بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يناير 16, 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.
Snow and Refuge
8 – 9 January 2019
Winter storms in Lebanon have flooded refugee camps, compounding the misery of the residents enduring powerful winds and biting cold.
The UN refugee agency said that the storm completely flooded or ruined fifteen informal camps out of sixty-six that were heavily damaged. In the Bekaa valley and other areas, the cold was accompanied by snow, adding a new chapter to the suffering of Syrian refugees.
US Contradictions on the Withdrawal
12 – 13 January 2019
Mustafa Bali, head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media offices, said on Sunday that ISIS militants “are living their final moments” in their last enclave in Syria near the Iraqi border, where these US-backed forces are attacking them. “Our fighters have stepped up attacks in the last two days and taken special measures in areas where ISIS is present, cutting escape routes and denying them the ability to reorganize… The border is under control and ISIS is surrounded,” he added.
The spokesman for the US-led coalition acknowledged the progress made, but said that the fight continues.
US President Donald Trump announced last month that he would withdraw troops from Syria, declaring they had succeeded in their mission to defeat ISIS and were no longer needed there. This announcement was followed by sharp contradictions between US officials, the last of which was the announcement by the coalition that it had begun withdrawing troops on Friday, however, US officials later said it involved only equipment!
Trump discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron US plans to withdraw from Syria during a phone call on Monday, after France expressed reservation over the US decision to withdraw from Syria without consulting partners.
Damascus Surprises Foreign Diplomats
12 January 2019
The Syrian foreign ministry surprised a number of foreign diplomats living in Beirut with its decision to cancel their diplomatic residency in Damascus in order to “exercise pressure” on their government to reopen the embassies in the Syrian capital.
At the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, Western countries decided to close their embassies in Damascus, except for the Czech Republic which maintained diplomatic relationships at the ambassadors’ level and oversaw US interests in Syria. A number of diplomats are stationed in Beirut and others are active in neighboring countries, especially Turkey and Jordan, to “cover the Syrian issue.”
Some Western diplomats have gradually begun to visit Damascus as the political atmosphere and security situation changed there. They maintained their diplomatic residency in the Syrian capital offered to them by the foreign ministry. The meetings were restricted to intermittent protocol visits at the ministry, low-level public meeting, or secret visits, which included cautious political sessions with the head of the Europe department in the ministry.
The foreign ministry, which had strictly issued visas for UN workers and sought to move international institutions from neighboring countries to Damascus, informed the diplomats living in Beirut, including those from Chile, that their residencies had been cancelled. Diplomats said the decision was aimed at “pressing to reopen embassies and diplomatic relationships with Syria.” Although some countries began group coordination or coordination through the UN, some diplomats said that this could impact UN aid to Syria.
Turkey is Threatening
11 – 12 January 2019
Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akkar vowed on Friday to wage a campaign against US-backed Syrian Kurdish factions, sharpening focus on a potential conflict the United States has sought to avoid. Despite being NATO allies, the division between Turkey and the United States runs deep in regard to the implementation of President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw about two thousand troops stationed in Syria. The plan hinges on Turkish cooperation to secure northeastern Syria as the United States departs.
While the US withdrawal has been clouded with conflicting messages from both Trump and his administration, the spokesman for the US-led coalition against ISIS said on Friday that the withdrawal began on Friday.
US National Security Advisor John Bolton sought to secure guarantees that Turkey would not harm the People’s Protection Units (YPG) after the withdrawal, however, this was met with stiff rebuke from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“When the time and place come, the terrorists here will be buried in the ditches they have dug, as was done in previous operations,” Akar said in a speech to military personnel at a command center in the province of Sanliurfa, referring to two other cross-border campaigns that Turkey has carried out in Syria.
“We recognize the Turkish people’s right to defend their country from terrorists, but we also know that those … who are not terrorists and fighting alongside us for all this time deserve to be protected,” Pompeo told reporters. “There are many details to be worked out but I am optimistic we can achieve a good outcome,” he added.
Damascus is Intensifying Dialogue with Kurdish Groups
11 – 13 January 2019
The Assistant Syrian Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan said on Sunday that the Syrian government hoped dialogue with Syrian Kurdish groups would “intensify”, signaling support for talks the Kurds hope will lead to a political deal between two of the main players in the conflict. Kurds have sought Russian meditation for talks with the Syrian government as part of their strategy to fill the void that will be left when US forces withdraw from the country, as instructed by President Donald Trump. The Kurd’s objective is to prevent an invasion by neighboring Turkey, which considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the main Syrian Kurdish group – as a national security threat, in addition to preserving autonomy in northern Syria.
“We hope for the intensification of the dialogue. Many of the Kurdish statements were positive regarding their concern for the unity of Syria,” said Sousan. “We are confident that through dialogue we can deal with some of the demands … and this dialogue guarantees that, as long as it based on a commitment to Syria’s unity,” he added.
Russia stressed the importance of dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters that territory previously controlled by the United States should be transferred to the Syrian government. “In this regard, establishing dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus takes on particular significance. After all, the Kurds are an integral part of Syrian society,” said Zakharova.
Tahrir al-Sham Dominates Idlib
10 January 2019
Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra), which is on a US list of terrorist organizations, tightened its grip over most parts of Idlib after a military campaign against Turkey-backed factions, forcing some the factions to dissolve and others to accept a peace deal recognizing civilian control by an administration backed by Tahrir al-Sham.
Turkey and Russia did not intervene during Tharir al-Sham’s campaign. Turkish Foreign Minister said: “We are taking the necessary precautions.”
According to Reuters, an official in the opposition said that Ankara played a key role in preventing the fighting from spreading further by pressing the opposition to accept the deal.
According to Enab Baladi website, one thousand fighters from the Islamic Ahrar al-Sham and others affiliated with Jaish al-Nasr faction have left Hama countryside for Afrin on Sunday under an agreement with Tahrir al-Sham, after the latter entered the area and took control of it. This number is part of two thousand and seven hundred fighters getting ready to leave for areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo because of their distrust in Tahrir al-Sham. Enab Baladi’s reporter said that the remaining group of fighters will leave Hama countryside on Monday.
Turkey is Mobilizing near Idlib
12 January 2019
Official media reported that Turkish troops and tanks carried out military exercises on the border with Syria on Saturday, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said a Turkish convoy crossed the border into northern Syria. The Turkish army sent tanks and armored vehicles to the border in the second day of reinforcement near the governorate of Idlib, the last major opposition stronghold in Syria.
