The truth about Syria

[MosJan]

Homeland, but not “Home”: Syrians finding it hard to settle in Karabakh'''

ArmeniaNow

By Gayane Mkrtchyan

ArmeniaNow reporter

“Should Armenians live in their motherland?”

Many Syrian-Armenians facing the need to settle in Armenia permanently give vague responses to this difficult question, trying to decide whether to stay or to leave, and if leave, then for where?

http://armenianow.com/sites/default/files/img/imagecache/150x90/Sepuh-Qeshishyan.jpg

Enlarge Photo http://armenianow.com/sites/all/themes/armenianow/images/enlarg_image.gif

Sepuh Qeshishyan with doughter

http://armenianow.com/sites/default/files/img/dynimagecache/0-66-267-160-150-90/Hakob-Artin-Ghada-Ferhat.jpg

Enlarge Photo http://armenianow.com/sites/all/themes/armenianow/images/enlarg_image.gif

Hakob Artin from Qamishli city with his Greek wife Ghada Ferhat

 

“My grandfather is buried in Aleppo. In his will he asked to transfer his remnants to Armenia and bury here, but even we – living ones – come and find no place for us. If we bring our grandparents’ remains, what shall we do with them? In his will he was teaching us to love our motherland and settle here,” says Sepuh Keshishian, 58, who for the past month and a half has been staying at a guesthouse in Berdzor, Nagorno Karabakh, with his wife and two young children.

 

The Keshishian family is from Syria’s Kurdish Ras al-Ayn city, where they were one of only ten Armenian families, and had a house, animal-breeding farm, a café. They left all of it behind, and just like their ancestors, took the road of refuge, although this time to their motherland. Sepuh says in 2004 he visited Berdzor together with a few other Diaspora Armenians, it was then that he decided to go and settle there.

 

“I bought a house, a garage, but for different reasons the local authorities of that time took the house back from me, I even suffered financial damage. I have the garage in my property, and if they give us a house, I might stay and found a business,” he says. “It is hard to see our future here. The locals want to run away, be it Hayastantsi [Armenians of Armenia] or Karabakhtsi [Armenians of NKR], they sell their houses and escape to Russia.”

 

Rather far away from the guesthouse there is a newly built priory hosting Hakob Artin from Qamishli city, his Greek wife Ghada Ferhat and their two children.

 

“At the Ministry of Diaspora we were asked if we would like to go to Karabakh. To the question “what’s in Karabakh?” were told ‘a house, a job, livestock’. We had no idea about Karabakh. For a year we lived in a guesthouse, now we live in a priory, where living conditions are better. They did not give us a cow, said ‘you have two children’. I am the car mechanic of Ishkhanadzor village with a salary of 100,000 drams ($250), but have not received it for three months now. Food is a big issue, we have to buy everything and are living in hardship,” says Hakob.

 

Hakob’s family is one of the four who took an agricultural loan from Artsakh bank – two million drams ($5,000) each with zero interest rate. They sowed barley, but the hail destroyed the crops.

 

“People said it would be all right. We were promised that one hectare would yield one ton of crops, but we got only 40 kilos, as a result we now owe to the bank and I have no idea how to pay it back. The $2,000 we had with us is long gone. If they give us a house and enough work to suffice for food and clothes, that would be ok, we would stay and live here. But right now it is only about trying not to starve,” says Hakob with frustration.

 

His wife Ghada says in broken Armenian, that all day long they recall how they used to live and compare to how they live now. With laughter at their own predicament they say their life has turned by 200 degrees.

 

“I made rice dolma [stuffed vine leaves] today. I go to the market, bring the things we need if I find. There is not much at the market, or if there is, it’s too expensive. Qamishli’s market was rich, you could find everything for very affordable prices,” says Ghada.

 

The priory is hosting another family: Shamiram Vardanian has resided here for nine months together with her four children. They locked the doors of their house and a shop they owned in Qamishli and left. Shamiram’s kitchen has the inviting smell of eastern spices. She has made rice, chicken and potatoes.

 

“Once the war is over, I am going back, there is nothing here for us to stay and live. We differ from the locals with our customs, our language, our cuisine. We were born there, we lived there. Yes we are Armenian, we know our homeland is here, but living is hard. The locals, too, say it is hard, but they at least have their own places to live. If it’s hard for them, imagine how hard it is for us. All of their men are gone to Russia,” says Shamiram. “True, it is better than the war, we are living peacefully, without fear, but we have to be able to have a life.”

 

They are yearning for re-finding their lost homes here, in the motherland, have a small business to earn their living. Keshishian, with his businessman’s sense, says Berdzor has a ‘treasure’, especially for animal husbandry, but he is reluctant about investing in agriculture.

 

“For strangers like us it is very difficult here and very risky to take a bank loan and invest in agriculture with no guarantees of good weather conditions. Also, we keep hearing stories of people who lost their businesses because of high taxes or they say if we work they will take it away from us as soon as the business runs well. We hear and fear. Nonetheless, there is wealth here, then why aren’t there jobs?” says Keshishian, who works as the guesthouse guard with 36,000 drams ($90) salary per month.

 

“I have come with an expectation that they would give me a house, and that I could found a small business. But if they do not, and I cannot afford buying one myself, I will sell the garage and leave. There is no way back [to Syria], our life there is over, so I would probably move somewhere close to Yerevan, say, Masis or Abovyan towns,” he says.

 

Robert Matevosyan, head of the re-settlement department of Kashatagh administrative district, told ArmeniaNow that those are groundless speculations and that there are numerous examples of when Diaspora Armenians have succeeded in business there. He denies the claims of immigration from the region as well.

 

In 1992 (during the war), Armenian forces took control over Berdzor (Lachin) town and the Lachin corridor, which was also called the “road of life”, since it was the only land communication between Karabakh and Armenia. Zangelan, Kubatlu and part of Lachin (which are among the seven disputed regions around former Autonomous Republic of Nagorno Karabakh have been re-arranged into Kashatagh region with 3,376 sq.km total area, and the re-settlement of this area is of strategic importance. By the 2011 data of the NKR labor and social affairs ministry, 8,500 people reside in Kashatagh.

 

This southwestern part of Karabakh has now 38 Syrian families, nine of them in Berdzor, the others in Kovsakan, the second largest city, and Ishkanadzor of Kashatagh region. Two private houses are being built in Berzdor, sponsored by benefactors, and two more are sponsored to be built. The construction of multi-storey dwellings in Kovsakan and Ishkhanadzor is expected to be completed in two months.

