The truth about Syria

[Yervant1]

Syrian army liberates 18 villages in Aleppo from Daesh

Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:15PM


Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) gather on the
outskirts of the town of Shaddadah in the northeastern Syrian province
of Hasakah, on February 19, 2016. (AFP)

Syrian army forces have managed to liberate at least 18 villages from
the Daesh Takfiri group in the east of the northern Aleppo province.

The Syrian troopers restored security to the villages after they
flushed out Daesh militants on Saturday.

The ground forces were fully supported by the Kurdish-dominated
coalition forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Russian
airstrikes.

The liberating forces established control over 40 kilometers of a
highway that leads to Syria's northern city of Raqqah, the Takfiris'
de facto capital, located in the militant-held northern province of
Raqqah.

The Syrian forces and their allies are reportedly just 25 kilometers
from Turkey's border. The new positions allow troops to target the
final supply route of the terrorists from Turkey to Aleppo.

The development came a day after forces from SDF and the People's
Protection Units (YPG) established their full control on the city of
Shaddadah in the northeastern province of Hasakah, after defeating
Daesh terrorists and liberating the strategic city along with several
other villages.

Syrian government soldiers celebrate after taking control of the
village of Ratian, north of the embattled city of Aleppo, from
militants on February 6, 2016. (AFP)

The fresh gains also tightened noose on Daesh as they included two
strategic roads that used to serve as supply routes for the terror
group: the main road connecting Shaddadah to Daesh-held city of Mosul
in Iraq and another road connecting it to Raqqah, the takfiris' de
facto capital. Having lost these two routes, the Takfiris in the area
were forced to retreat towards the Dayr al-Zawr province, which is
mostly under their control.

The advance is part of a broader government offensive against the
militants, particularly Daesh terrorists, aimed at cleansing the
Syrian soil from their deadly presence.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
According to a new report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research,
the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9
million others, and displaced nearly half of the country's pre-war
population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.presstv.com_Detail_2016_02_20_451413_Syria-2DAleppo-2DRaqqah-2DHasakah-2DShaddadah-2DDaesh-2DRussia&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=TzWKkzCpUib5BuUAWsSRBrOwPu1uyedee6QjN_rnXYY&s=riVZre1KwA3HabYYHYfMf1vYuGTXku3E8MtNBDBhRvs&e=

[Johannes]

Damascus Countryside, SANA-Death toll from the three terrorist bombings in al-Sayyida Zeinab rose to 83, while 178 citizens were wounded.

 

http://sana.sy/en/?p=70151

 

------

 

Homs, SANA – The death toll from Homs twin terrorist bomb attacks has risen to 34, according to Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi.

 

http://sana.sy/en/?p=70061

[Yervant1]

Turkey Admits to Aiding Al Qaeda and ISIS

Turkish support for Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria has always been an open
secret. Now it's an accepted fact

Maram Susli
Tue, Feb 16, 2016 | 9,177 54
Russia-insider.com




Yesterday, Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu told Reuters that YPG
fighters would have seized Azaz and Tal Rifaat if it had not been for
Turkish artillery shelling. He failed to mention that these towns would
have been liberated from Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda's Syrian branch, Jabhat Al
Nusra, shares control of Azaz with "moderate" FSA brigades. Davutoglu
has effectively admitted that Turkey is protecting Al Qaeda.

This would not be the first time Turkey has had a direct hand in helping
Al Qaeda take a Syrian town. In March 2014, Turkish president Erdogan
provided direct air support to Jabhat Al Nusra as it took over the town
of Kessab. In a blatant act of support for Al Qaeda, Erdogan brazenly
shot down a Syrian Jet which was attempting to fire on Jabhat Al Nusra
terrorists crossing in from the Turkish border. Kessab was a Syrian town
inhabited by mostly Armenian diaspora, who had a century ago escaped
genocide at the hands of Turkey.

In recent years, Turkey's aid of Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria has
developed from an open secret to an accepted fact. In November, footage
emerged of Turkish border guards leisurely conversing with ISIS
militants in Kassab.

There is a deluge of evidence that Turkey is supplying ISIS with weapons
via trucks driving through the border. US Vice President Joe Biden
admitted that his Turkish ally was responsible for allowing ISIS into
Syria. The statements were an attempt to deflect blame for ISIS away
from the US and solely onto its allies. Russian president Putin also
openly called out Erdogan as an `accomplice of terrorism'. Russia has
previously revealed reconnaissance footage showing ISIS oil trucks
smuggling Syrian oil into Turkey.

Davutoglu's brazen statements further highlight the Turkish government's
lack of respect for sovereignty and international law. Stating that Turkey
will not allow Azaz to fall to Syrian Kurds, seemingly forgetting that Azaz
is a Syrian town, exposes Turkey's true motives.