On Friday, a Turkish military source said the Turkish army had been rotating forces in and out of the region, and declined to say whether the latest movement was in preparation for an operation inside Idlib itself.
The rise of the extremists has raised doubt over the future of a deal agreed in September between Turkey and Russia to avert a Syrian government army offensive. The agreement requires banned extremist groups to be expelled from a frontline buffer zone. The escalation comes as US forces prepare to withdraw from a region in northeastern Syria.
Israel Bombs and Acknowledges
11 – 13 January 2019
The official Syrian news agency said Israeli warplanes fired a number of missiles toward the Damascus area on Friday, triggering Syrian air defense that shot down most of them. The results of the airstrike were limited to a strike on one of the warehouses at Damascus airport. This attack is part of a series of Israeli attacks, the last of which was on 25 December that left three Syrian soldiers wounded according to official Syrian statements.
This time however, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Sunday Israel’s weekend attack on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria. Last week, an observer in Netanyahu’s security cabinet, Tzachi Hanegbi, said that there had been “more than two hundred and twenty” Israeli operations against Iranian targets in Syria. (Reuters)
Severe Fuel Crisis
13 January 2019
Syria has been going through the worst crises in terms of fuel, electricity, and infant formula for the last month, leading some to describe it as the most difficult stage the country has witnessed throughout the war. The current crises differ from the previous ones because their justifications are unclear amid government confusion.
For more than a month now, Syrians do not know the reason for the shortage of natural gas, amid conflicting government statements, starting from the Ministry of Petroleum which denied the presence of a crisis in the first place and confirmed that it was pumping the country’s need. Then came a statement from the Syndicate of Petroleum Workers accusing the Ministry of Internal Commerce of not regulating the market and stressing that black market traders were behind the crisis.
After that, the Ministry of Petroleum said that sanctions against Syria, Iran, and Russia delayed the arrival of the gas tanker ships. This was followed by yet other statements that gas would be available within days. The ministry then said weather conditions delayed the arrival of the tankers. The most recent statement came on Thursday indicating a problem in supply with previously signed contracts. The price of household natural gas reached eight times the official price in some areas.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | ديسمبر 6, 2018 | 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.
Two Children Burned
3 December 2018
Two Syrian refugees, including one child, died early Monday as a result of a fire in their camp in the Lebanese town of al-Yamooneh, east of Lebanon, Deputy Mayor Hussein Sharif told the AFP. Sharif said that the fire “burned twenty-three tents out of seventy present in the camp. A forty-six-year-old man died and a child who is seven or eight years old.” He added that what sparked the fire is unclear, but it is suspected to be that someone had left a heater on at night or it could be an electric shortcut. He also clarified that “the explosion of a fuel container in one of the tents caused the fire to spread.”
Security forces arrived at the scene and the UN sent a team to the camp, according to Sharif. One of the refugees told the AFP: “at three in the morning, we heard screaming. Then we saw flames (spreading) and we couldn’t put them out.”
Images showed the camp burned into ashes with nothing left other than poles. One of the images showed a girl looking in a pile of burned clothes, and another showed helpless young men looking at the destruction around them. Civil defense teams put the fire amid limited visibility due to fog and smoke, according to the official national media agency.
Fires have often erupted in Syrian refugee camps in recent years. Lebanon estimates the number of Syrian refugees within its territory around one and a half million, whereas the UN High Commission for Refugees puts the number at less than one million. Refugees live in harsh conditions and some live in unofficial camps. A big part of them relies on aid provided by humanitarian organizations. Camps, especially those in Bekaa east of Lebanon, are often subject to security raids.
After a raid on camps in the town of A’rsal, the Lebanese army arrested around four hundred Syrian refugees, including three hundred who had expired residency and thirty wanted under arrest warrants. Since the beginning of the year, the Lebanese General Security has been organizing group returns for refugees in coordination with Damascus. Eight thousand people have returned so far to Syrian areas where the battles stopped, according to a tally based on data from the General Security. The General Security said that tens of thousands of Syrians returned to Syria through trips coordinated with Damascus or on an individual level. Lebanese authorities waive late fines for those whose residency papers have expired if they decide to return to Syria.
Killing and Bombardment
3 December 2018
The US-led International coalition said that a prominent ISIS leader, responsible for the of execution of the US humanitarian worker Peter Kassig, was killed on Sunday in airstrikes carried out in the Syrian desert. Coalition spokesman Colonel Sean Ryan said in an email “Coalition forces conducted precision strikes against a senior ISIS member, Abu al-Umarayn … responsible for the killing” of Kassig, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2013, and the jihadist group posted a video of his execution in November of 2014. Ryan confirmed that the jihadist had been indeed killed.
The strikes also targeted other members of the group in addition to Abu al-Umarayn, who was “involved and directly participated in the execution of numerous prisoners” held by the group. This is the first time the coalition announces the killing of a jihadist associated with the execution of Kassig since its aerial intervention against jihadists in Syria and Iraq in 2014. Ryan did not mention the jihadist’s role in the execution of Kassig.
The radical group had posted a video, on 17 November 2014, in which a masked man wearing black clothes and pointing at the head of a man at his feet said: “This is Peter Kassig, the American citizen.” Peter Kassig was a former US soldier who fought in Iraq, but he left the army and decided to dedicate his life to volunteer work. He worked in hospitals and clinics in Lebanon and Turkey that received Syrians who fled their country. He also worked in areas of disaster inside Syria. Kassig’s friends say he converted to Islam and took the name of Abdul Rahman. He was kidnapped in October 2013 while on a mission to transport humanitarian aid to Syria.
Before the coalition announced the killing of the prominent jihadist, Damascus accused it of launching missiles against Syrian army positions in the countryside of Homs, in the Syrian desert. The official Syrian news agency SANA said that “the US coalition forces launched around 8:00 pm (18:00 GMT) this evening several missiles against some positions of our forces in the Ghorab mountains south of Sukhna.” The head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Rami Abdul Rahman said that coalition forces stationed in the Tanf base near the border with Iraq launched “more than fourteen missiles” at a government forces convoy when it was travelling in the dessert in the eastern countryside of Homs. He added that the “convoy was lost in the desert about thirty-five kilometers from the Tanf base,” where US and British forces are deployed.