 

An urban settlement is planned to be developed in Kashatagh with all its respective infrastructures.

 

“We are solving two important issues: first, that we are the owners of these lands and by the appropriation of them we answer the political question; second, that we are using these lands for food provision and, in general, economic purposes. We have to have a standard settlement, rather than one for only 10-15 families,” said NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyna during a meeting in Kashatagh.

[Yervant1]

HUNDREDS OF SYRIAN MILITANTS DEFECT BACK FOR AMNESTY

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920502001014

Wed Jul 24, 2013 4:21

TEHRAN (FNA)- Hundreds of disillusioned militants who took up arms
against the Syrian administration are defecting back to the government
side, a report said.

Exhausted after more than two years of conflict and feeling that
they are losing, growing numbers of insurgents are signing up to a
negotiated amnesty offered by President Bashar al-Assad, the Daily
Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday.

At the same time, the families of retreating militants have begun
quietly moving back to government-controlled territory, seen as a
safer place to live as the government continues its intense military
push against terrorist-held areas.

The move is a sign of the growing confidence of the government, which
has established the Ministry of Reconciliation with the task of easing
the way for former opponents to return to the government side.

Ali Haider, the minister in charge, said, "Our message is, 'if you
really want to defend the Syrian people, put down your weapons and
come and defend Syria in the right way, through dialogue'."

Haider, who has a reputation as a moderate within the government,
has established a system in which opposition fighters give up their
weapons in exchange for safe passage to government-held areas.

Militants have privately said that they are aware of the amnesty offer,
and that some men had chosen to accept it.

"I used to fight..., but now I think we have lost what we were fighting
for," said Mohammed, an insurgent from the Northern town of Raqqa who
declined to give his last name. "Now extremists control my town. My
family has moved back to government side because our town is too
unsafe. "

The prevalence of terrorist groups in militant-held areas, particularly
in the North, has caused some opposition militants to "give up"
on their cause.

Ziad Abu Jabal comes from one of the villages in Homs Province whose
residents recently agreed to stop fighting the government. "When we
joined the demonstrations we wanted better rights," he said. "After
seeing the destruction and the power of jihadists, we came to an
agreement with the government".

Haider said that he had attended a ceremony on Monday at which 180
opposition militants rejoined the government's police force, from
which they had previously defected.

The Daily Telegraph reporter previously visited the Reconciliation
Ministry's headquarters in the capital, Damascus. The office was
crowded with the family members of militants fighting in the city's
suburbs who said their men wanted to return.

A ministry negotiator, who gave his name only as Ahmed, was in the
process of arranging the defection of a rebel commander and 10 of
his men from the Ghouta District.

"It took us three months of negotiation and this is a test," he said.

"If this goes well, the commander says that 50 others will follow. "

He described the steps taken to allow the return of fighters willing
to lay down their arms. First, he said, a negotiator must cross the
front line for a meeting on rebel-held territory. "We have to hope
the rebel commander orders his snipers not to shoot us. "

Would-be defectors were given papers allowing them to pass through
Syrian army checkpoints, and then waited in a safe house until the
officials could get their names removed from wanted lists held by
the Defense Ministry and intelligence agencies.

The rebels "did not sign up to be part of extremist groups that have
now gained influence", he said. "Now they want to come back to a
normal life. "

In the days before the government took the town of Qusseir last month,
The Telegraph saw mediators on the Lebanese border work with the
Syrian army to secure an amnesty for fighters wanting to surrender.

The phone rang with desperate calls from the parents of the militants.

"These mothers know that this is the last chance for their sons. If
they don't give up their weapons now they will die because they are
losing the battle," said Ali Fayez Uwad, the mediator.

[Arpa]

　

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/27/315771/s-arabia-israel-army-sign-arms-deal/

 

 

'S Arabia signs deal with Israeli army to buy weapons for militants fighting Syria govt.'

Saudi Arabia reportedly reaches a deal with Israeli army to buy Israeli weapons for militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Israeli Radio reported that Saudi Arabia signed a 50-million-dollar deal with Israeli army to supply the foreign-backed militants with old Israeli military equipment and arms.
The reports added that the weapons include different kinds of anti-tank missiles, military vehicles, artillery equipment, and night vision devices.
Other sources have quoted Takfiri sources as saying that the Israeli weapons will be used to maintain control over Aleppo and its surrounding areas in northern Syria. ///

…-----

Up until now, no country has announced having provided weapons to al-Nusra. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have claimed to support the Free Syrian Army. Nevertheless, we witness that al-Nusra has better weaponry in the field. This by itself shows that the transfer of weapons from the Free Army to al-Nusra is automatically done. In other words, there is no control over the Free Army’s weapons and infiltrators have transferred these weapons to al-Nusra. On the ground, this is a fact….

 

=====

Also see this;

And, they told us Al Qaeda and Taliban were swear words., that they are a bunch of murderers. And we believed them? We attacked Iraq and Afghanistan to once and for all wipe them out. We are still fighting them in Afghanistan. Is there a limit to hypocrisy and lies?

Who runs the US foreign policy. shalvarlrss Arabia, Qatvor, assrael or furkey?

http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/07/27/syria-conflict/

 

An Islamic state, al-Qaeda and the Taliban’s common dream in Syria

An interview of Irdiplomacy.ir with Hossein Rooyvaran, an expert on Middle Eastern affairs

- A senior Taliban member has talked about establishing a base in Syria. Is there any precedence for the presence of the Taliban in Syria?

- The Taliban, as an organization, has, hitherto, not had any presence or activity in Syria, but its special relations with al-Qaeda are clearly defined and they both follow the same ideology. Considering the presence of al-Qaeda in Syria, through the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham, there is the possibility that they would pursue such a matter within the framework of the al-Qaeda organizations. That is why I assume that, by nature, the Taliban has no basis for its presence in Syria, but such a measure can be taken through al-Qaeda. It is on the basis of these religious and ethnic approaches that the Taliban has been attracted towards Syria…..

 

[Yervant1]

FIVE ARMENIANS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA


http://armenpress.am/eng/news/727468/five-armenians-kidnapped-in-syria.html
21:30, 26 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS: Five Armenians have been kidnapped
in Syria on July 26. "Armenpress" reports that they were in the bus
traveling from Aleppo to Yerevan. The incident happened near Turkish
border. Among the passengers were also women but it became known that
they have been released.