Syria's Foreign Ministry sent several letters to the UN Secretary
General and the Security Council complaining about the artillery
shelling from Turkey. Violating the sovereignty of a UN member state is
a breach of international law. However, the UN has ignored every
violation of Syrian sovereignty to date, solidifying its impotence as a
so-called organisation for world peace and diplomacy.

[Yervant1]

INSTIGATORS OF THE SYRIAN CONFLICT HAVE MADE THEMSELVES KNOWN

22.02.2016 Author: Maxim Egorov

Column: Politics
Region: Middle East

The UN Security Council on February 20 found itself unable to reach
an agreement on a Russian resolution draft that urges all parties to
ensure the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity. It would
seem very straight forward to adopt a resolution that is perfectly
logical from the point of view of international law. Yet, six members
of the Council rejected it, and three of those have the right to veto.

Those were the United States, the Great Britain and France, and as
for those non-permanent Security Council members - those are Ukraine
(did anyone have a glimpse of a doubt), New Zealand and Spain.

Thus, it turns out that six states have openly opposed the preservation
of the territorial integrity of another UN member state.

The situation looks surreal since this step contradicts the basic
principles of the UN Charter, and those six above mentioned states
have basically undermined the very foundation of this international
organization.

The latest vote can only be interpreted as straightforward
encouragement of armed aggression against Syria, which pursues a
single goal - to tear apart this embattled nation as soon as possible.

Of course, we are talking about Turkey, although this particular state
or any other potential aggressor hasn't been mentioned in the draft of
the resolution. Ankara is determined to occupy northern Syria and in
the creation of a so-called "safe zone" that will harbor terrorists,
a step in the creation of Erdogan's neo-Ottoman Empire.

It is safe to say that the Turkish regime is prepared for unprovoked
aggression since it has been changing pretexts for such aggression a
number of times over the last couple of months. First we were told
there's a need to create a "no-fly zone" for Syrian refugees, then
Erdogan was willing to rush in to protect Turkomans - a Turkic-speaking
minority that has never been oppressed by the Assad government,
and once Kurds launched an all-out assault on the positions of ISIS
and Jabhat al-Nusra in northern Syria they have suddenly become the
terrible Kurdish terrorists that are to be destroyed.

In other words, while pretexts change the course of action remains the
same - Turkey keeps on supplying terrorists, shelling Syrian cites,
which has already been documented on a number of videos, and sends
its special forces that were careless enough to write about their
missions on social networks - it's all a part of the invasion.

It's true that so far we haven't seen a full-scale invasion, but it
seems that we should be thanking Turkish generals and various political
figures that are so far not willing to provide unconditional support
to the mad ideological projects of Tayyip Erdogan and his sidekick
Prime Minister, who has so far been playing the most sinister role
in this story. The army has always been a massive supporting pillar
of the Turkish state, therefore, even if it's weakened by Erdogan's
repressions, military authorities are not exactly in a hurry to go
to war with Russia and then confront the whole Arab world, a world
that hasn't exactly forgotten five hundred years of the Ottoman rule.

But who else could be interested in tearing the Syrian Arab Republic
apart? It's Saudi Arabia without doubt, which has announced on February
13 that it's sending its warplanes to Turkey for them to allegedly
fight ISIS. Moreover, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly announced that it
is going to launch a massive ground assault against ISIS, but only
within the framework of leadership within the US coalition. In the
meantime Washington keeps on making contradictory statements about
the possibility of such a step, first renouncing it completely and
then saying that it would be ready to launch it in a matter of days.

Riyadh is hardly in any better of a position than its partner in
crime - Ankara. The ruling clan has been facing one challenge after
another over the last couple of years, since extremely low oil prices
have produced a devastating effect on the kingdom's treasury (last
year's budget was short of a "mere" 98 billion dollars). Moreover,
Saudi Arabia is engaged in war against Yemen, where it has found
itself unable to beat local rebels - the Houthis.

Yet it keeps on vigorously demanding the change of the Assad
government, while making claims that it's prepared to invade Syria
any day now, without reservation. But it seems that these actions
serve nothing more than a supporting role for Western forces that
exposed themselves at the UN on November 20. Among these states one
finds Great Britain and France who have already reshaped the Middle
East in early twentieth century, and now are trying to do it again
at the beginning of the twenty-first century under US leadership.

To achieve these goals these states are exploiting the desires of
Tayyip Erdogan, who craves a new Ottoman Empire, and the al-Saud clan
which is after the creation of some of "legal" sectarian caliphate that
would replace ISIS. For this purpose in early January Riyadh announced
the establishment of its own anti-terrorist coalition composed of 34
Islamic countries that are allegedly assembled to fight ISIS.