In a response to a question from AFP, Ryan denied targeting military positions for the Syrian army and described these reports as “mistaken,” stressing that the strikes in the desert targeted the jihadists responsible for the execution of Kassig. The international coalition had previously launched several strikes against government forces in the Tanf area in the Syrian desert and in Deir Azzor governorate, east of Syria.
In the past years, the international coalition killed hundreds of ISIS members, including several leaders such as the former group spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani in 2016 and two other prominent members responsible for attacks abroad such as Salah Kormat and Sami Juddo.
A coalition airstrike in 2015 killed Mohammed Amwazi, the British Jihadist known as Jihadi John, who is believed to head the ISIS execution cell known as the Beatles, which is responsible for the beheading of several foreign hostages, including the two American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. The coalition-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of jihadists, including hundreds of foreign jihadists. In January, the SDF arrested Alexenda Koti and al-Shafee al-Sheikh, two British jihadists who were members of the Beatles.
Since 2014, the coalition has been launching airstrikes against ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria. The area that the jihadist group controls has been decreased to limited enclaves in the Syrian desert, mostly in the eastern countryside of Homs and Deir Azzor governorate in the east. The international coalition targets the last enclave under ISIS control in the eastern countryside of Deir Azzor near the Iraqi border with daily airstrikes. The SDF has been fighting battles to oust jihadists for three months. Government forces have been launching battles against ISIS pockets in the desert in the eastern countryside of Homs. However, analysts say that winning the battle against jihadists in Syria will take a long time for several reasons, the most important of which is the fighting experience that jihadists have gained and their will to fight until death in defense of their last stronghold.
A Candle for Syria’s Children
2 December 2018
The Vatican, 2 December 2018 (AFP).
Pope Francis lit a candle at the Vatican on Sunday for victims of conflicts around the world, and Syria in particular. “Advent is a time of hope. Right now, my hope is for peace for the children of Syria, tormented by a war that has lasted eight years,” he said. The Pope added: “I am lighting a candle along with the many Syrian children and believers across the world… Let these flames of hope dispel the shadows of war!”
The Candles for Peace in Syria Christmas initiative was launched by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity. The tall candle was decorated by a local craftsman from the Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus and bore the photos of forty children, most of them from Aleppo. Syria’s war has killed more than three hundred and sixty thousand people and displaced millions, with over thirteen million people in the country in need of humanitarian aid.
Israeli Bombardment Once Again
29 November 2018
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that, on Thursday, Israeli planes launched airstrikes against targets in the countryside of Damascus as well as in locations in southern Syria, adding that Syrian air defenses fired heavily at the raiding planes. SOHR stated: “Israeli forces bombarded for an hour positions in the southern and southwestern suburbs of Damascus as well as south of Syria at the border of Quneitra governorate. Air defense systems were seen launching missiles intensely.”
Israeli sources claimed that the strikes, the first since Syria received the S-300 missile system, targeted “Iranian positions.” Damascus said that it launched rockets against “enemy targets.” Syrian official media did not initially mention Israel, describing the one-hour attack as “hostile,” and confirmed its failure.
In a letter to the UN Security Council and UN General Secretary on Friday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the “Israeli aggression” on al-Kisweh area south of Damascus. This is the first Israeli strike in Syria since Syrian air defenses mistakenly downed a Russian military plane during their response to Israeli rockets on 17 September. The SOHR chief Rami Abdul Rahman told the AFP that Israeli forces targeted “weapon depots for Hezbollah and Iranian forces” in al-Kisweh that were used to “temporarily store rockets.” He added: “It seemed that Israeli had intelligence information that new weapons arrived at the depots.”
The bombardment also targeted the area of Harfa in the governorate of Quneitra, south of Syria, which hosts a military base for the Syrian army. According to the SOHR, the Syrian air defense systems were seen launching missiles intensely in response to the Israeli bombardment and were able to down several rockets that did not reach their target. The official Syrian news agency SANA reported a military source as saying that Syrian defense systems engaged “enemy targets above al-Kisweh” in the countryside of Damascus and “downed” them, without stating the identity of the targets. SANA said that the “aggression … was not able to achieve any of its objectives despite its intensity, and all targets were engaged and downed.”
The Israeli army announced in a statement that none of its planes or “aerial targets” were hit, without confirming or denying targeting positions in Syria. The statement said that “Reports regarding an aircraft or an airborne Israeli target having been hit are false.” It said a surface-to-air missile was fired in the direction of an open area of the Syrian Golan Heights but it was unclear if it had fell in the part occupied by Israel.
The airstrikes did not result in any human casualties, according to preliminary reports from the SOHR. The Syrian foreign ministry said that the “repeated Israeli aggressions” are “further evidence of Israeli support to the armed terrorist groups in Syria and an attempt to prolong the crisis in Syria.” Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in 2011, Israel has repeatedly bombed military targets for the Syrian army and others for Hezbollah and Iranian fighters in Iran. Israel rarely comments on its targeting of Syria, however, in September it announced that it had launched two hundred airstrikes in Syria in eighteen months against mostly Iranian targets.
An Israeli strike in May targeted a weapons depot for the Iranian revolutionary guard in al-Kisweh, according to Israel. It also targeted military positions in this area in 2017, including a weapon depot. Thursday was the first time that Syrian defense system fired on aerial targets after the 17 September incidents when this system mistakenly downed a Russian military plane during an Israeli airstrike, which killed fifteen Russian soldiers. The Russian army accused Israeli pilots of using the Russian plane as a covert to evade Syrian defenses, but Israel denied that, confirming that the Russian plane was hit after its planes had gone back to Israeli airspace.
Russia announced that it would take security measures to protect its army in Syria, including the reinforcement of Syrian air defense systems through the deployment of the S-300 system and scrambling communications for planes that come near. In October, Moscow announced that it had delivered this system to Syria, but it is unknown if the system was used in response to the attack on Thursday. Damascus said that this system would force Israel to take “precise calculations” before carrying out new strikes. Israel has reiterated that it would continue to confront what its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as Iran’s attempt to cement its military presence in Syria and send advanced weapons to the Lebanese Hezbollah. Since the Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015, which immensely contributed to government forces retaking control of vast areas in the country and achieving consecutive victories, Moscow has established a “non-friction” mechanism with Israel.