By the UN data, during the two-year bloodshed in Syria more than
100 thousands of people have fallen victims. Currently 4,5 million
refugees live in Syria and 1,5 million - in the neighboring countries.

Several tens of Armenians have been killed in the result of
thecollisions.

[Johannes]

http://www.tert.am/am/news/2013/07/29/turkey-syria-border/

[Yervant1]

IRAN: US, BRITAIN UNWILLING TO SEE REBELS' CRIMES IN SYRIA

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920508000424
Tue Jul 30, 2013 4:48

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gholam
Hossein Dehqani lashed out at the western states, specially the US
and Britain, for sending weapons to the rebel groups in Syria, and
said they have closed their eyes on the terrorists' crimes in the
Muslim country.

"There are very horrendous reports about committing worst types of
crimes, particularly taking advantage of civilians as human shield
by the extremists in Syria," Dehqani said on Tuesday, addressing the
UN General Assembly meeting allocated to surveying the current status
of human rights observation in Syria.

He reiterated that Shiites, Sunnis, Druzes, and Christians are all
victims of the extremist groups and it is very surprising for us how
come during the course of the past two years no one has expressed
worries about the presence of foreign warriors who have entered Syria.

Addressing the British and US representatives at the UN, he said, has
Britain, or the United States so far expressed worry about arming the
opponents and forwarding money and logistical contributions for these
extremist groups, or have they themselves been involved in arming them.

It seems as if they prefer to close their eyes over the criminal
acts committed by the extremists in Qusair, Allepo, Khan al-Assal,
and the other Syrian cities and villages, he added.

Reminding the US and British UN envoys about the countless criminal
acts committed by the extremist groups in the region, and particularly
in Syria, he asked who is concerned about the fate of the victims
of these crimes? Where is that accountability of which you speak so
much about? Should these extremist groups and their supporters not
be held accountable for the criminal acts they commit?

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized
attacks by well-armed gangs and foreign-backed terrorist groups
against not just the Syrian police, border guard and army troops,
but also people being reported across the country.

Tens of thousands of people, including members of the security forces,
have been killed since some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups
for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated
from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was almost restored in the Arab state after
President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel,
the US and its Arab allies sought hard to bring the country into chaos
through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals
have been staging various plots to topple President Bashar al-Assad,
who is well known in the world for his anti-Israeli stances.

[MosJan]

Homeland, but not “Home”: Syrians finding it hard to settle in Karabakh

http://armenianow.com/sites/default/files/img/imagecache/600x400/Berdzor-village-karabakh.jpg

NAZIK ARMENAKYAN

ArmeniaNow

[MosJan]

“Should Armenians live in their motherland?”

Many Syrian-Armenians facing the need to settle in Armenia permanently give vague responses to this difficult question, trying to decide whether to stay or to leave, and if leave, then for where?

http://armenianow.com/sites/default/files/img/imagecache/150x90/Sepuh-Qeshishyan.jpg

Enlarge Photo http://armenianow.com/sites/all/themes/armenianow/images/enlarg_image.gif

Sepuh Qeshishyan with doughter

http://armenianow.com/sites/default/files/img/dynimagecache/0-66-267-160-150-90/Hakob-Artin-Ghada-Ferhat.jpg

Enlarge Photo http://armenianow.com/sites/all/themes/armenianow/images/enlarg_image.gif

Hakob Artin from Qamishli city with his Greek wife Ghada Ferhat

“My grandfather is buried in Aleppo. In his will he asked to transfer his remnants to Armenia and bury here, but even we – living ones – come and find no place for us. If we bring our grandparents’ remains, what shall we do with them? In his will he was teaching us to love our motherland and settle here,” says Sepuh Keshishian, 58, who for the past month and a half has been staying at a guesthouse in Berdzor, Nagorno Karabakh, with his wife and two young children.

The Keshishian family is from Syria’s Kurdish Ras al-Ayn city, where they were one of only ten Armenian families, and had a house, animal-breeding farm, a café. They left all of it behind, and just like their ancestors, took the road of refuge, although this time to their motherland. Sepuh says in 2004 he visited Berdzor together with a few other Diaspora Armenians, it was then that he decided to go and settle there.

“I bought a house, a garage, but for different reasons the local authorities of that time took the house back from me, I even suffered financial damage. I have the garage in my property, and if they give us a house, I might stay and found a business,” he says. “It is hard to see our future here. The locals want to run away, be it Hayastantsi [Armenians of Armenia] or Karabakhtsi [Armenians of NKR], they sell their houses and escape to Russia.”

Rather far away from the guesthouse there is a newly built priory hosting Hakob Artin from Qamishli city, his Greek wife Ghada Ferhat and their two children.

“At the Ministry of Diaspora we were asked if we would like to go to Karabakh. To the question “what’s in Karabakh?” were told ‘a house, a job, livestock’. We had no idea about Karabakh. For a year we lived in a guesthouse, now we live in a priory, where living conditions are better. They did not give us a cow, said ‘you have two children’. I am the car mechanic of Ishkhanadzor village with a salary of 100,000 drams ($250), but have not received it for three months now. Food is a big issue, we have to buy everything and are living in hardship,” says Hakob.

Hakob’s family is one of the four who took an agricultural loan from Artsakh bank – two million drams ($5,000) each with zero interest rate. They sowed barley, but the hail destroyed the crops.

“People said it would be all right. We were promised that one hectare would yield one ton of crops, but we got only 40 kilos, as a result we now owe to the bank and I have no idea how to pay it back. The $2,000 we had with us is long gone. If they give us a house and enough work to suffice for food and clothes, that would be ok, we would stay and live here. But right now it is only about trying not to starve,” says Hakob with frustration.

His wife Ghada says in broken Armenian, that all day long they recall how they used to live and compare to how they live now. With laughter at their own predicament they say their life has turned by 200 degrees.

“I made rice dolma [stuffed vine leaves] today. I go to the market, bring the things we need if I find. There is not much at the market, or if there is, it’s too expensive. Qamishli’s market was rich, you could find everything for very affordable prices,” says Ghada.

The priory is hosting another family: Shamiram Vardanian has resided here for nine months together with her four children. They locked the doors of their house and a shop they owned in Qamishli and left. Shamiram’s kitchen has the inviting smell of eastern spices. She has made rice, chicken and potatoes.