Saudi Arabia would gladly settle with the occupation of the "Sunni"
part of Syria. Those are the eastern areas that are occupied by ISIS,
with the capital of the Islamic State -the city of Raqqa that Saudis
are prepared to bomb and conquer with its special forces. While these
plans remain purely hypothetical - since Saudi Arabia has neither the
means nor the right to intervene in Syria - if it could achieve it,
it would never hand over these territories to the legitimate Syrian
government ever again. But Syrian and Iranian politicians have made
it pretty clear that any Saudi forces that invade Syria will make
their trip back home in coffins.

Now, after the UN vote on the draft of the Russian resolution, it
is clear that Washington, London and Paris are cheering for Ankara
and Riyadh to launch a frontal assault against Syria and Russia,
which will significantly weaken those proxy states and could well
lead to their destruction, which will leave the West to solve its
own geopolitical problems for decades to come.

The exact same tactics were used by the United States on the eve
of World War II, when Washington and London unleashed the beast
created by Hitler against the Soviet Union. Now the same trick is
being played in the Middle East, while Saudi and Turkish authorities
are being encouraged to pursue highly dangerous projects as long as
oil prices remain low, all while Europe is being attacked by various
terrorist cells that have infiltrated it. It is no coincidence that
NATO is officially declaring that it will not support Turkey in the
conflict with Russia. Of course, they would rather stay behind and
watch as others risk it all.

Moscow, it seems, is aware of these plans, since President Vladimir
Putin's press secretary has already announced that a possible
Russian-Turkish conflict is out of the question. The West's partners
have also failed to spoil Russia's victory in Syria by imposing
unfavorable terms upon a truce the agreement which was obtained during
the course of discussions in Munich on February 11. As President Putin
noted on February 20, the terrorists in Syria have openly declared
Russia an enemy and they are prepared to expand their operations
into Russia itself. Therefore, one shouldn't expect Russia to cease
its anti-terrorist operations in Syria. Moreover, it won't give up
the struggle for the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity,
since once complete victory is achieved it will virtually bury all
Western meddling in the region.

As for Turkey and Saudi Arabia, it's time for them to think twice
about their futures and who will truly benefit and who will lose by
abiding Washington's will.

Maxim Egorov, a political commentator on the Middle East and
contributes regularly for the online magazine "New Eastern Outlook".

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__journal-2Dneo.org_2016_02_22_instigators-2Dof-2Dthe-2Dsyrian-2Dconflict-2Dhave-2Dmade-2Dthemselves-2Dknown_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=TEyN0BEYx5u7yfkf4pARNJv1dgCer-ZEZp6Af4v7ZXk&s=NvznHSlnH7qzJ0lphtTjHWL1vpjh5ouAn_cEcMR7Rgs&e=

[Yervant1]

'WE BOTH ARE TURKS, BRO': TURKEY-IS PHONE CONVERSATION LEAKED

10:51 â~@¢ 23.02.16

Wiretapped phone conversations between Islamic State (IS) militants
and the Turkish intelligence have been leaked to confirm the suspected
secret collaboration between the two.

According to the Turkish Cumhuriyet, the conversations took place
close to the Turkey-Syria border.

The interlocutors reportedly exchanged messages in a very friendly
tone, referring to each other as "bro".

The leaked records also reveal that members of the terrorist group
and Turkish intelligence officers meet at times on the border.

The IS members are Turks too, the Turkish publication says, quoting a
Turkish militant affiliated with the group as saying, "You are a Turk,
bro, so am I; you are a Muslim, and so I am I."

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he has fears
that the Islamic State is in secret talks with Turkey.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.tert.am_en_news_2016_02_23_isis-2Dturkey_1940701&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=shYigWY66As2LMQSMAJ1CXj-AaRp-qrhG8qruPFizNs&s=-JvJjRnQuiGsgG4KCH3y8_UgFHUgzUSEclVqgrzkwS4&e=

[Yervant1]

WHAT LIES BENEATH WESTERN MEDIA DISTORTED COVERAGE OF SYRIAN WAR

Wed Feb 24, 2016 7:14

TEHRAN (FNA)- The US media coverage of the Syrian war is completely
divorced from reality, award-winning American author and foreign
correspondent Stephen Kinzer writes, adding that much of the US press
is reporting the opposite of what is actually happening on the ground.

Americans have almost no real information about what is going on in
Syria, and much of the blame for this lies with US mainstream media,
award-winning US author and foreign correspondent Stephen Kinzer
stresses.

"Coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most
shameful episodes in the history of the American press," Kinzer writes
in his article for The Boston Globe.

"Americans are being told that the virtuous course in Syria is to fight
the Assad regime and its Russian and Iranian partners. We are supposed
to hope that a righteous coalition of Americans, Turks, Saudis, Kurds,
and the 'moderate opposition' will win. This is convoluted nonsense,
but Americans cannot be blamed for believing it," the journalist
underscores.

Incredible as it may seem, the American mainstream media is reporting
quite the opposite of what is really happening on the ground.