New Ministers
29 November 2018
New ministers in the government took the constitutional oath in front of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday. According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the new ministers are: Brigadier General Mohammed Khaled al-Rahmoun as minister of interior, Engineer Mohammed Rami Radwan Martini as minister of tourism, Imad Mowafq al-A’zeb as minister of education, Bassam Bashir Ibrahim as minister of higher education, Engineer Suhail Mohammed Abullatif as minister for public work and housing, Engineer Eyad Mohammed al-Khatib as minister of communication and technology, and Engineer Mohammed Ma’en Zein al-A’bideen Jathbah as minister of Industry.
President Assad then presided a full government cabinet meeting and talked about the priorities in the upcoming stage and the pivotal role of fighting corruption. The Syrian president made a cabinet reshuffle, on 26 November, that included nine ministers, the most prominent of which is the interior minister. According to SANA, Assad dissolved the ministry of reconciliation, which was established in 2012, and formed a public establishment of administrational nature called the National Reconciliation Establishment based in Damascus and affiliated with the prime minister. This is the third cabinet reshuffle of Prime Minister Imad Khamis’s government, who was appointed in 2016.
“Missed Opportunity”
29 November 2018
The UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura expressed his regret of the “missed opportunity” in the efforts to reach a political solution in Syria at the end of the Astana talk, which did not achieve progress in ending the conflict in the country. De Mistura, who announced his resignation last month, ended his term as a special envoy for peace efforts with the two day talks in Kazakhstan’s capital that saw the participation of Russia and Iran – allies of the Syrian government – and
Turkey, which supports opposition factions. A statement from his office noted he regretted that “no tangible progress in overcoming the ten-month stalemate on the composition of the constitutional committee.” It also mentioned that the meeting in Astana was “a missed opportunity to accelerate the establishment of a credible, balanced and inclusive, Syrian-owned, Syrian-led, UN-facilitated constitutional committee.”
The two-day negotiations that concluded on Thursday, are the eleventh in Astana since Moscow began a diplomatic push in early 2017 that effectively side-lined other talks on Syria led by the United Nations. The Astana process has solidified Moscow’s role, and its military intervention in the fall of 2015 allowed for the changing of the field situation in favor of the Syrian government. De Mistura leaves his position at the end of November after four years of fruitless meditation. The constitutional committee seeks to draft a new constitution for Syria, however, Damascus objected to the formation presented by the UN.
After the talks, the Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentiev said that the committee is of “great importance,” and added: “I am pleased to say that we are getting near the desired objective,” but he did not specify any date. The talks began on Wednesday and specifically addressed the truce agreement in Idlib, the last stronghold for the opposition and jihadists in Syria, whose fate was threatened after a suspected chemical attack in Aleppo on Saturday, which prompted Russia to launch air strikes on the buffer zone near the governorate.
The air strikes on Sunday come after more than one hundred people suffered breathing difficulties in government-held Aleppo which came under bombardment with “poison gas,” according to the official Syrian media. Russia – ally of Damascus – accused “terrorist groups in the demilitarized zone of using chemical weapons that contain chlorine gas in bombarding the city of Aleppo.”
Around two months ago, Russia and Turkey reached an agreement on establishing a demilitarized zone in Idlib and its surrounding that runs 15 to 20 kilometers deep, after Damascus hinted for weeks that it would launch a wide military operation in the area, which is considered the last stronghold for opposition and jihadist factions in Syria. The demilitarized zone is located at the front lines between government forces and opposition and jihadist factions. It includes parts of Idlib governorate and areas in the western countryside of Aleppo, northern countryside of Hama, and the northeastern countryside of Lattakia.
The Russian-Turkish agreement came after the Syrian government forces regained control of over two-thirds of the country in the past three years, as a result of the Russian support. There are still two main areas that are outside government control: Idlib and its surrounding, where Turkey has influence and the areas controlled by the US-supported Kurds northeast of the country.
The Astana talks have distanced the United States and other Western country from efforts related to Syria. A joint statement by the three co-sponsors raised the issue of continued US military presence in Syria. The sponsoring countries “reject all attempts to create new facts on the ground under the pretext of fighting terrorism,” the statement said.
Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of using the presence of the Islamic State in southern Syria as a pretext to keep its forces deployed there. The United States had attended previous Astana meetings as an observer, but last week, the US Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey ruled out Washington’s participation in this round.
A new round of talks on Syria in Astana is expected to be held early February, according to the statement. Syria has witnessed since 2011 a destructive conflict that killed over three hundred and sixty thousand people and displaced half the population inside and outside the country.
“New Reality”?
3 December 2018
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Washington once again of deliberately working to “establish a new reality east of the Euphrates,” and said that US actions clearly violated the principle of Syria’s integral territory. In a press conference, Lavrov criticized western policies in Syria and said that “they do not have a strategy unlike the approach Moscow has taken.” He added: “The truth is becoming more evident as time goes by. What is happening on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river is unacceptable and will have very grave consequences.”
Lavrov said that the United States is trying to create “alternative government institutions” in these areas and has allocated millions of dollars to reconstruct these areas, but at the same time, it refuses reconstruction in areas under government control. He described what is going on east of the Euphrates as a “clear violation of Syria’s territorial integrity as declared by all and confirmed in the UN Security Council’s resolution.”
Lavrov said that “one of the main component of US policy in Syria is using the Kurdish card,” warning that this is “a very dangerous game given the sensitivity of the Kurdish issue in the region, that is not only for Syria, but also for Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.” The minister said the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed this topic on the second day of the G20 summit and confirmed their commitment to the Russian-Turkish agreement on Idlib. “Extremist militants have not met the demand to withdraw twenty kilometers behind the demilitarized zone despite Ankara’s efforts in this regard.”
The minister said that Putin and Erdogan agreed to take future steps to ensure the implementation of the agreement to establish this zone, and thwart attempts by extremists to undermine it. Lavrov stressed that most countries now acknowledge that the Syrian constitutional committee, which is being formed through an initiative by the Astana sponsors (Russia, Turkey, and Iran), represents “the only mechanism that would allow for the implementation of UN Security Resolution 2254 which stipulates that all Syrians sit at the negotiating table.” Lavrov said that in the past years, Moscow did not see that Western powers offer any alternative constructive strategy to the “Astana process” in regards to fighting terrorism in Syria, creating conditions for the return of refugees, providing humanitarian assistance, and constructing the political process in the country.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | سبتمبر 19, 2018 | Media Roundups, 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.
Idlib at Sochi After Tehran
14 September 2018
Turkey launched a wide diplomatic campaign regarding the potential battle in Idlib. Turkey said that it has held talks with all sides in the Syrian conflict to prevent government forces from carrying out a full-scale attack on Idlib, which is under the control of the armed opposition.
