploy between eight and twelve thousand fighters from his “elite force” and the Peshmerga, which includes Kurdish and Syrian fighters who received training in the Kurdistan region, with the possibility of providing US aerial support from Ayn al-Asad base in western Iraq and al-Tanf base in southeast Syria.
Senior officials in the YPG questioned this proposal’s potential for success and continued their talks with Moscow and Damascus to reach an understanding in regards to the US withdrawal. For its part, Russia proposed enacting the Adana Accord between Syria and Turkey.
Al-Jarba along with a delegation from east of Syria met with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow to obtain support for the plan.
Pedersen and Moualem in Tehran
5 February 2019
Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid Moualem, and the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, arrived into Tehran to hold a round of talks with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.
The Iranian Fars news agency said that Pedersen met the Iranian foreign minister and the senior consultant for the Iranian foreign minister for political affairs Hussein Jabri Ansari.
This is Pedersen’s first Trip to the Iranian capital after being appointed as the UN special envoy to Syria, succeeding Staffan de Mistura.
Moualem and Pedersen’s visit to Tehran coincides with the trilateral summit in the Russian resort city of Sochi on 14 November which includes the three sponsoring countries of the Astana process: Iran, Russia, and Turkey.
European Blocking of Arab “Racing”
4 February 2019
A ministerial conference for Arab and European countries was held in Brussels, with curbing “Arab normalization of ties with Damascus” being one of the main topics.
Efforts were made to adopt a “conditional engagement” approach for the forthcoming Arab-Euro summit in the Egyptian capital. European and sponsor counties expressed their commitment to “linking the participation in rebuilding Syria with achieving progress in the political process and supporting the mission of UN Envoy Geir Pedersen.”
Informed sources say that some countries called for holding normalization with Damascus until the Euro-Mediterranean summit and that major European countries will not allow the joint summit to provide legitimacy for the resolution of the Tunisian summit to normalize ties with the Syrian government. According to these sources, US and European “advice” contributed to “curbing the normalization,” whether through protests made by western ambassadors, or during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the Arab region last month, in addition to European sanctions against figures close to Damascus and the US Congress adopting a draft resolution awaiting the approval of President Donald Trump in regards to “punishing parties participating in the reconstruction.”
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | فبراير 5, 2019 | Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Ankara “Communicating” with Damascus
3 February 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that his country has maintained low-level contacts with the Syrian government even though Ankara has supported the armed opposition who fought for years to topple the government. He said that intelligent services operate differently to political leaders. “Leaders may be cut out. But intelligence units can communicate for their interests,” Erdogan said. “Even if you have an enemy, you should not break the ties. You may need that later,” he added.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in December Turkey and other countries would consider working with Assad if he won a democratic election. Last month, Cavusoglu said Ankara was in indirect contact with Damascus via Russia and Iran.
Erdogan is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for talks on Syria in the Russian resort of Sochi on 14 February.
Al-Hol Children Freezing to Death
1 February 2019
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday that it asked the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to designate a site on route to al-Hol camp where civilians fleeing fighting in harsh winter can get aid after twenty-nine children died.
The SDF are fighting ISIS in the Hajin enclave of Deir Azzor governorate in northeast Syria. They are in “de facto” control of the zone, but have not replied to the request made two weeks ago, the UNHCR said.
Civilians, mainly women and children, are fleeing towards al-Hol camp, whose population has tripled in two months to thirty-three thousand.
At least twenty-nine children and babies are reported to have died in the camp in northeastern Syria over the past eight weeks, mainly due to hypothermia and malnourishment, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Near End of ISIS Pocket
29 January 2019
The acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Tuesday that ISIS is expected to lose its final bits of territory in Syria to US-backed forces within a couple of weeks.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have been backed by two thousand US troops and air support, are preparing for a final showdown with Islamic State in eastern Syria after helping drive the fighters from the towns and cities that once formed the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate.
The SDF said on Tuesday that Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria are pinned down in a tiny pocket with their wives and children, forcing the SDF to slow its advance to protect civilians.
“I’d say 99.5 percent plus of the ISIS-controlled territory has been returned to the Syrians. Within a couple of weeks, it will be 100 percent,” Shanahan told reporters at the Pentagon.
Senate Rebukes “Symbolic Withdrawal”
1 February 2019
The Republican-led US Senate advanced largely symbolic legislation on Thursday opposing President Trump’s plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The Senate voted sixty-eight to twenty-three in favor of a non-binding amendment, drafted by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying it was the sense of the Senate that ISIS groups in both countries continue to pose a “serious threat” to the United States.