To illustrate his statement Kinzer refers to the Aleppo takeover.

"Many news reports suggest that Aleppo has been a 'liberated zone'
for three years but is now being pulled back into misery," the
journalist notes.

But the stark reality is that the city has been run by violent
Islamist militias, including al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front and
Daesh fighters backed by Turkey and Saudi Arabia. They terrorized
the locals, destroyed factories and smuggled the stolen machinery
to Turkey.

In light of this the Russo-Syrian offensive was regarded as the only
hope by the civilians.

Kinzer quotes Beirut-based analyst Marwa Osma who posed the rhetorical
question: "The Syrian Arab Army, which is led by President Bashar
Assad, is the only force on the ground, along with their allies, who
are fighting ISIS [Daesh] -- so you want to weaken the only system
that is fighting ISIS?"

Meanwhile, Washington-based journalists are convincing the US public
that al-Nusra, is comprised of "rebels" or "moderates," remaining
mute that the infamous group is the local al-Qaeda franchise.

Much in the same vein, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are being described.

The US media turn a blind eye to the fact that Riyadh and Ankara
have been arming and funding foreign jihadists in Syria. The story
of Turkey's suppression of Kurds also remains largely untold.

In contrast, "everything Russia and Iran do in Syria is described
as negative and destabilizing, simply because it is they who are
doing it -- and because that is the official line in Washington,"
Kinzer stresses.

According to Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies
at New York University and Princeton University, the US influential
party of war and its counterparts in NATO are fanning the flames in
order to get rid of Bashar al-Assad.

"On the issue of who should do and can do the fighting [in Syria]
I always believed and in fact the retired chief of the British
general staff Lord [Richards] said... that there is only one real
fighting force -- the Syrian Army. Therefore Obama's plan to get rid
of Assad which would risk the stability of the Syrian state and thus
the Syrian Army, as happened when they got rid of Gaddafi in Libya,
was a mistaken policy," the American academic said in an interview
on The John Batchelor Show.

The academic believes that there is actually a plan for invasion of
Syria by Turkish-Saudi forces. The question remains open whether or not
Washington policymakers will authorize the ground military campaign.

Washington wants to maintain "leadership" in the Middle Eastern
region. In this context the success of the Russo-Syrian military
campaign obviously contradicts the US war party's agenda.

"Politicians may be forgiven for distorting their past actions.

Governments may also be excused for promoting whatever narrative they
believe best suits them. Journalism, however, is supposed to remain
apart from the power elite and its inbred mendacity," Kinzer believes.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.farsnews.com_newstext.aspx-3Fnn-3D13941204001596&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=VtQwF8aucdIivNqYI8LvME0yYJ3zgC-4qMt_rFxtmqw&s=KYO-fQx5vIvepyWOVBTDcFRIjmS9TPfjSw1YWfHnCRM&e=

[Yervant1]

WESTERN LIES ON RUSSIA'S SYRIA CAMPAIGN EXPOSED ON AIR

Wed Feb 24, 2016 6:8

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian President Vladimir Putin could well resolve the
Syrian issue and destroy Daesh, French politician and former Minister
of Vocational Education Jean-Luc Mélenchon told French journalists
Lea Salame and Yann Moix who have tried to accuse Moscow of bombing
Syrian opposition instead of the terrorist group.

"The Russians are the ones who cut off supply routes which Daesh used
to smuggle oil into Turkey. I am not the one who is saying this - the
Turkish opposition confirmed this. These are the sites that have been
bombed. I congratulate the Russians on disrupting these deliveries
because this will be the reason for Daesh's defeat," he noted.

Apparently dissatisfied with Mélenchon's stance on what is happening
in Syria, the journalists interrupted the politician claiming that
Russia was not targeting Daesh, but the so-called moderate opposition.

"Ninety percent of airstrikes are not aimed at Daesh, but rebels,"
Moix suggested.

"This is not true," Mélenchon retorted. Those, who spread
unsubstantiated information regarding Russia's efforts in Syria,
are trying "to fool you and throw dust in your eyes to bring you on
their side."

Russia launched a multinational counterterrorism operation in Syria
following a formal request from Damascus on September 30, 2015. Moscow
has been largely credited with helping the Syrian Arab Army turn the
tide of war against Daesh, al-Nusra Front and other radical groups,
who are trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad and establish an
Islamic caliphate in Syria.

[Yervant1]

SYRIA ARMY LIBERATES SUPPLY ROUTE TO ALEPPO

13:29 â~@¢ 25.02.16

The Syrian army and air force, backed by the popular units, destroyed
terrorists' defense lines in the northern Latakia province leaving
many militants killed and wounded, Sputniknews.com reports, citing
Iran's Fars news agency.