A summit was held between the presidents of Russia and Turkey, who support rival parties in the anticipated battle. The summit comes after the failure to reach a ceasefire during the trilateral meeting in Tehran between Iran, Russia, and Turkey. However, the Idlib front witnessed a decline in the number of airstrikes, and militants in the Syrian opposition said that some government forces withdrew from front lines in northwest of Syria in recent days.
Turkey also held talks with foreign ministers of a number of countries and is having talks “with all parties in Syria” to reach a ceasefire in Idlib, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. He reiterated Turkey’s call to carry out precise operations against fanatics, including Tahrir al-Sham, instead of launching a full-scale random attack. “We are ready to cooperate with everyone to fight terrorist organizations. But killing everyone – civilians, women, and children – like this in the name of fighting terrorist organizations is not right and is not humane,” he added. (Reuters)
Turkey reinforced a dozen military positions inside Idlib, which lies across its southern border and is controlled by Turkish-backed groups and jihadist fighters, in an attempt to deter the government offensive. Troops, armored vehicles, and equipment have been sent to the Syrian border. “We have a military presence there and if that military presence is damaged or attacked in any way, it would be considered an attack on Turkey and would therefore receive the necessary retaliation,” a Turkish security source said. A senior official in the Syrian opposition said that Turkey sent dozens of armored vehicles and tanks, in addition to hundreds of special forces troops to Idlib. A source in the opposition told Reuters that Turkey also increased its reinforcement to opposition forces in Idlib in recent days, including ammunition and rockets.
On the other hand, Interfax news agency reported Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying that his country will continue to bomb military targets in the Syrian governorate of Idlib if there is a need, however, it will establish safe corridors for civilians to flee. During his visit to Berlin, Lavrov said that Russian air forces will destroy what he described as terrorist weapons manufacturing facilities in Idlib once they are observed, however, it will also encourage local reconciliation agreements. The official Russian news agency reported the Kremlin as saying that Putin discussed the situation in Idlib with members of Russia’s Security council on Friday and expressed his concern for the militant activities there. (Reuters)
The Kurds were not absent from the Russian-Turkish “negotiations” on Idlib. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a letter to The New York Times published on Thursday that the People’s Protection Units (YPG) might help the Syrian government in the offensive on Idlib. The YPG were a strong ally for the United States in its war on the Islamic State. However, Turkey considers them a terrorist organization and an extension of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, which has been leading an armed rebellion against the Turkish state since the eighties. Ankara has repeatedly expressed its anger over US support for the YPG. (Reuters)
No Chemical Weapons or Refugees!
10 – 14 September 2018
Reuters
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday appealed to Russia, Iran, and Turkey to “spare no effort to find solutions that protect civilians” in the Syrian governorate of Idlib and said it was “absolutely essential” a full-scale battle was avoided.
“This would unleash a humanitarian nightmare unlike any seen in the blood-soaked Syrian conflict,” he told reporters. “I understand that the present situation in Idlib is not sustainable and the presence of terrorist groups cannot be tolerated. But fighting terrorism does not absolve warring parties of their core obligations under international law,” said Guterres.
The UN cautioned that an offensive on Idlib would cause a humanitarian crisis in a region populated by three million people. Turkey, which already hosts three and a half million Syrian refugees, said that it cannot receive a new influx of refugees. The Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said that officials from Turkey, Russia, France, and Germany agreed during their talks in Istanbul on Friday that any attack on Idlib would have serious consequences and that a political solution must be reached. Kalin said that mass displacement of refugees from Syria would be a problem not only for his country but for the European Union as well. “We expect maintenance of Idlib’s current status, protection of civilians, and prevention of a humanitarian crisis there,” he told reporters.
The UN said it is preparing aid for around nine hundred thousand people who might flee in case the fighting intensifies. The opposition is accusing Russia and its allies of attacking hospitals and civil defense centers to force the opposition to surrender, in a replay of major military attacks on areas such as Aleppo and eastern Ghouta. The UN said that it has notified Russia, Turkey, and the United States of the GPS coordinates of two hundred and thirty-five schools, hospitals, and other civilian sites in Idlib, in hope the move will protect them from being attacked.
Four hospitals in Hama and Idlib have been hit by air strikes in the past week, constituting “serious attacks” that violate international law, Panos Moumtzis, UN regional humanitarian coordinator for the Syria crisis said. He called on all warring sides to ensure that civilians in Idlib were able to move freely in any direction to flee fighting or bombing, and for aid workers to have access to civilians. UN figures show that around thirty-eight thousand and three hundred people have fled Idlib this month. Thirty-three people were killed and sixty-seven others injured in aerial and ground bombardment from 4 to 9 September.
On Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drain warned that the indiscriminate bombing of Idlib could amount to war crimes. “The hypothesis of war crimes cannot be excluded … once one begins to indiscriminately bomb civilian populations and hospitals,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament members.
Germany will make an autonomous decision on whether to participate in any military response to a future Syrian chemical weapons attack in line with international law and the German constitution, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday. On Wednesday, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said that Germany and other countries have to do all they can to prevent the use of chemical weapons in Syria, adding that a “credible deterrent” was needed.
The United States, Britain, and France agreed that another use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would result in a “much stronger response” compared to previous air strikes, President Donald Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton said on Monday.
On Wednesday, UN investigators said that they had documented three uses of banned chlorine gas by Syrian government forces that constituted war crimes, and urged major powers to help avert a “massacre” in the final battle for Idlib. In their latest report they said the attacks caused injuries in the Damascus suburb of Douma and in Idlib in the northwest in January and early February. They also said that they were still investigating a suspected chemical attack in Douma on 7 April that killed at least forty-nine people and wounded up to six hundred and fifty others.
Phosphorus Bombs
9 September 2018
Reuters
The Russian army said on Sunday that two US F-15 fighter jets dropped phosphorus bombs on Deir Azzour governorate in Syria on Sunday, TASS news agency and the official Russian news agency reported, an allegation the United States has denied.