The amendment acknowledges progress against ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria and Afghanistan but warns that “a precipitous withdrawal” without effective efforts to secure gains could destabilize the region and create a vacuum that could be filled by Iran or Russia. It calls upon the Trump administration to certify conditions have been met for the groups’ “enduring defeat” before any significant withdrawal from Syria or Afghanistan.
Coalition Planes Target Syrian Army
3 February 2019
US-led coalition jets attacked a Syrian army position near the battle front against the ISIS pocket late on Saturday, causing damages and injures.
“U.S. coalition aircraft launched an aggression this evening against one of the Syrian Arab army formations operating in the Albukamal area in the southeastern countryside of Deir Azzor,” Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) cited a military source early Sunday. The attack injured two soldiers and destroyed an artillery piece, SANA added.
Our partner forces were fired upon and “exercised their inherent right to self-defense,” the coalition spokesman said, adding that the incident is under investigation.
Army Bombardment of Idlib
29 January 2019
Rescue workers and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that Syrian army shells killed more than ten people on Tuesday in the opposition pocket in northwest Syria, where Russia and Turkey agreed on a truce in September.
The civil defense said Tuesday’s shelling hit the town of Maarat al-Numan, killing twelve civilians and injuring twenty-five, as well as other towns and villages in the southern part of the enclave. The SOHR said two children were among eleven people killed on Tuesday.
Syrian state news agency SANA said: “The army carried out precise operations against the positions of terrorist groups in the southern countryside of Idlib… Syrian Arab Army units in the northern countryside of Hama responded to terrorist violations of the truce in the de-escalation zone with concentrated attacks on their movement and infiltration towards military posts and villages.”
Targeting of the Salvation Government
29 January 2019
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a female suicide bomber targeted the headquarter of the National Salvation Government in Idlib, which is a governing council linked to Nusra, on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring three others.
The attack follows a series of attacks in the opposition-held northwest in recent months, where rival factions have fought for control.
US Ruling in Colvin’s Killing
31 January 2019
A US judge has ruled that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government is liable for at least $302.5 million in damages for its role in the 2012 death of renowned American journalist Marie Colvin while covering the Syrian civil war for Britain’s Sunday Times.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson said in a ruling made public on Wednesday that the Syrian government was “engaged in an act of extrajudicial killing of a United States national.” Colvin (56 years) and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs in 2012 while reporting on the Syrian conflict.
Iranian-Syrian “Eternal” Deals
28 January 2019
Iran struck economic and trade deals with Syria on Monday. The Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said that Tehran reached “very important agreements on banking cooperation” with Syria. Iran will also help repair power stations across Syria and set up a new plant in the coastal governorate of Lattakia, he added.
Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said Syria and Iran signed an agreement on Monday for long-term economic cooperation which includes industry, trade, and agriculture.
The two countries signed several memorandums of understanding during Jahangiri’s visit to Damascus which Khamis described as historic. Officials said they covered education, housing, public works, railways, investment, and other fields.
Safe Zone for Return of Refugees
28 January 2019
Turkey is aiming to form safe zones in northern Syria so that around four million Syrian refugees hosted by Turkey could return, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Speaking in Istanbul, Erdogan also said nearly three hundred thousand Syrians had already returned and that he expected millions of Syrian nationals would return to the safe areas.
US President Donald Trump announced in December the withdrawal of all US troops from Syria and Erdogan subsequently said they had discussed setting up a twenty-mile-deep safe zone in Syria along the border.
France Preparing for the Return of Jihadists
29 January 2019
The French Interior Minister said on Tuesday that his country is preparing for the return of dozens of French jihadists held by Kurdish authorities in Syria after the United States announced the withdrawal of its forces, marking a shift in Paris’ policy on the issue.
Government policy until now has been to categorically refuse to take back fighters and their wives. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has categorized them as “enemies” of the nation who should face justice either in Syria or Iraq.
“The Americans are disengaging from Syria and there are people who are in prison and held because the Americans are there and they will be released. They will want to come back to France,” Castaner said. “I want all those who return to France to be put immediately into the hands of justice,” he added.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have been backed by two thousand US troops and air support from nations including France, are holding about one hundred and fifty French citizens in north-eastern Syria, according to military and diplomatic sources.
Excluding families, officials estimate two hundred and fifty French jihadists are still fighting in Syria, including one hundred and fifty in the Hajin area, one of the final bits of territory held by Islamic State in eastern Syria, and one hundred others in Idlib governorate.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يناير 29, 2019 | Reports, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Iranian-Israeli War
21, 23, 26 January 2019
The leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that the “axis of resistance” could respond to Israeli strikes on Iran and Hezbollah in Syria by striking Tel Aviv. In an interview with al-Mayadeen TV, Nasrallah said that they were deliberating a response to escalating Israeli airstrikes.