"Several militant positions and their military grid were severely
damaged during Syrian jets combat sorties over the village of Ma'ar
Baya in Latakia province," the sources on the ground confirmed.

Government forces also attacked terrorists' positions in other key
provinces across the country.

In Aleppo province the Syrian army took back several key areas in
fierce battles fought along the strategic Khanaser highway.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army and its popular allies launched a new phase
of a large-scale operation to drive back the terrorist groups from
the main government forces' main supply line from Hama to Aleppo,
Fars News reported.

"The Syrian army troops and the National Defense Forces, who captured
a number of checkpoints along the Ithriya-Khanaser road, have launched
a massive joint operation in both provinces of Hama and Aleppo to end
ISIL [Daesh] and Jund al-Aqsa's control over chunks of the strategic
road," the army said.

"The Syrian Air Force and artillery units have provided very good
coverage for the ground forces," the army added.

Dozens of Daesh fighters were killed west of the Tishreen Dam in
northern Aleppo province in a bungled attack on the Syrian Democratic
Forces (SDF) positions in the region.

The Kurdish fighters, backed by US coalition airstrikes, repelled
the terrorists' attack and forced them back from the battlefield.

The Tishreen Dam is located on the Euphrates River on the border of
Raqqa and Aleppo provinces.

In Homs province Syrian jets pounded the militant's command centers in
two key cities in the north killing dozens of militants and destroying
their military hardware, including a number of vehicles equipped
with heavy machineguns, the agency wrote citing military sources on
the ground.

The government troops pounded the terrorists' positions near the
capital city of Damascus, inflicting more casualties on the enemy,
military sources said on Tuesday.

In the northern Hama province Syrian army units ambushed a large
group of terrorists killing and wounding dozens, security sources said.

"The terrorists were ambushed by the army troops in Hirbnafsa village
in the Southern parts of Hama," the sources said, and added, "At
least eleven militants were killed and two of their heavy machine-gun
equipped pick-up trucks were destroyed in the operation."

Also on Tuesday government forces and their popular allies attacked
Daesh positions in the southeastern countryside of Deir ex-Zor,
inflicting more casualties on the terrorists.

The army also stormed a Daesh command center in the village of Hatlah,
destroying the base and the killing or wounding a number of terrorists,
Fars News wrote.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.tert.am_en_news_2016_02_25_aleppo-2Dsupply-2Droute-2Dliberated_1943491&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=UGgYxfX4WAUruFRO6aYoMrppujfiVDPZpCdAbu2aCoo&s=HKUYsDjaDsKiVNcVp27gBEez7_TR78T1flII0U9IpzI&e=

[Yervant1]

URGENT: ARMY REGAINS FULL CONTROL OVER ANOTHER STRATEGIC TOWN IN ALEPPO

Thu Feb 25, 2016 12:54

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army units won back the strategic town of
Khanaser, Southeast of Aleppo province, which was the scene of fierce
battles in recent days.

The army's latest advance in Aleppo province was made after heavy
clashes with the terrorist groups in the region.

Military sources said on Thursday that tens of terrorists were killed
and several others were injured in the battle.

The Syrian army killed tens of Takfiri terrorists in a
counter-offensive on the ISIL on Ithrya-Khanaser road on Wednesday.

The army's counter-offensive came after the ISIL tried to attack the
army units' military positions along Ithrya-Khanaser road.

Heavy clashes are still underway in the surrounding areas of Khanaser
town.

According to field sources, over 100 terrorists have been killed in
the fierce clashes with the Syrian army and popular forces.

In Southeast Aleppo, reports said on Wednesday that the ISIL militants
left behind scores of their dead and wounded members and fled their
strongholds near two key heights under the heavy offensives of the
Syrian army and popular forces.

The Syrian army and the National Defense Forces continued to push the
ISIL terrorists back from their positions along the main supplying
route of the government forces from Hama to Aleppo near the strategic
town of Khanaser and imposed full control over the Tal Syriatel and
Talal al-Sharghiyeh and their surroundings.

The government forces have started to fortify the newly-gained lands.

The Syrian army and its allies have repelled several ISIL attacks to
break through the government forces' lines of defense near Khanaser.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.farsnews.com_newstext.aspx-3Fnn-3D13941206000284&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=aZK2_fq2so0kzS3OEEofzyCXebT9WqrLxGFWADnSg0w&s=FH23hpPjpsbBbCd_Y_c7gjkBzTz43iEVljNRk1s9Sk4&e=

[Yervant1]

Demirtas: Turkey's ruling party is `extension' of ISIS

By Rudaw
23/2/16

Selahettin Demirtas, co-chair of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples'
Democratic Party (HDP. Photo: AFP

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region ` Selahettin Demirtas, co-chair of Turkey's
pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), bitterly denounced the
governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Tuesday, alleging it
is little more than an "extension of' the Islamic State group (ISIS).