The airstrikes targeted the village of Hajin and resulted in fires, but there was no information about casualties, the Russian army said. A Pentagon spokesperson denied that US planes dropped phosphorus bombs. “At this time, we have not received any reports of any use of white phosphorous… None of the military units in the area are even equipped with white phosphorous munitions of any kind,” said Commander Sean Robertson. Human rights groups have said that the US-led coalition against the Islamic State has used white phosphorus munition over the course of the Syrian conflict. The bombs can create thick white smoke screens and are used as incendiary devices. Human rights group criticize use of the munitions in populated zones because they can kill and maim by burning people to bone. (Reuters)
Nassib Border Crossing Talks
13 September 2018
Reuters
On Thursday, an official Jordanian source said that Syria and Jordan held the first technical talks to open a major border crossing in southern Syria, which was recaptured from the opposition last July. Syria hopes to reopen the vital border crossing to revive its shattered economy and rebuild territory under its control. The source told Reuters that the meeting took place on Wednesday on the Jordanian side of the border upon a request from Syria. He said that technical groups started talks concerning the required practical arrangements to reopen the border crossing from customs to security. “The meetings will continue to put a complete view of all the arrangements linked to reopening the crossings in the coming period,” the source added. (Reuters)
Elections During War!
16 September 2018
Enab Baladi
Elections for local administration councils were held on Sunday, 16 September, in Syria, in areas under government forces control. According to the official news agency SANA, voters can exercise their right to vote with their personal IDs.
More than forty thousand candidates are competing for eighteen thousand and four hundred and seventy-eight seats in all governorates, SANA said. According to the election decree, applications are submitted before a certain time ahead of the election day. Each governorate issues its own laws, and an election committee is formed on the national level for sub-councils (cities, towns, and municipalities). Governorates also specify the number of seats and electoral procedures. Nomination is open to all people. Two lists are issued, the first (previously known as the “Progressive Front List”) is for the Baathists and is currently called the “National Unity List”. The National Leadership of the Arab Baath Socialist Party is responsible for issuing this list. The other list contains independent figures, and gets only thirty percent of the total list of candidates.
These elections are the first of their kind since the decree of 2011. The last local elections after the onset of the Syrian revolution were the legislative elections in 2016 and the presidential elections in 2014.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | أغسطس 15, 2018 | Media Roundups, 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.
Victims in the North
11 August 2018
Al-Hayat
Fifty-three civilians, including twenty-six children, were killed in an air strike on Friday night that targeted areas controlled by opposition factions in northern Syria, according to a new toll from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The SOHR said that “forty-one civilians, including twenty-five children, were killed in a night airstrike on the town of Orm al-Kobra in the western countryside of Aleppo,” while twelve others, including one child, were killed in air raids on the governorate of Idlib. “Air raids conducted by Russian airplanes and explosive drums launched by Syrian helicopters targeted areas in southern Idlib governorate,” the SOHR said. The current escalation is the most dangerous since the announcement of the de-escalation zone in Idlib last year. (al-Hayat) For the fourth consecutive day, Russian air defense systems brought down drones targeting Hmeimeim airbase. This escalation coincides with the beginning of government military operations in northern Hama and southern Idlib.
Another sixty-nine people were killed, including fifty-two civilians, as a result of an unexplained explosion in a weapons depot early Sunday morning in the town of Sarmada in Idlib governorate, according to a new toll from the SOHR on Monday.
“The number of people killed as a result of the explosion rose to sixty-nine, including fifty-two civilians and seventeen militants from Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra),” said the SOHR.
The civilian death toll includes seventeen children, according to the SOHR, which said that the majority of those killed are family members of militants from Tahrir al-Sham who were displaced from Homs.
The rescue operation has been ongoing since dawn on Sunday, according to Abdul Rahman, who said that the death toll is likely to rise because of “dozens of wounded, some in serious condition.”
The depot was located in a residential building in the town of Sarmada in the northern countryside of Idlib. The reasons behind the explosion are “still unclear.”
Displacement from Idlib … to Where?
8 August 2018
Reuters
The anticipated battle in Idlib could lead to the displacement of seven hundred thousand Syrians, according to reports by UN-supervised aid agencies. Many previous battles ended in agreements that provided for the departure of opposition militants and their families to Idlib, which doubled the population of the governorate to two and a half million. This potential battle could exacerbate the humanitarian situation and increase relief needs in an exceptional manner. UN regional humanitarian coordinator Panos Moumtzis said in June that the governorate’s entire population of two and a half million could be displaced and move towards the Turkish border if there was a major battle. Such a battle would be more complicated and brutal than anything seen so far in the seven-year war, he said. (Reuters) The UN has repeatedly cautioned about the dangers of an attack on Idlib. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with Russian media last month that Idlib governorate would be a priority for his forces.
The New Opposition Army
13 August 2018
Middle East Newspaper
The armed opposition in northern Syria has been working on establishing a “national army” with Turkish support, after the start of the countdown to the battle for Idlib. This means that there are two main armed groups in northern Syria: the National Army and the National Front for Liberation, in addition to Tahrir al-Sham. The main challenge is uniting the armed opposition without Tahrir al-Sham. The National Army receives financial and military support from Turkey, which also provides support for the National Front for Liberation, which in turn was formed by the merger of five groups, notably the Syrian Liberation Front, factions from the Free Syrian Army, and al-Ahrar Army faction.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hinted at the possibility of conducting more military operations in northern Syria to establish safe zones that could accommodate Syrian refugees and prevent a new influx of displacement into his country. He added that his country has completed the necessary arrangements to establish more safe zones inside Syrian territory, as it did before during the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations. (Middle East)
Hama’s Border Crossings are Closed
12 August 2018
Enab Baladi
The border crossings of al-Madhiq Citadel and Mork are two of the most important border crossings between areas controlled by the government and those controlled by the opposition. They represent symbols of the economies of war and exchange of interests among the warring parties from a military perspective. In the wake of repeated escalations in Idlib, the Syrian government and Russian police have closed the border crossings of al-Madhiq Citadel and Mork in Hama countryside, effectively cutting off commercial and civilian activities. The closure of the border crossings coincided with the arrival of government military reinforcements to the northern countryside of Hama on Friday. (Enab Baladi)
Ousting ISIS from Sweidaa’s Dessert
12 August 2018
SANA & Enab Baladi
Government forces declared their full control over Sweidaa’s administrational border in its eastern countryside as part of their campaign against ISIS. The official Syrian news agency SANA said that government forces made wide progress and were able to encircle ISIS on Sunday in Tolool al-Safa, which is located within the administrational border of Damascus Countryside governorate. On Saturday, government forces controlled the following areas: Rosoom al-Tathmooni, Khirbet al-Ambashi, Tilal al-Hibarieh, Rosoom Marroush, Souh al-Na’meh, Dharet Rashed, Zraibieh, Khirbet al-Shahrieh, Wadi al-Rmailan, Wadi Shajara, Zmlet Nasser, al-Nahyan, Tal Dhabe’, Tal al-Dhbai’ieh, and Qabr al-Sheikh Houssain. ISIS did not comment on the battles and its propaganda has been completely absent since the last attacks in Sweidaa, which left more than two hundred people dead. ISIS still holds women and children from Sweidaa as captives. (Enab Baladi)
Russian Pressure for the Return of Refugees
8 August 2018
Enab Baladi
Russia announced its plan for the return of Syrian refugees on 18 July, making it the first serious international initiative in this regard. It sent out applications for hosting countries to provide estimates of the number of refugees. It also opened up five border crossings and seventy-six centers to welcome returning refugees, which can accommodate three hundred and thirty-six thousand refugees. The main function of these centers is to monitor the return of refugees from foreign countries to Syria, provide necessary aid to them, and then send them to their areas of permanent residence or keep those who have no place to go in the shelter centers.
