1072 replies to this topic

[Yuli Ban]

At least 33 Turkish soldiers killed in an air attack by Syrian regime, Turkish governor says

At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria's Idlib province on Thursday in an aerial attack by Russian-backed Syrian regime forces, Turkish officials said, raising the specter of full-blown conflict.
Thirty-five soldiers were injured in the attack and have been evacuated to hospitals in Turkey, according to officials.
The attack comes days before a Turkish deadline on Syrian government troops to withdraw from areas recaptured in recent months from rebels in northwest Syria.

[Yuli Ban]

Russia deploys warships to Syria coast after Turkey loses 33 soldiers in attack

Russia on Friday announced it had dispatched two state-of-the-art warships to the Middle East after an attack in Syria killed 33 Turkish soldiers.
Videos posted on social media showed two of Russia’s newest guided missile frigates, the Admiral Grigorovich and the Admiral Makarov, making their way through the Bosporus, a Turkish-controlled chokepoint that runs through Istanbul, on their way to the Syrian coast.
 
Though Russia and Turkey have seen a rapprochement in recent years, much to the chagrin of the United States and its NATO allies, the two sides pursue opposing goals in Syria: Moscow backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Ankara backs rebel groups opposing him in northern Syria.

[caltrek]

Assassinated Syrian journalist Raed Fares given media courage award

 

https://www.thenatio...-award-1.985560

 

Introduction:

 

(The National) A UK think tank has given its Courage in Journalism Award, presented annually to a journalist killed as a result of their work, to Raed Fares an independent Syrian reporter shot dead in Idlib in November 2018.

 

Mr Fares was described as a “frequent critic” of extremists in Syria and the Syrian regime, who had been kidnapped and tortured multiple times by Al Qaeda and was the target of an assassination attempt by ISIS in 2014.

 

He was the founder and director of the Radio Fresh station and was killed alongside his colleague Hamoud Al Jnaid by unknown gunmen on his way to cover a protest in Kafranbel.

“He was keenly aware of the risks he was taking but continued to use his voice to build the foundations for a free, democratic Syria,” said the Legatum Institute, who presented his son Mahmoud with the award. He said his father was his “hero” who may have died “but his ideas are inside us”.

 

Mahmoud said his father continued his work despite threats from the Assad regime, Russia and Islamist extremists “because he believed in freedom and democracy”.

[PhoenixRu2020]

I see you, guys, entirely missed the brief (but bloody and potentially very dangerous) Russo-Turkish war of February-March 2020. And since everything is already over (so far), I'll describe it in brief:

 

- December 2019 - Syrian army began the offensive in Idlib to retake control over strategic M5 highway from Damascus to Aleppo.

 

- 28 January 2020 - Syrian army liberated Maarrat-an-Numan - the first key town on the M5 highway.

 

- 2 February 2020 - Syrian army liberated Saraqib - the second key town on the M5 highway.

 

- 11 February 2020 - Syrian army liberated Al-Rashidin 4 district and thus fully regained control over M5.

 

"Rebels" in Idlib were beaten and demoralised... and that's when masks were dropped and Turkey openly entered the game.

 

- 27 February 2020 - pro-Turkish militants, with Turkish artillery support, recaptured Saraqib. The following days were nightmare: Syrian army couldn't resist Turkish tactics (drones + artillery). The successful Syrian (officially) airstike of 28 February (destroyed command center with above 30 Turkish corpses) was, perhaps, the last warning to stop the advancing Turks. If so, the warning didn't worked.

 

- 2 March - With Russian air support, Syrian army managed to turn the tide and liberated Saraqib again. Turkish "blitzkrieg" clearly failed.

 

- 5 March - Erdogan arrived to Moscow. In the Kremlin hall, decorated with statuary and paintings depicting the historic Russian victories over Turkey, he signed a cease fire and thus de-facto recognized the Syrian territorial gains in Idlib. So ended this brief conflict. Officially, Turkey "had no problems with Russia" and fought against "Assad regime" only, as well as Russia fought against "terrorists". But, for some reason, it was exactly Russia and Turkey who signed a cease fire... such is the world we live in.

 

A picture that's worth 1000 words. Negotiations in Kremlin:

 

[Yuli Ban]

I'd been following it closely, but since I'm awaiting internet service at my new place and have been stuck on my phone, posting these stories would've been a chore and I hoped someone else could have gotten them.

 

Also, everyone is still focused on coronavirus.

 

Trust me, I wasn't ignoring this development.

[joe00uk]

Yeah, I was aware of developments but since mid-January basically all my attention has been on the coronavirus pandemic.

[Futurist]

https://www.independ...ad-b837567.html

 

The next Gaza Strip? Daily battle of survival for those left in Idlib  

Idlib is one of the last remaining opposition strongholds in Syria

Patrick Cockburn@indyworld

4 days ago

[Futurist]

I wonder if Assad would actually be eager to welcome Syrian refugees (especially the ones without significant skills--so, other than doctors, engineers, et cetera) back home; after all, aren't most Syrian refugees Sunnis whereas the Assad family themselves are Alawites?

[caltrek]

Mufti of Damascus Killed in Car Bombing Near Syrian Capital

 

https://www.thenatio...pital-1.1098294

 

Introduction:

(The National) A prominent Syrian Muslim cleric in charge of the Damascus region was killed when a bomb planted in his car exploded outside the capital on Thursday, the state news agency Sana said.

 

Adnan Al Afyouni, the Sunni Muslim mufti for Damascus province, was considered to be close to President Bashar Al Assad who hails from the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam.

 

Sana said the cleric was also a member of the Scientific Council in Syria's Ministry of Endowments and the general supervisor of the International Islamic Sham Centre on confronting extremism.

 

He died "as the result of an explosive device planted in his car" in the town of Qudsaya, north-west of the capital, Sana quoted the endowments ministry as saying.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the 66-year-old cleric played a key role in reaching reconciliation deals with rebel fighters on the capital's outskirts during the country's nine-year-old war.

President Bashar Al Assad greets Adnan Al Afyouni, the mufti of Damascus, at the inauguration of the International Sham Islamic Centre in the Syrian capital on May 20, 2019.

Sana / AFP

[Futurist]

What a tragedy!

 

Also, a side note, I wonder just how many Shi'ite settlers from other countries are going to move into Syria over the next several decades. After all, as a result of this civil war, I think that the Assad regime knows that making Syria less Sunni would make its own hold on Syria more secure in the long(er)-run.

[caltrek]

Russian Strike on Syria’s Idlib Fighters a ‘Message’ to Turkey

 

https://www.aljazeer...ssage-to-ankara

 

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) Russia and Turkey are two sides of the same coin. They are both heavily involved in some of the world’s most significant ongoing conflicts including in Libya, the Caucasus and Syria.

 

They remain at loggerheads, supporting opposing sides with both hoping to expand their military presence and political reach in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

 

Though both countries are also waging proxy battles, it is rare to see them come head-to-head.

 

But a deadly Russian air strike that took out dozens of Turkish-backed rebel fighters in northwest Syria on Monday has marked a significant escalation.

 

Observers say the attack in the Jabal al-Dweila area, which targeted a military training camp for Failaq al-Sham, one of the largest Turkey-backed armed groups in the area, was a “message” to Ankara.

[PhoenixRu]

Russian Strike on Syria’s Idlib Fighters a ‘Message’ to Turkey

 

That was the second message, actually. The first one was destruction of illegal "oil bazaar" near Turkish border few days earlier:

 

[Futurist]

Do you guys think that there will be a mass exodus from the rebel-controlled parts of Idlib to Turkey if the Syrian government will ever successfully reconquer these territories?