“Once the war is over, I am going back, there is nothing here for us to stay and live. We differ from the locals with our customs, our language, our cuisine. We were born there, we lived there. Yes we are Armenian, we know our homeland is here, but living is hard. The locals, too, say it is hard, but they at least have their own places to live. If it’s hard for them, imagine how hard it is for us. All of their men are gone to Russia,” says Shamiram. “True, it is better than the war, we are living peacefully, without fear, but we have to be able to have a life.”

They are yearning for re-finding their lost homes here, in the motherland, have a small business to earn their living. Keshishian, with his businessman’s sense, says Berdzor has a ‘treasure’, especially for animal husbandry, but he is reluctant about investing in agriculture.

“For strangers like us it is very difficult here and very risky to take a bank loan and invest in agriculture with no guarantees of good weather conditions. Also, we keep hearing stories of people who lost their businesses because of high taxes or they say if we work they will take it away from us as soon as the business runs well. We hear and fear. Nonetheless, there is wealth here, then why aren’t there jobs?” says Keshishian, who works as the guesthouse guard with 36,000 drams ($90) salary per month.

“I have come with an expectation that they would give me a house, and that I could found a small business. But if they do not, and I cannot afford buying one myself, I will sell the garage and leave. There is no way back [to Syria], our life there is over, so I would probably move somewhere close to Yerevan, say, Masis or Abovyan towns,” he says.

Robert Matevosyan, head of the re-settlement department of Kashatagh administrative district, told ArmeniaNow that those are groundless speculations and that there are numerous examples of when Diaspora Armenians have succeeded in business there. He denies the claims of immigration from the region as well.

In 1992 (during the war), Armenian forces took control over Berdzor (Lachin) town and the Lachin corridor, which was also called the “road of life”, since it was the only land communication between Karabakh and Armenia. Zangelan, Kubatlu and part of Lachin (which are among the seven disputed regions around former Autonomous Republic of Nagorno Karabakh have been re-arranged into Kashatagh region with 3,376 sq.km total area, and the re-settlement of this area is of strategic importance. By the 2011 data of the NKR labor and social affairs ministry, 8,500 people reside in Kashatagh.

This southwestern part of Karabakh has now 38 Syrian families, nine of them in Berdzor, the others in Kovsakan, the second largest city, and Ishkanadzor of Kashatagh region. Two private houses are being built in Berzdor, sponsored by benefactors, and two more are sponsored to be built. The construction of multi-storey dwellings in Kovsakan and Ishkhanadzor is expected to be completed in two months.

An urban settlement is planned to be developed in Kashatagh with all its respective infrastructures.

“We are solving two important issues: first, that we are the owners of these lands and by the appropriation of them we answer the political question; second, that we are using these lands for food provision and, in general, economic purposes. We have to have a standard settlement, rather than one for only 10-15 families,” said NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyna during a meeting in Kashatagh.

Published: 19 July, 2013

[MosJan]

Armenian killed in Damascus suburb blast

http://media.pn.am/media/issue/167/707/photo/167707.jpg

http://static.pn.am/images/cmnts.gifAugust 7, 2013 - 20:57 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian-born Sarkis Meresjian, 47, was killed in the blast that rocked a suburb of Damascus the other day.

The civil funeral will take place Thursday, Aug 8, in St. Sarkis Church in the Syrian capital, PanARMENIAN.Net was told.

According to UN estimates, 100 000 people died in Syria during the 2-year armed conflict, about 50 of them are Armenians. Besides, people of Armenian origin have been many times kidnapped and held to ransom.

[Yervant1]

SYRIA'S WAR HAS EXPOSED THE HYPOCRISY OF WESTERN POWERS

The conflict has become an ugly proxy battle between innumerable
outside forces. If the Australian government is so worried about
terrorism, it should stop backing it in Syria

By Antony Loewenstein

August 14, 2013 "Information Clearing House - "The Guardian" - Syrian
president Bashar al-Assad wasn't supposed to survive. Since the
uprising began in 2011, it's been long presumed in western political
and media circles that he would be deposed or killed and that a new,
more US-friendly autocrat would be installed. This hasn't happened.

We know Russia and America have vastly different interests in the
conflict. As for Australia, foreign minister Bob Carr predictably
parroted the Washington line in October 2012 when he said, "this sounds
brutal and callous, perhaps an assassination [of Assad] combined with
a major defection, taking a large part of its military, is what is
required to get ... a ceasefire and two, political negotiations".

Carr was rightly condemned for his comments, yet he ignored another
harsh reality: when it comes to Syria, the US and its Saudi Arabian
and Qatari allies are backing Islamic fundamentalism under the guise
of defeating the west's key Middle East villain, Iran. Al-Qaida is
now thriving, and the number of beheadings and other assorted acts
of extreme sectarian violence have been steadily rising. It's like
the funding of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan never happened, or that
the lessons learned after the west armed what became al-Qaida under
Osama Bin Laden were wiped from the record.

By June this year, Carr accepted the necessary presence of Assad in any
successful peace negotiations. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman
Julie Bishop urged for a "negotiated settlement" in February, but
refused to condemn the role of western-backed jihadis.

Meanwhile, foreign fighters are flooding into Syria - and they've
become some of the fiercest and most successful insurgents against the
Assad regime. US officials talk of the country becoming an extremist
haven. Blue-eyed jihadists from Europe recently told Foreign Policy
that they were committed to establishing an Islamic state inside the
nation. Abu Salman (not his real name) said that, "They [the United
States] only give weapons to the worst groups ... These groups operate
inside the Free Syrian Army, but they even don't fight for democracy,
they just steal money".

At least a few hundred Australians are involved, causing growing
sectarianism in Sydney between Sunni and Shia communities. I've spoken
to many local Muslims who say the blindness being displayed on both
sides - Assad backers ignoring the vast crimes perpetuated by his
forces and rebel backers denying the extent of hardline Islamist
support - is fuelling resentment and violence on the streets and
online.

I've attended events where the estimated death toll of over 100,000
Syrians and immense refugee crisis engulfing neighbouring countries
is mostly forgotten amidst the conflicting visions of a future Syria
without war. The Syrian diaspora is fragmenting along lines that their
birth country never experienced. Syrians pushing for the overthrow
of Assad are often as belligerent as his loudest advocates, willing
to ignore the war crimes committed by their own side. Like we see
daily in Iraq, rampant sectarianism fuelled by outside forces only
leads to chaos.