The Russia plan involves the return of 1.7 million Syrian refugees to Syrian in the “near future” which are distributed as the following according to data from the Russian Ministry of Defense: eight hundred and ninety thousand refugees from Lebanon, three hundred thousand refugees from Turkey, two hundred thousand refugees from European countries, one hundred and fifty thousand refugees from Jordan, one hundred thousand refugees from Iraq, and one hundred thousand refugees from Egypt. The Russian government presented its plan for the return of refugees to Syria during the Helsinki summit on 16 July, which joined President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin. Moscow then dispatched senior officials from the ministries of foreign affairs and defense on a shuttle tour to Jordan, Lebanon, Germany, and France. Then talked about solidarity with these countries to ensure the success of the plan and the return of the refugees.
There were many doubts regarding the number of refugees who accepted the Russian plan. Under the initial text of the plan, Russia could not dispel the fears of the refugees wanted by the Syrian security authorities or those who left the county for fear of the mandatory military service. (Enab Baladi)
There is concern among human rights organizations and refugees regarding how host countries, which are already under pressure because of the refugees, would respond to the Russian initiative, as pressure could be implicitly or explicitly exercised on refugees to return involuntarily.
Cost of Reconstruction
8 August 2018
ESCWA, AFP
The United Nations estimated the cost of the war in Syria at around four hundred billion US dollars in a meeting for the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on Wednesday, 8 August. This estimate does not include human losses that Syrians have suffered during the bloody war, such as death, injuries, and displacement. The financial and human losses reflect the high burden of the war and the great challenges facing reconstruction, which requires, in addition to financial and human resources, credible, competent, and inclusive institutions to overcome the consequences of the war and ensure stability thereafter.
Jordanian Commercial Delegation in Damascus in Preparation for the Resumption of Commercial Trade.
8 August 2018
Enab Baladi
Damascus received a Jordanian commercial delegation at the invitation of Syrian economic officials, in preparation for the resumption of commercial and economic relationships between the two sides. On Wednesday, 8 August, the Ministry of Internal Commerce and Consumer Protection said that a meeting was held at the ministry in Damascus to discuss ways to restore commercial relationships between Jordan and Syria. It also said that the Jordanian delegation expressed its desire to open up border crossings between the two countries, especially Nassib border crossing, in order to start the commercial exchange, including all agricultural and industrial sectors. The Syrian side viewed the meeting as a new chapter in the Syrian-Jordanian commercial cooperation. It said that this was a preparatory meeting to open Nassib border crossing between the two countries.
Nassib border crossing is of significant political and economic importance to the Syrian government and Jordan. Government forces took control over the border crossing on 6 July during a military campaign against opposition areas in Daraa governorate, south of Syria. (Enab Baladi)
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | أغسطس 7, 2018 | Media Roundups, 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.
UNDOF Returns Under Russian Umbrella
4 August 2018
The UN peacekeeping force has carried out a patrol for the first time since 2014 in a key crossing point between the Syrian Golan Heights and the occupied part of these heights after coordination between Russia, Israel, and Syria, said a UN spokesperson on Friday.
Thursday’s patrol at the Qonaitera crossing point was the first since the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) withdrew in 2014 after al-Qaeda affiliated militants took control over the area.
Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, have regained control of territory near the Golan Heights in recent weeks.
“The patrol to the Qonaietra crossing point is part of UNDOF’s ongoing efforts to return incrementally to the area of separation,” said UN spokesman Farhan Haq.
He said that the mission held talks with both Syrian and Israeli forces ahead of the patrol. Syrian forces and Russian military police conducted “simultaneous” patrols in the area, said Haq.
After the Russian army’s declaration that it intends to deploy eight military observation posts in Golan, a UN spokesperson said that any Russian presence would be “separate and distinct from that of UNDOF.”
The UN is seeking the full return of the force to the Syrian side.
Currently, more than half of UNDOF’s nine hundred and seventy-eight troops are deployed on the so-called Bravo (Syrian) side.
UNDOF has carried out more than thirty patrols in the northern and central parts of the disengagement zone since it resumed its activities on the Syrian side in February.
UNDOF was established in 1974 to observe the cease-fire line that separates Israelis from Syrians in the Golan Heights.
Russian Deadline for Idlib
4 August 2018
Moscow gave Ankara until the Russian-Turkish-French-German summit scheduled for 7 September to resolve the issue of Idlib, informed sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Ankara pressed opposition factions in northern Syria to unite and form the National Front for Liberation, which includes seventy thousand fighters, according to informed estimates. This comes as part of a plan to set a deadline for Tahrir al-Sham, which includes factions such as Fat’h al-Sham (previously Nusra), to dissolve itself so that Syrians would be able to join within the new bloc and “find a mechanism” for foreign militants to “exit.”
On the other hand, government forces continue their push for a military operation in Idlib. They have bombarded opposition positions, but are cautious in getting near the twelve Turkish observation points deployed in Idlib near the countryside of Hama, Lattakia, and Aleppo.
Around three million people live in Idlib, half of which are displaced from other areas. The Turkish side was able to get a deadline from Russia during the Sochi meeting last week in order to “resolve” the issue of Idlib before the Turkish-Russian-French-German summit on 7 September.