Demirtas was deflecting claims by the Turkish government that the
Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated to
Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had attacked Turkey.

"What kind of an enmity against Kurds is this that they (AKP) await a
bombing in some part of the country just to accuse the PYD?" he asked,
while addressing his party's deputies, the Hurriyet Daily News
reported.

"Did the PYD throw a single stone at you from (Syria)?" he asked
rhetorically. "I am not talking about bullets, but stones."

Referring to AKP accusations that HDP is an extension of PKK, Demirtas
said that the ruling party itself was a terrorist extension.

"Is there any better terror extension than you (AKP)? You are the
extension of ISIS. And this is your hypocrisy. Our party keeps calling
for peace as yours is doing all this and you expect us to remain
silent," he argued.

Turkey has been bombing the armed wing of the PYD, the Peoples
Protection Units (YPG), in Syria in a bid to halt its offensive
against armed groups in northwestern Syria.

Following the Ankara bombing which left 28 people dead last Wednesday,
the Turks stepped up those cross-border artillery attacks.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is firmly backed by the
AKP, has in the past dubbed both the HDP and the PYD as mere
extensions of the PKK, which is banned in Turkey and is once again
fighting a war against the Turkish state.

Demirtas condemned the government's crackdown on the PKK in Cizre and
the wider Kurdish-majority southeast and claimed their repressive
actions have seen another 500 young people join the PKK.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__rudaw.net_english_middleeast_turkey_23022016&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=bdlJFQr6rXQbQNIsCmFFoFX06_iWerzDDokoKNfQy08&s=NHU2AtfNIKpxBzPPdcvZhARKlvRxnIniVqfo1UyMPrY&e=

[Yervant1]

TERRORISTS RECEIVE FRESH EQUIPMENT, FORCES THROUGH TURKEY

21:33, 25 Feb 2016
Siranush Ghazanchyan

The terrorist groups stationed in Lattakia province near the borders
with Turkey were fortified on Thursday with weapons, equipment and
fresh militants from Turkey, Fars News Agency reports.

Hundreds of Jeish al-Fatah terrorists, most of them from Chechnya
and the Caucasus regions and backed up by Turkish artillery fire,
gained control over the two villages of al-Dorra and al-Saraf in the
Northwestern parts of al-Rabia'a town and near the Turkish borders
following heavy attacks on Syrian army positions.

After taking control of the two villages, the terrorists received
a large cargo of weapons and military equipment and were joined by
fresh forces who poured into Northern Syria via the Turkish borders.

Meantime, the Syrian army has sent more forces to the occupied regions
to win them back from the militants.

The Syrian army and popular forces made gains in several areas in
the Northeastern countryside of Lattakia, purging them of terrorists
on Thursday.

The Syrian Army units, in cooperation with popular defense groups,
purged the terrorists from Barza al-Tahtani village and Katef
al-Zaitona, Daher Sando, Tal Ghweirat and Jabal Abu Ali regions in the
Northeastern countryside of Lattakia, field sources said on Thursday.

Stability and security was restored to these areas after army
operations, they added.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.farsnews.com_newstext.aspx-3Fnn-3D13941206000637&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=X4eKxPieiKVEoGKDFPaOA8IBLGZXeEiEwzrx90aW_9Y&s=ZWYTeq1NfX7W9bDPWPXQj_6yq8yNBJ5HRB9ItplCSr4&e=

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.armradio.am_en_2016_02_25_terrorists-2Dreceive-2Dfresh-2Dequipment-2Dforces-2Dthrough-2Dturkey_&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=X4eKxPieiKVEoGKDFPaOA8IBLGZXeEiEwzrx90aW_9Y&s=EP0GzAhyjJuNLG-ctnGXAgE6vQvayAgaJrR0z-lFANs&e=

[Yervant1]

THIS IS REAL REASON WHY TURKEY NEEDS SYRIAN CITY OF AZAZ

Fri Feb 26, 2016 1:3

TEHRAN (FNA)- Azaz has lately been at the center of the Syrian
conflict. Kurdish forces need the city to seal the last stretch of the
porous Syrian-Turkish border, while the Turks, according to adviser
to the Syrian government Abdul Kadir Azuz, want Azaz to be able to
provide assistance to radical groups fighting against al-Assad.

The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are reported to be staying
on the outskirts of rebel-held Azaz. Turkish forces have shelled the
YPG positions in the northern Aleppo province, particularly in this
area, to prevent the Syrian Kurds from liberating the strategically
important city.

"Azaz is a key city on the way from Turkey to Syria, which allows
Erdogan to meddle in Syria's internal affairs," Abdul Kadir Azuz told
RT. "He wants to gain a foothold in Syria by controlling Azaz. If
Erdogan loses Azaz, he would neither be able to influence the situation
in Syria nor provide assistance to terrorists."