Tammam Sulaiman, the former Syrian ambassador to Australia, now
Damascus-based senior member of Assad's foreign ministry and soon to
be head of mission at the Syrian embassy in Pyongyang in North Korea,
told me last week in an exclusive interview that he didn't understand
why the west remained silent when "rebel terrorism" was committed. He
acknowledged that the regime had made "mistakes", but stressed his
government was determined to win. "Our general impression is that
the battle will not finish soon", he said.

I pushed him on human rights reports that found regime forces were
slaughtering civilians. "The US talks about collateral damage", he
argued. "The US coined that term and what we're doing is the same. We
don't want to kill civilians. They started the war."

In fact, I told Sulaiman, there were peaceful protests in Daraa in
March 2011, and these were brutally crushed by Assad forces. How
could the regime talk about democracy when civilians were tortured
and killed by pro-government soldiers?

Sulaiman had little to say about this question. And yet, he correctly
said, the war in Syria has exposed the hypocrisy of the western
powers. "Those western officials, including in Australia, don't say
anything because they'll upset their allies in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

I recently said to a representative from the Vatican here in Damascus,
'I can't understand why Catholic Europe is standing up behind Saudi
Arabia, and yet no Christian can stand in Riyadh with a beer. The
Vatican man smiled and responded by saying nothing'".

This is the kind of ugly truth the western media is too keen to ignore,
rushing to repeat US, UK and Australian talking points about a regime
that for decades has refused to bow to western dictates - the ultimate
sin of which Tehran is also guilty of.

The war in Syria has become an ugly proxy battle between innumerable
outside forces, and virtually none of them care about the plight of
the Syrian people. The announcement by the Assad regime that private
security firms can now operate inside the nation is yet another
ominous sign that unaccountable terror will be roaming the streets.

Australia can play a small but significant part by looking clearly at
the failures of western policy towards Syria since the first rumblings
of major public dissent against the regime. Canberra should urge all
parties to de-escalate the fighting and not arm, train or fund either
side. If the Australian government is so worried about terrorism on
its shores, it should stop backing it in Syria.

© 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited

[gamavor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wFQE-s6U_h4

 

How much more proof the Americans need to find out that Azerbaidjan is a terrorist state?

Or maybe I should ask, how much more proof we need to find out that USA supports terrorists?

[Arpa]

The title of this thread is The Truth About Syria.

Now let us see the Lies About Syria.

Who is manufacturing and spreading these lies?

Look above at # 346 ,03 December 2012

and see the unholy trinity of wolfowits , feith and perle** who convinced GWB that saddam had WMDs including but not limited to nukular and chemical. **Add erbokhan to list.

LIES and MORE LIES.

An expanded version.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/world/meast/syria-civil-war/

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/21/us-syria-crisis-chemicals-idUSBRE97K06620130821

 

BEIRUT | Wed Aug 21, 2013 1:46am EDT

(Reuters) - Syrian activists accused forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday of using chemical agents during the heavy bombardment of rebel-held areas around Damascus.

The reported use of the chemical agents could not be immediately verified. It coincides with a visit to Damascus by a United Nations team of chemical weapons experts.

Activists from the grassroots Local Coordination Committee reported at least 30 bodies had been brought to one field hospital in Kafr Batna neighborhood a few miles (km) east of central Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of people were killed, including children, in fierce bombardment. It said Mouadamiya, southwest of the capital, came under the heaviest attack since the start of the two-year conflict.

It called on the U.N. chemical experts and international organizations to visit the affected areas to ensure aid could be delivered and to "launch an investigation to determine who was responsible for the bombardment and hold them to account".

Syrian authorities and rebels have accused each other of using chemical agents in the course of the civil war, in which 100,000 people have been killed.

(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing

Where is Johannes? The last I heard was that all communication , be it internet, telephone, television et al have been compromised. Is it because they have been commandeered by the Factory of Lies?

[MosJan]

Russia suggests Syria 'chemical attack' carried out by rebels, provocation not ruled out

Published time: August 21, 2013 15:44

Edited time: August 21, 2013 16:53

Get short URL

http://rt.com/files/news/20/2d/90/00/000_nic6241941.si.jpg

A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows a man taking the body of a child wrapped in shrouds from a line of victims which Syrian rebels claim were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013. (AFP Photo / Daya Al-Deen)

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Reports by “biased regional media” about alleged chemical weapons use near Damascus might be “a provocation planned in advance,” says Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aleksandr Lukashevich.

“It draws attention to the fact that biased regional media have immediately, as if on command, begun an aggressive information attack, laying all the responsibility on the government,” Lukashevich said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, citing its sources, said that a homemade rocket carrying unidentified chemical substances had been launched from an area controlled by the opposition.

 

“A homemade rocket with a poisonous substance that has not been identified yet – one similar to the rocket used by terrorists on March 19 in Khan al-Assal - was fired early on August 21 [at Damascus suburbs] from a position occupied by the insurgents,” Lukashevich said.

The diplomat stated that it seems as though it was “a provocation planned in advance.” The “criminal action” near Damascus coincided with the beginning of UN experts’ work in Syria - which speaks in favor of such a conclusion.

In Moscow’s view, the latest possible “provocation” might be the opposition’s attempt to get support from the UN Security Council and undermine the Geneva peace talks on Syria.

Conflicting reports emerged of recent chemical weapons use in Syria.

This comes on the same day that the UN inspectors arrive in Damascus to investigate allegations of use of toxic arms.

The casualty figures range from dozens to almost 1,300 deaths.

The chief UN chemical weapons investigator Ake Sellstrom is currently discussing the alleged chemical attack with the Syrian government.

UN Security Сouncil is to hold emergency meeting on alleged Syria gas attack at 1900 GMT on Wednesday.

Lukashevich pointed out that similar reports about Syrian authorities allegedly using chemical weapons have popped up before. However, the information has never been confirmed.

[Johannes]

I'm here Arpa

 

Hents miyatsyal azgeri knnichnere yegan, martskants spannetsin.

 

Antsyal Amis lattakiayi gyugherum mortetsin, hghi kanants porerist chitsnvats yerekhaner hanetsin u hokevarki mech yeghogh mayreri achkeri arach mortetsin. 12 tarekan tghayin kapetsin u votkere sghotsetsin. Telabyadi krderi yerekhanere arevangetsin u mortetsin...