A Kurdish Rifle for Druze
4 August 2018
The leader of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) Siban Hamo told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that his forces are ready to head for Sweidaa to “protect” its Druze citizens from ISIS and liberate its eastern countryside from ISIS elements.
“ISIS launched barbaric attacks on our people in Sweidaa. The pain of the Druze is the same pain we felt in Kobane and Afrin. We do not distinguish between these attacks and the attacks on our people in Sweidaa. The YPG stands ready to send forces to Sweidaa to liberate it from terrorism,” said Hamo.
Negotiations collapsed between ISIS and dignitaries from Sweidaa to release kidnapped women and children that ISIS is holding. Hammoud al-Hinawi, a Druze sheikh, refused ISIS’s demands. “[ISIS] demanded, through mediators, that their elements be transferred from the Yarmouk basin in the western countryside of Daraa to a desert area in the eastern countryside of Sweidaa and that Syrian government forces retreat from villages in the desert of Sweidaa in exchange for the release of thirteen women kidnapped from the villages of Shreihi, al-Shabki, and Rami” in Sweidaa countryside, Sheikh al-Hinawi told a German news agency.
Attacks and suicide bombings left around two hundred and fifty people dead in Sweidaa, in the fiercest ISIS operation in years on this Druze majority area. Since then, residents of Sweidaa have been on high alert to confront ISIS and repel it from the administrational borders of the governorate. Attacks may come from the desert east of the city or Yarmouk basin in the west.
After sending military reinforcement to Sweidaa governorate, Damascus is preparing for an offensive on two fronts: the first towards the eastern countryside of Sweidaa and the other towards the area of Lajat in the western countryside of Sweidaa, north of the city of Daraa.
A Syria “Offer”: From Russia to the United States
4 August 2018
On Saturday, the Russian army said that it sent a message to the United States in the previous month that included a proposal for cooperation in the reconstruction of Syria and the return of refugees to their country, confirming media reports about this matter.
Chief of the Russian Army General Staff Valery Gerasimov sent a letter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford stating Moscow’s readiness to cooperate with Washington on clearing mines in the war-torn country and helping refugees return to their homes.
“It is disappointing that the US side is unable to comply with an agreement not to publish the content of the communications until after both sides agree,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Moscow urged the UN Security Council last week to help in reviving the Syrian economy and the return of refugees, at a time when its ally Damascus was waging a campaign to regain territory in the seven-year conflict.
In July, Moscow also presented proposals to the Unites States regarding the return of refugees from Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt, which included the offer of international financial support.
Distance to Israel: Forty or Eighty-five Kilometers?
3 August 2018
A senior military official in Tel Aviv refuted Russia’s claim that Iran withdrew its forces eighty-five kilometers from the disengagement border in the occupied Golan. He said that these forces are present in the vicinity of Damascus and are currently forty kilometers away from the border with Israel.
The Israeli official refused to confirm or deny the Israeli army’s responsibility for bombing three Iranian position in Khan al-Sheeh, Qatana, west of Damascus on Friday morning. He stated his government’s position in that “Iran should leave all of Syria and cease military activity there, whether it is activity by the Revolutionary Guard or militias affiliated with it.”
“Clearly, this withdrawal needs time and will happen gradually. Iranians began to show serious signs and steps for withdrawal. However, they will not hesitate to fool the world, including their Russian allies, and get around agreements and breach commitments. This will force us to increase surveillance and provide evidence for their breaches,” he said.
“We will leave Syria if we feel that it is able to achieve relative stability,” the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry Bahram Qasimi said on Saturday.
On Thursday, Israel said it would stop offering treatment for those injured in the Syrian war after the Syrian army regained southern Syria.
Modest Breakthrough: Between Damascus and the Kurds
2 August 2018
The visit by the Kurdish-Arab delegation of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) to Damascus revealed the depth of the gap between the two sides and the false impressions of each side towards the other.
As for the SDC, it came to Damascus with a belief that the US-led international coalition against ISIS will remain in north-east of the Euphrates. Therefore, the SDC’s delegation raised the stakes: first, the return of services such as electricity, health, water, and education in areas controlled by the SDC, which constitute one third of Syria’s area of one hundred and eighty-five thousand square kilometers, and then reaching a formula that serves the “common interest” in investing oil fields that represent ninety percent of Syrian production and gas that represents half the national production.
According to the visiting delegation, success in “confidence-building measures” would lead to the second phase that includes the “Syrian government’s” control over border crossings with Iraq and Turkey and the deployment of security forces. The third phase would then address the nature of governance, whether that is a decentralized system or local administrations.
On the other hand, Damascus seemed not to be in a rush. Damascus was talking about “red lines”: control over all land border crossings, including those with Iraq and Turkey and under the control of the SDC, raising the official flag over all border crossings and public institutions, and the refusal of any “separatist step.” Damascus was not ready to talk about decentralization or self-administrations. Moreover, it is convinced that Law Number 107, which addresses local councils of the Ministry of Local Administration, is sufficient to take care of Kurdish concerns, in addition to some concessions regarding Kurdish rights in language, celebrations, and services.
Obviously, Damascus is relying on three things in its strict position: the recent military gains near Damascus, Homs, and southern Syria, the Russian aerial support and Iranian land support, and betting that the United States would leave Syria and that time is on Damascus’s side.
With this gap, the sole “achievement” of the meetings was the lifting of a ban by Damascus on technicians to fix electricity generating turbines in Tabaqa Dam on the Euphrates river and a ban on employees to visit health facilities. The formation of a joint committee was very slow.
“Revolution Icon”: In a Temporary Tomb
3 August 2018
Syrian opposition actress May Skaf, known as the “revolution icon,” was buried in the Paris suburb of Dourdan on Friday. Hundreds of friends, relatives, and Syrian opposition activists attended the burial.
Her son Joud said that his mother’s tomb in France is only temporary “until we all go back to Syria after it has been liberated from the Assad regime.” He said that May (49 years) died suddenly on 23 July. Medical reports showed that she died of a brain stroke and rupture in one of the brain’s veins.
Syrian novelist Dima Wannous, the late May’s cousin told alarbiya.net that May “was very depressed in the previous four months because of the situation in Syria, the Iranian-Russian occupation of her country, the continuation of Syrian bloodshed, and the increase in numbers of victims dying every day.”
May was one of a few professional artists who supported the Syrian revolution from the beginning. “I will not lose hope. I will not lose hope. It’s called the great Syria not the Assad Syria,” she wrote one day before her death.