This is the only reason why Azaz is so important to Turkey, he added.

The city, according to Azuz, has no historic or economic significance.

"Ankara provides aid to terrorist groups through checkpoints on the
border with Aleppo. The Turkish government is able to provide supplies
and medical aid to terrorists since it controls the checkpoints,"
he insisted.

Last week, Rodi Osman, the head of the Syrian Kurds' representative
office in Moscow, told RIA Novosti that as many as 2,000 Islamist
fighters crossed into Syria from Turkey through Azaz.

Turkey has been shelling Kurdish-held areas since February 13 in a
controversial move that has been condemned by Russia and the United
States. Both countries view the Kurds as one of their primary partners
in tackling Daesh.

Many countries have called on Turkey to seal the border with Syria
to prevent Daesh and other terrorist groups from smuggling fighters,
weapons and supplies in and out of the war-torn Arab country.

Unlimited access to resources delivered to the battlefield through
Turkey has largely been seen as key to the terrorist group's resilience
and longevity.

Ankara has so far failed to deliver on its promise, while the Syrian
Kurds are close to taking the border regions under control.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.farsnews.com_newstext.aspx-3Fnn-3D13941206000765&d=CwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=f6N733-JbDSwZmZgkKTqdIC4vCU5hJGMScQSw94_LrU&s=YYu-zyV05nKT5OT-Zf3QqKeteT9CgIN5SOG4eNvZjhQ&e=

[Yervant1]

THE PECULIAR CASE OF THE TURKMENS IN SYRIA

14:08, February 26, 2016

By Harout Ekmanian

Despite playing a groundbreaking role in the Syrian civil war,
Turkmens get scant media coverage and they are often represented
solely through the lens of the Turkish media.

The recent escalation of military operations in rural Aleppo and in
nearby rebel held territories close to the Turkish border, was one of
the few occasions during the past five years when the Turkmen factor
resurfaced into the media debate.

Turkmens are ethnic Turks who lived in the territories, that later
emerged as the Arab states of Iraq and Syria, since the 11th century.

There are small numbers of Turkmens in Lebanon and other places in
the Middle East. After Syria got its independence from the Ottoman
Empire, confessional (religious) identity remained the basis ofofficial
minority status. Thus, certain ethnic groups, however large they were,
were subsumed into the overarching Sunni majority.

Armenians, for example, constitute a confessional minority in Syria,
not an ethnic minority. Therefore, they are granted a minimum of 3
hours per week for learning their mother tongue under the name of
"liturgical language," which enables Armenians the right to worship
their religion. While the majority of Kurds, Turkmens and other ethnic
groups were Sunni Muslims, they couldn't benefit from the same right
to learn their own languages in schools.

This arrangement was very similar to what it was like in Turkey after
the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which recognized only Jews, Armenians and
Orthodox Greeks as minorities, and opened the way to categorize large
groups of ethnic minorities who professed Sunni Islam (Kurds, Arabs,
Circassians, Laz, etc.) as Turks.

Kurds and Turkmens respectively are the second and third largest
ethnic groups after Arabs in Syria. The two groups share a lot of
similarities, but also several differences. Kurds in Syria enjoy a
relatively bigger geographic concentration compared to Turkmens. While
Kurds make up the majority in Syria's north and northeastern Jazeera
region, in urban centers like Afrin, Kobane and Rojava, the Turkmens
are dispersed across the country, predominantly in rural settlements.

They constitute a majority only in the villages of the Turkmen Mountain
(Jebel Turkmen, or Bayir-Bucak in Turkish) southeast of Kessab near
the Turkish border. This is also one of the reasons that makes it
easier to estimate the number of Syrian Kurd, at around two million,
while the estimate of the number of Turkmens varies between a few
hundred thousand to more than two million. In this regard, Assyrians
share a similar situation with Kurds, despite being a confessional
ethnic minority group in the country.

Syrian Turkmens relationship with Turkey

Unlike the Kurds, Turkmens claim national bonds to another country
in the region, neighboring Turkey, which also debunks a common
misconception about Armenians being the only group in Syria that has
national bonds with another country.

Ironically, Armenians and Turkmens lived in close vicinity in Syria.

Turkmen farmers used to work hand-in-hand with Armenian landlordsin
Kessab. In Aleppo, the Armenian Nor Kyugh (Midan) neighborhood is
next to Bustan al-Basha and Hullok, which are populated by large
numbers of Turkmens.

It is a striking fact that Turkey wasn't able to develop cordial ties
with the Syrian Turkmens until the honeymoon between both countries
started in 1999 and ended in 2011. Benefiting from the atmosphere of
tolerance towards Turkish influence during this period, a large number
of Turkmen youth from Syria were offered scholarships and training in
Turkish universities and institutions. While on another track, away
from academia and business offices, another form of network between
Turkmens and Turkish authorities and intelligence was forming on
the ground - first tested in smuggling, then in military operations
after 2011.