Inch grem vor grem. Shushiyits Stepanakert chgitem kani Amis hertirner ardzaketsin, mer vra gravyal taghamaserits arten mek taruts aveli e hrtirner en ardzakum, artillery, mortar yev ayl. Hoknel em.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Johannes

[Arpa]

We also remember when in 2007 those cowardly comedic assarelis attacked the fictitiously manufactured and imagined nklr sites in northern Syria, Qamishli and DerZor , when the cowards flew over the furkish airspace of Aintab and Urfa instead of flying over Aleppo.

I wish I could find that story.

Now, you tell us which is the bigger liar. moshe or mehmet?

Dont be fooled , even if today it seems like sultan erbokhan seems to be in a sling shot contest with goliath of the golan heights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IejoV0ua5gk

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Slingshot_(weapon).jpg

Which is which mehmet or moshe?

http://www.jesuswalk.com/david/images/tissot-david-slings-the-stone-1009x1500x300.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Orchard

http://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/826/the-attack-on-syrias-al-kibar-nuclear-facility

http://www.tiptopglobe.com/city?i=2288966&n=Aintab

[Yervant1]

TWO ARMENIANS WOUNDED IN DAMASCUS

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/730014/two-armenians-wounded-in-damascus.html
11:22, 22 August, 2013

YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS: In the result of the numerous bomb
blasts by the oppositionist militants at the Al Qassaa District
of Damascus two Armenians have been wounded. This was reported
to Armenpress by the resident of Damascus Nazareth Elmajyan. "The
wounded are mother and son Mirna and Nazareth Torosyans. They were
taken to the hospital and their condition is stable", - said the
Damascus resident. The district is mainly inhabited by Christians,
Armenians as well.

According to Nazareth Elmajyan, no Armenian was injured in the result
of the possible use of chemical weapon nearby the Damascus districts.

Recently information has been spread that the Damascus nearby districts
were bombed with Sarin nerve gas, which caused several hundreds of
victims. The Syrian opposition accuses the governmental forces of
the use of chemical weapon, whereas the official Damascus rejects
the accusations qualifying them to be the rebels' misinformation.

Ani Nazaryan

[Johannes]

Amerikian navere motenum en.

 

"urakh yeghir du terrorism

Unes pashtpan kaj Sam Keri

Obami pes hotot tzaghik

El inch e uzum bandarik".

[MosJan]

Syrian rebels use toxic chemicals against govt troops near Damascus - state media

 

http://on.rt.com/i3ha5r

Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons against regime forces in the Damascus suburb of Jobar, where soldiers discovered stockpiles of toxic poisoning antidotes, state media reports.

According to SANA citing “an official source” suffocation cases among army soldiers have been reported.

The source told the agency that army unit pushed into the area, where soldiers were attacked, and seized a warehouse containing material labeled 'Made in KSA' as well as a large number of protective masks.

In addition, the army discovered a stockpile of chemical poisoning antidotes with 'The Qatari-German Company for Pharmaceutical Industries' label on them.

Clashes have been reported between rebels and regime forces in Jobar.

Rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad accuse government forces of attacking people in the Damascus suburbs with toxic gas on Wednesday.

The ruling regime has dismissed the accusations.

However, some Western powers suspect Assad’s forces to be behind the attack that the opposition claims killed anywhere between ‘dozens’ to ‘1,300’.

 

http://rt.com/files/news/20/36/40/00/21.jpg

Photo from SANA.sy by M. Ismael/Mazen

France says all indications show that Syrian army troops are responsible for what it called a "chemical massacre".

 

"All the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the Bashar regime is responsible," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Saturday.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has suggested that "the Assad regime has something to hide" as the UN team, which is “20 minutes away” from the site of the recent attack, “have not been able to” go there and investigate.

“Why else have they not allowed the UN team to go there?” Hague said.

The US and European security sources have made a preliminary assessment that the Syrian government used chemical weapon, but still said they are seeking conclusive proof, which could take days, weeks or longer to gather.

The White House said on Saturday that a ‘range of options’ is available on Syria if it’s proven that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons.

 

http://rt.com/files/news/20/36/40/00/22.jpg

Photo from SANA.sy by M. Ismael/Mazen

"We have a range of options available, and we are going to act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest, as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria," the White House official said. "Once we ascertain the facts, the President will make an informed decision about how to respond," the official added.

President Obama is set to meet with his national security team later on in the day to discuss possible options.

In response, Iran has warned the US against possible military intervention in Syria, saying it will fuel tension across the region.

"Iran has announced several times that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis, these provocative measures and moves make regional issues more complicated and fuel tensions," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi said.

 

http://rt.com/files/news/20/36/40/00/33.jpg

AFP Photo / SANA

"The Syrian problem could be resolved only through a peaceful solution and there is no international permit for military meddling in Syria," he added.

FM said there is evidence showing that terrorist groups and rebels have been using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.

 

http://rt.com/files/news/20/36/40/00/24.jpg

Photo from SANA.sy by M. Ismael/Mazen

UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane arrived in Syria to try to get access for the team of international inspectors to work at the site in the Damascus suburbs.

The UN investigative team entered the country last Sunday to examine and investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in three different locations, as it was agreed with President Bashar Assad’s government.

Following Wednesday attack, UN inspectors requested access to the site “without delays”.

The Syrian government said that it was ready to engage in “maximum” cooperation with UN experts, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.

On Friday the Syrian opposition said they will ensure the safety of UN chemical weapons experts as they pass through rebel-controlled areas, adding that their successful arrival at the site of an alleged gas attack near Damascus within 48 hours was "critical."

On Saturday the Syrian opposition denied that they that rebel forces had employed chemical weapons, making allegations that the government was employing diversionary tactics.

“The National Coalition totally rejects the lies from the [President Bashar] Assad regime and considers them a desperate bid to divert attention from its repeated crimes and methods against Syrian civilians,” said a statement released by the main opposition bloc.

The “international community knows full well that the Assad regime is the only party in Syria which possesses the means to produce, use and stock chemical weapons,” the statement said.

 

[MosJan]

3,600 patients with neurotoxic symptoms in Damascus hospitals on Wednesday – Doctors Without Borders

Published time: August 24, 2013 15:23

Edited time: August 24, 2013 18:52

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People, affected by what activists say was a gas attack, are treated at a medical center in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, August 21, 2013.(Reuters / Bassam Khabieh)

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Nearly 3,600 patients with neurotoxic symptoms were treated in three Damascus hospitals on the day a toxic gas attack was reported, say Doctors Without Borders (MSF). 355 patients were reportedly pronounced dead.