Russia said on Wednesday that Israel should stop carrying out “arbitrary air strikes” on Syria days after the Israeli air force targeted “Iranian forces.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that such strikes added to tensions in the region, something she said “was not in the long-term interests of any country there, including Israel.”
“We should never allow Syria, which has suffered years of armed conflict, to be turned into an arena where geopolitical scores are settled,” TASS news agency cited her as saying. Her comments follow Israeli strikes in Syria on Monday.
The Russian news agency said that Israeli airstrikes targeted an airport in southeastern Damascus, killing four Syrian soldiers and wounding six.
Syrian official news media reported a military source saying that the country faced “an intensive attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles.”
Damascus did not mention the scale of destruction or number of casualties resulting from the strikes. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that eleven people were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that air strike primarily targeted Iranian forces, and also targeted Syrians providing them with aid.
Safe Zone Maneuvers
24, 25 January 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his country expects allies to help set up a “safe zone” in Syria on the border with Turkey within a few months, otherwise Turkey will set it up unilaterally.
US President Donald Trump decided in December to withdraw all two thousand US troops from Syria, and Erdogan subsequently said they had discussed Turkey setting up a twenty-mile-deep safe zone in Syria along the border.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Turkey has the capacity to create a “safe zone” in Syria on its own but will not exclude the United States, Russia, or others if they want to cooperate. Speaking after Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on Wednesday, Cavusoglu said Ankara and Moscow were “on the same page” regarding a Syrian political solution aside from the issue of whether President Bashar al-Assad should stay in office. Cavusoglu said Turkey was in indirect contact with the Syrian government.
Damascus Recognizes Adana Deal
27 January 2019
In a foreign ministry statement, Syria said on Saturday that it is ready to revive a landmark security deal with Turkey, that normalized ties for two decades before the 2011 conflict, if Ankara pulls its troops out of the country and stops backing opposition fighters. Syria said it was committed to the 1998 Adana accord, which forced Damascus to stop harboring the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Syria remains committed to this accord and all the agreements relating to fighting terror in all its forms by the two countries,” said the foreign ministry statement. Damascus, however, said reviving the Adana deal, which Russian President Vladimir Putin raised during his summit meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week, depended on Ankara ending its backing of opposition fighters and pulling its troops out of northwestern Syria.
Car Bombs Inside Cities
22, 24 January 2019
Official Syrian media said a car bomb exploded in Damascus on Thursday causing damages but no casualties. This is the third of such a blast in a city under government control this week. The official news agency SANA said that the explosion hit al-Adawi neighborhood, north of the central Old City district. A witness said the blast occurred near a hospital.
Official media reported that a car bomb exploded in Lattakia killing one person and wounding fourteen on Tuesday.
On Sunday, a bomb exploded near a highway at the edge of Damascus. The authorities arrested the attacker.
On the other hand, witnesses said that at least three civilians were killed and scores injured from a string of bombs hidden in motorbikes in Syrian towns controlled by Turkey-backed opposition. They said a woman, a child, and a young man were killed and at least eight others injured when a motorbike exploded near a public park in the heart of the city of al-Bab, north of Aleppo. A police source in the town said they had staged a controlled detonation of another motorbike in the town of al-Rai, north of al-Bab, and arrested a suspect.
In a similar incident, three people were injured in the nearby towns of Qabasin and al-Ghandura by blasts also caused by explosives planted in motorcycles parked in public places.
On Wednesday, explosive devices detonated in Afrin, a mainly Kurdish area, which Turkey and its Syrian allies took control of after the Olive Branch operation.
Stability in Idlib!
Reuters
23 January 2019
An agreement with Turkey on Syria’s Idlib governorate has not been fully implemented, raising concerns in Moscow and Damascus, Interfax news agency quoted a Kremlin spokesman as saying on Sunday.
After talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that they discussed measures that could be taken to maintain stability in the Syrian governorate of Idlib.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that the situation in this governorate, where Moscow and Ankara have tried to create a de-escalation zone, was rapidly deteriorating and that it was almost under the full control of Nusra militants.
“Unfortunately there are many problems there and we see them,” said Putin, standing alongside Erdogan, adding that he had agreed to host a summit soon where Russia, Turkey and Iran would discuss the situation in Syria. He did not name a date for the summit, but said he and Erdogan had agreed on its provisional timing.