The international medical humanitarian organization said it received information from hospitals it has been supporting in Syria.

“Medical staff working in these facilities provided detailed information to MSF doctors regarding large numbers of patients arriving with symptoms including convulsions, excess saliva, pinpoint pupils, blurred vision and respiratory distress,” MSF director of operations, Dr. Bart Janssens said in a press-release published on the organization’s webpage.

 

However, MSF could not “scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms”.

“The reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events—characterized by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers—strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent,” Janssens says in the report.

At the same time, he says they are unable to “establish who is responsible for the attack”.

Hospitals have been reportedly treating patients with atropine, an antidote drug used to cure nerve gas poisoning that MSF supply to the facilities.

 

It follows from the report that MSF will now replenish “empty stocks” and deliver additional medical supplies.

 

“In addition to 1,600 vials of atropine supplied over recent months, MSF has now dispatched 7,000 additional vials to facilities in the area. Treatment of neurotoxic patients is now being fully integrated into MSF’s medical strategies in all its programs in Syria,” stated Janssens.

The revelation by MSF happened within a week of a UN investigative team entering the country to examine three different sites of alleged chemical weapons usage. It was also just hours after UN disarmament chief Angela Kane arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus to apply pressure on the Syrian government to grant access to the site of the reported attack in the Damascus suburbs on Wednesday.

 

Syria is yet to give its assent to the UN inspectors currently in the country, who have not yet visited the sites of the alleged assault.

 

However, the Syrian government said on Thursday that in light of the event it was ready to engage in “maximum” cooperation with UN experts, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.

 

Both the US and France have joined the chorus of accusations that Bashar al-Assad's forces carried out the attack in the eastern suburbs of Damascus on Wednesday, with the US cautiously mulling military intervention. Obama said that he was weighing his options and has described it as “a big event of grave concern.”

 

A report released on Saturday indicated that the Pentagon was already making “initial preparations” for a cruise missile attack on Syrian government forces.

 

Moscow has commented that it was monitoring events surrounding the alleged attack. “We’re getting more new evidence that this criminal act was of a provocative nature,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aleksandr Lukashevich, said in a statement on Friday.

 

“In particular, there are reports circulating on the Internet that the materials of the incident and accusations against government troops had been posted for several hours before the so-called attack. Thus, it was a pre-planned action,” he said.

On Saturday the Syrian opposition denied that they that rebel forces had employed chemical weapons, making allegations that the government was employing diversionary tactics.

“The National Coalition totally rejects the lies from the [President Bashar] Assad regime and considers them a desperate bid to divert attention from its repeated crimes and methods against Syrian civilians,” said a statement released by the main opposition bloc.

The “international community knows full well that the Assad regime is the only party in Syria which possesses the means to produce, use and stock chemical weapons,” the statement said.

Syria-based political activist Ayssar Midani disagreed. “The usage of these chemical weapons is coming to help them…to make more investigations, to let them [the rebels] recover and gain more places, and just relax from their defeat. This is a very tactical problem in this war which is delivered against Syria by all these occidental countries,” she told RT.

[MosJan]

US readies possible missile strike against Syria - report

Published time: August 24, 2013 00:08

Edited time: August 24, 2013 16:16

Get short URLConflict, Military, Paula Slier, Politics, USA, Yulia Shapovalova

Despite President Obama cautioning against intervention in Syria, the Pentagon is making “initial preparations” for a cruise missile attack on Syrian government forces, according to a new report.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey is expected to present options for such a strike at a White House meeting on Saturday, CBS News reported on Friday.

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel suggested Friday naval forces are moving in position closer to Syria in case Obama chooses action.

"The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for contingencies, and that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options — whatever options the president might choose," Hagel said, adding a decision must be made quickly given “there may be another (chemical) attack.”

Meanwhile, a defense official, cited by Reuters, said on Friday the US Navy was expanding its Mediterranean presence with a fourth cruise-missile ship, the USS Mahan. Though the source stressed to Reuters the Navy did not have orders to prepare for military operations against Syria.

The ship was due to head back to the United States, but the commander of the US Sixth Fleet decided to maintain the ship in the region.

All four ships are capable of launching long-range, subsonic cruise missiles to reach land targets.

President Barack Obama is under renewed pressure to take action following the emergence of footage of what appears to be the aftermath of a toxic agent attack in a Damascus suburb on Wednesday. The forces of President Bashar Assad were assaulting a rebel stronghold in the district at the time, but deny responsibility. Moscow, which has maintained close ties with the regime, called the incident a rebel “provocation” possibly designed to derail upcoming Geneva peace talks.

Though the Pentagon will present plans for potential action on Saturday, as CBS reported, President Obama has final say on any further developments.

Questioned on the continuing upheaval in Syria and Egypt during a CNN interview Friday, Obama said the United States should be wary of “being drawn into very expensive, difficult, costly interventions that actually breed more resentment in the region.”

Obama went on to express reservations for becoming involved in the 30-month Syrian conflict due to a lack of international consensus.

"If the US goes in and attacks another country without a UN mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it, [and] do we have the coalition to make it work?” said Obama.

Despite his cautious tone, Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice said via Twitter, “What is Bashar al Assad hiding? The world is demanding an independent investigation of Wednesday’s apparent CW attack. Immediately.”

Adding to the rhetoric in Washington, Sen. John McCain said that if the administration was to “let this go on,” it was “writing a blank check to other brutal dictators around the world if they want to use chemical weapons."

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee also spoke out in support of a strike in Syria, writing to Obama of the need to respond to the latest alleged outrage.

"If we, in concert with our allies, do not respond to Assad's murderous uses of weapons of mass destruction, malevolent countries and bad actors around the world will see a green light where one was never intended," Rep. Eliot Engel wrote on Friday.

Engel has been a proponent of a more aggressive approach to Assad’s government.

"And, we can do this with no boots on the ground, from stand-off distances," he added in the letter. "I know that your Administration is wrestling with these very complex issues, but I believe that we, as Americans, have a moral obligation to step in without delay and stop the slaughter."

Obama insisted to CNN that while the United States remains “the one indispensable nation” in international diplomacy, he suggested that perhaps this was one conflict where the world should not look to Washington for a definitive answer.

"The notion that the US can somehow solve what is a sectarian complex problem inside of Syria sometimes is overstated," said the president.

The White House later released a statement confirming Obama’s words, and emphasizing that the US has no plans to put “boots on the ground.”

[Johannes]

http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/index.php?mod=article&cat=ArabWorld&article=7217

[MosJan]

UN inspectors visit site of alleged Syria chemical attack despite sniper fire

Published time: August 26, 2013 10:54

Edited time: August 26, 2013 17:24

 

A UN inspection team has returned to a hotel in Damascus after taking samples from the site of Wednesday’s alleged chemical attack in an eastern suburb, despite a sniper assault on the mission’s vehicle.

Just in the beginning of their journey, the UN team was forced to return to the government checkpoint to replace their car, which “was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area," the spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Martin Nesirky, said.

Despite earlier reports that the mission would be suspended, the team continued with their investigation.

"They visited two hospitals, they interviewed witnesses, survivors and doctors, they also collected some samples," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said adding the investigation will be continued. Inspectors were reportedly satisfied with their first day of work on Monday.

The United Nations assured that it was still possible for the team of experts to gather necessary evidence despite the time elapsed since the alleged attack.

Ban Ki-moon added that the UN will complain to both the Syrian government and opposition forces as a result of the attack.

"I have instructed Angela Kane to register a strong complaint to the Syrian government and authorities of opposition forces so that this will never happen and the safety and security of the investigation teams will be secured from tomorrow," he said.

By this time, Syrian state TV had already issued a statement accusing rebel fighters of carrying out the attack, quoting sources in the Syrian Information Ministry. The Syrian opposition in their turn laid the blame with the government.

Monday morning's convoy included at least six cars and was accompanied by a vehicle of security forces and an ambulance, Reuters reported.

On Sunday, the Assad government had given the green light to the mission to allow the investigators access to the suburb of Ghouta. The site was the home "dozens" to 1,300 fatalities, according to various sources.

[MosJan]

Following the attack on the mission, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated the incident "does not inspire optimism." He remarked the shooting took place on the territory controlled by the opposition forces and called for a proper investigation of the alleged chemical attack in Ghouta.

“Officially Washington, London and Paris say they have incontrovertible evidence that the Syrian government is behind the chemical attack in Damascus, but they have not yet presented this evidence. Yet, they keep saying that the ‘red line’ has been crossed,” Lavrov said during an emergency press conference in Moscow.

Political leaders from the countries mentioned have all released strong condemnations over the weekend, seemingly in favor of military intervention.

"The Prime Minister and President Obama... have agreed that there should be a strong response from the international community, " said UK Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today program. Questioned whether military intervention was a possible route, he said "this may be the choice."

Lavrov stated that the fallout from the alleged chemical attack is aimed at sabotaging discussions in Geneva while the West tries to substitute inspectors' work with their own statements.

“Those involved with the incident wanted to sabotage the upcoming Geneva peace talks. Maybe that was the motivation of those who created this story. The opposition obviously does not want to negotiate peacefully,” Lavrov commented.

[Arpa]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/25/us-syria-crisis-arms-idUSBRE97O04T20130825

Sadly. That so called hatay is none other than the Armenian enclave of Musa Ler.

Reuters) - Gulf-based supporters have sent a 400-ton shipment of arms to Syria's outgunned rebels, one of the biggest to reach them in their two-year-old uprising, opposition sources said on Sunday.

The consignment - mostly ammunition for shoulder-fired weapons and anti-aircraft machine guns - came into northern Syria via the Turkish province of Hatay in the past 24 hours, and was already being handed out, the sources added.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-denies-arms-shipment-to-syria-via-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nID=53178&NewsCatID=352

Is Ankara a synonym of the Liarss Den?

A senior Turkish diplomat has strictly denied a news report that cited a Syrian rebel operative as saying that 400 tons of arms have been sent into Syria from Turkey.

[MosJan]

Putin to Cameron: No evidence Syria chemical weapons attack took place

Published time: August 26, 2013 18:30

Edited time: August 26, 2013 19:27

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Russia has no evidence of whether a chemical weapons attack has taken place in Syria or who is responsible, Russian President Vladimir Putin told British Prime Minister David Cameron in a telephone call, according to Cameron’s official website.

The two leaders had an urgent phone call on Monday afternoon regarding the Syrian crisis in the wake of a sniper attack on UN chemical inspectors outside Damascus.

Following the call the British government spokesperson said: “President Putin said that they did not have evidence of whether a chemical weapons attack had taken place or who was responsible.”

Cameron stated that he was sure the alleged attack was instigated by the Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government forces, saying that he believed the opposition did not have the capacity to carry out such a strike.

“The regime had also prevented UN access in the immediate aftermath, suggesting they had something to hide,” he told Putin, according to the British government’s website.

Both national leaders reaffirmed the stance that all G8 attendees took in June: “No-one should use chemical weapons and any use would merit a serious response from the international community.”

The UN mission stated on Monday that it was still possible for the team of experts to gather necessary evidence despite the time elapsed since the alleged attack.

The alleged attack took place last Wednesday in an eastern suburb of Syria’s capital, Damascus. Between ‘dozens’ and over 1,300 people allegedly died, according to conflicting reports. NGO the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) placed the figures at 322 and 355 dead respectively.

On Monday, both Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his British counterpart, William Hague, made statements about the alleged attack.

"The Prime Minister and President Obama… have agreed that there should be a strong response from the international community," Hague told BBC Radio 4's Today program. Questioned whether military intervention was a possible route, he said "this may be the choice." Cameron is cutting short his holiday to return to London in order to chair a National Security Council meeting, it emerged on Monday.

In his turn, Lavrov stated that the fallout from the alleged chemical attack is aimed at sabotaging discussions in Geneva while the West tries to substitute inspectors' work with their own statements.

“Those involved with the incident wanted to sabotage the upcoming Geneva peace talks. Maybe that was the motivation of those who created this story. The opposition obviously does not want to negotiate peacefully,” Lavrov told an urgently convened press conference in Moscow.

He mentioned that the timing of the alleged attack “suited” the opposition.

A UN mission is in the country and spent Monday taking samples from and speaking to victims of the alleged neurotoxic assault. They will continue their investigation on Tuesday, despite their car having been “deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area,” according to spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Martin Nesirky.

Syrian state TV issued a statement accusing rebel fighters of carrying out the sniper attack, quoting sources in the Syrian Information Ministry, while the Syrian opposition placed the blame with the government.