ISIS Enclave
21, 24 January 2019
Residents and opposition fighters said on Wednesday that US-backed, Kurdish-led forces are on the verge of eliminating ISIS’s last remaining enclave in Syria near the border with Iraq after a four-month-long devastating bombing campaign that has left hundreds of civilian casualties.
The capture of the village of Baghous comes after a string of other villages fell in recent days to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF has now only a seven-kilometer stretch that separates them from full control of the entire east of the Euphrates River region, former residents and insurgents from the area say.
In a related context, local residents said a suicide bomber drove his car into a checkpoint in northeastern Syria on Monday, injuring several soldiers of Kurdish-led forces during a joint convoy with US allies.
Damascus is Tightening the Noose on Europeans
24 January 2019
The European Commission said on Thursday that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad had suspended special visas for European Union diplomats to Damascus.
“The Bashar al-Assad regime has suspended multiply entry visas,” a spokeswoman told a regular Commission briefing. “We are continuing as the EU.. to do whatever we can to avoid it having an impact on the important work we are doing on the ground.”
Arabs Agree on Refugees
20, 21 January 2019
Arab states at an economic summit on Sunday in Beirut called on world powers to step up efforts to enable Syrian refugees to return home. Lebanese officials have called for refugees to go home after the Syrian government reclaimed most of the country with Russian and Iranian help.
“Regarding the intense Syrian displacement and refuge crisis, in addition to the continuation and aggravation of the chronic Palestinian refugee crisis… we call on the international community to take its responsibility to curb the misery and place all efforts to find radical and effective solutions,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said, reading a statement which the summit agreed upon.
The statement asked for “a doubling of efforts to strengthen favorable conditions for the displaced and refugees to return in line with the relevant international law and respect for the sovereignty and laws of the host country.”
A key point of contention has been whether to bring Syria back into the Arab League, more than seven years after its membership was suspended.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for safe refugee returns and said in his speech, “Lebanon calls on the international community from this forum to exert all possible efforts and provide favorable conditions for the safe return of Syrian refugees to their country, especially to accessible stable areas or low-tension areas without tying this to a political solution. The refugees should be provided with incentives to return so that they can participate in the reconstruction and stability of their country.”
The United Nations says it is still too early to ensure safe returns for Syrian refugees. Human rights groups cautioned against forced return to Syria, where a peaceful settlement is still far from being reached.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يناير 22, 2019 | Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Kurdish Rejection
15 January 2019
Syrian Kurds expressed their rejection for a Turkish-controlled “safe zone,” in the north on the border between the two countries, under an initiative set by Washington and approved by Ankara to curb the repercussions of the US withdrawal from northern Syria.
Turkey had threatened to launch a major attack on areas controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in north and north-east of Syria, putting Washington in a difficult situation between its two allies and pushing it to put forward this initiative in hopes of reaching an understanding by all parties.
Eldar Khalil, a prominent Kurdish leader in Syria and one of the architects of self-administration, stressed the rejection of any Turkish role in the planned safe zone. “Turkey is not independent and not neutral, which means it is a party in this conflict,” Khalil said.
This Kurdish rejection for any Turkish role comes after US President Donald Trump’s call for a thirty-two kilometer (twenty mile) wide safe zone along the Turkish border and after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement that his forces will establish this zone between the Turkish border and US-backed YPG’s positions.
Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw all US troops from Syria exacerbated Kurdish fears that this could pave the way for a large scale attack that Turkey has long threatened to launch to keep Kurdish fighters far from its border.
This safe zone was the main topic of discussion between the Turkish president and his US counterpart during a phone call on Monday. The Turkish chief of staff met with his US counterpart in Brussels to set the “mechanisms” for the safe zone, which will be “under Turkish control.”
Moscow, one of Damascus’s most prominent allies, quickly rejected this suggestion on Wednesday. The Turkish and Russian presidents will discuss the matter in Moscow. Damascus described Erdogan’s statements about his country’s readiness to establish the safe zone as “irresponsible.”
Consensus for Return
17 January 2019
The Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that Syria’s return to its seat in the league relies on Arab countries’ consensus.
“The Syrian issue has various aspects and is sensitive. One must acknowledge that Syria is a founding member of the Arab League,” Aboul Gheit said after meeting the Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
“When we have Arab consensus and we make sure there are no objections from any party, then it is very easy to put the matter on the agenda of a ministerial meeting at any time, after good preparations,” Aboul Gheit added.
“If Arab countries agree to invite Syria to take back its seat, then the General Secretariat and the General Secretary will be at the service of the Arab countries. The General Secretary is the one who seeks to preserve Arab interests. We will instantly implement such a decision without any delay,” he went on to say.
Aboul Gheit said that there has been no Arab consensus on Syria’s return, yet.
The Arab League decided in November of 2011 to suspend Syria’s seat after the government resorted to the military option to quell popular protests.
In March of 2012, the Gulf Cooperation Council (includes Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain) decided to withdraw the countries’ six ambassadors from Syria.
“Slow is Safe”
19 January 2019
An influential US senator called on President Donald Trump for a slower withdrawal of US troops from Syria, until the “real defeat” of ISIS can be assured and “chaos” can be avoided.
“I hope President Trump would slow the withdrawal until we truly destroy ISIS,” said Lindsey Graham, senator for South Carolina, during a visit to Turkey where he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several ministers.
“I can understand the desire to withdraw (from Syria), but withdrawal without a plan is chaos,” said Graham, calling for a “smart” way to achieve this.
These statements came after an attack on Wednesday in the Syrian city of Manbej, which left sixteen dead including four Americans.
Although he acknowledged that the jihadist group has been practically defeated in regards to control over “territories,” Graham said that “there are still thousands of jihadist fighters in Syria … the objective to destroy the Islamic State has not been achieved, yet.”
Trump announced last month the near withdrawal of some two thousand US troops deployed in Syria to fight the Islamic State.
Settlement “Paralysis”
19 January 2019
After meeting the UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen, the chief of the Syrian Opposition Negotiation Committee Nasr Hariri said that the lack of international will prevented the United Nations from succeeding in advancing the political process, which is in a state of “paralysis.” Hariri stressed the commitment of the negotiation committee, which represents a wide spectrum of opposition forces, to reach a UN-brokered political solution in Geneva.
Geir Pedersen, a seasoned diplomat who succeeded Staffan de Mistura as the forth UN envoy to Syria, faces the difficult task of reviving UN negotiations after all previous rounds, which were led by his predecessor, collided with conflicting demands from both sides.
Pedersen visited Damascus on Tuesday for the first time since he assumed this position and met with Foreign Minister Waleed Moualem, and then headed to Riyadh and met with the negotiation committee.
“Pedersen is the forth envoy and there were seasoned envoys before him. I think the lack of international will to advance a political solution is what rendered the United Nations and its envoys incapable of carrying out anything,” Hariri said after meeting Pedersen.
“The political process has entered a state of paralysis, which is evident to all the world,” he added.
Since 2016, de Mistura led nine rounds of negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition without achieving any progress, as the opposition demanded political transition without the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Damascus insisted that his future not be discussed.
Trump Sticking to his Position
19 January 2019
US President Donald Trump defended his plan to withdraw US troops from Syria after a suicide attack in northern Syria on Wednesday, which left a number of US casualties. Before heading to Dover, Delaware airbase, Trump said that since he took office, the US has captured ninety-nice percent of territory once held by ISIS.
Trump received the remains of four US soldiers killed in the attack and met with their families. Before Christmas, Trump announced the defeat of ISIS, justifying the planned withdrawal of US troops from the area.
Trump tweeted that the extremist group had been defeated in Syria, adding that this group was the only reason he left US troops in the area during his presidency.
Before boarding his plane, Trump said that the United States killed ISIS “for Russia, for Iran, for Syria, for Iraq” and did a “big favor” for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Pentagon identified three of the American victims as two soldiers and one civilian contractor. US reports said that the fourth victim was an American translator of Syrian origin.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least eighteen people were killed in the attack on the Kurdish-controlled city of Manbej in northern Syria on Wednesday. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Daytime Airstrike
20 January 2019
The Israeli army said that a rocket fired from Syria was intercepted over the occupied part of the Golan Heights. This came a short time after the announcement of Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
“The air defense system – Iron Dome – intercepted a rocket launched towards the northern Golan Heights,” the army said in a statement. A military spokesperson said the rocket was launched from Syria.
The official Syrian media said on Sunday that air defenses thwarted an “Israeli aggression” that targeted the southern region.
The Syrian official news agency reported a military source as saying: “Our defense system is thwarting an Israeli aerial aggression with high competency over the southern region and preventing it from achieving its objectives.” The source did not give further details.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that the “targeted area is located south of Damascus near Kisweh, which was repeatedly targeted in the past.” The SOHR said this area contains “weapon depots for Hezbollah and Iranian fighters, however, it has not been confirmed yet if they were actually hit.”
Since the onset of the conflict in 2011, Israel repeatedly bombed military targets for the Syrian army and others for Hezbollah and Iranian fighters in Syria, the last of which occurred on 12 December at Damascus International Airport.