Turkmens took an active part in the uprising in Syria from the start.

>From Homs to Idlib, Raqqa and the Turkmen Mountain, Turkmen battalions
were formed bearing the names of various Ottoman sultans; Sultan Selim,
Abdulhamid, Faith Sultan Mehmet, etc. Their operations were planned and
controlled from headquarters inside Turkey, like Yayladagi in Hatay
province and Gaziantep. Turkmens also had large representations in,
first the opposition Syrian National Council, and then in the Istanbul
based Syrian National Coalition. Turkmens who were living in Turkey
before 2011 had an active role in forming and supporting these bodies
and becoming the link between Syrian Turkmens and Turkish authorities,
beginning with President Erdogan and including various political,
intelligence and military high personnel.

Scant media coverage despite active participation in uprising

Despite this active participation by Turkmens in the Syrian Uprising,
they have been referred to by news and media reports very seldom. One
of the big media storiesregarding Turkmens broke in January 2014
in Turkey,later echoed by the international media,when lorries
full of weapons belonging to the Turkish State Intelligence (MIT)
were caught enroute to Syria. The Turkish government, then led by
Prime Minister Erdogan, first claimed that the cargo was a "national
secret", but later claimed that the lorries were carrying food and
medical supplies to the Turkmen population in Syria. The Cumhuriyet
newspaper released footage of the search, confirming that the lorries
were in fact carrying weapons. Editor-in-chief Can Dundar and the
newspaper's legal representative were arrested in November 2015 and
threatened withlife imprisonment.

Kessab invasion - Turkish links

Another media association with Syrian Turkmens came up duringthe
invasion of Kessab in March 2014, launched from Turkish territories
by an assortment of radical Islamist groups like Ahrar Al-Sham and
other Al-Qaeda linked militants.

Jihadists capturing an administrative office in Kessab, March 2014

Turkmen brigades from neighboring Turkmen Mountain took a pioneering
role in this attack against their Armenian neighbors in Kessab. Some
of the earlier networks of smuggling and MIT links were tested and
exposed in these fights. Names of Turkmen rebel leaders like Heysem
Topalca became public and his links with the Turkish Intelligence and
the terrorist bombings of the Turkish border town of Reyhanli in May
2013 were spread in the Turkish opposition media, as well as abroad.

Starting in November 2015, Turkmens starting appearing in the news
once again. Following the start of the Russian air bombing campaign in
Syria in September 2015, and the downing of a Russian jet by Turkeyon
November 24, 2015, the Turkmen Mountain, the Kurdish mountain to its
east (Jebel al-Akrad), and other Turkmen villages were particularly
targeted by Russian and Syrian government forces and its loyal militias
in their campaign to retake the strategic locations in the provinces
of Latakia, Idlib and Aleppo. Tens of thousands of civilians had
no other choice than to flee to the Turkish border. However, the
refugees faced discriminatory treatment. While Turkmens were allowed
in, other Syrians were left stranded at the borders.

Apart from group politics, Turkmen individuals are active on various
sides of the Syrian conflict. The so-called Islamic State's deputy
leader of Syria, Abu Ali al-Anbari, and its deputy leader in Iraq,
Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, are both Turkmens. In politics, Khaled Khoja,
the current president of the opposition Syrian National Coalition,
is also of Turkmen origin. On the government side, the longtime
chief-of-staff and then minister of defense Hasan Turkmani was a
Turkmen Alewite killed by a bombing claimed by the FSA in July 2012
along with other top Syrian military officials. There are also Syrian
historical national figures of Turkmen origin, like Yusuf al-'Azma
and Jamil Mardam Bey, who resisted the French mandate.

Despite playing a decisive role at the various stages of the Syrian
uprising, Turkmens have been regularly missing in debates about
Syria and the regional turmoil. The Syrian conflict has surpassed all
modern-day records of brutality and inhuman atrocities of our times.

Thus, it is hard to believe that various communities like the Kurds,
Arabs, Turkmens, Armenians and Yezidis will be able to once again
live side by side.

Of course, such a possibility also greatly depends on the form of
state and governance that will exist in Syria in an optimistic future,
when the crisis is finally resolved.

Top photo: Turkmen fighters carrying "the Turkmen Flag" and the coat
of arms of the Ottoman Empire in the Turkmen Mountain region in Syria.

(Anadolu Agency).

(Harout Ekmanian has spent more than a decade covering news out of
the Middle East and South Caucasus. His work has been featured in the
Voice of America, Tagesspiegel, O Globo, Near East Quarterly and other
international journals. Originally trained as a lawyer in Aleppo,
he was an O'Donnell Visiting Scholar in Global Studies at Whitman
College in 2014. He has been a fellow at the Institute for the Study
of Human Rights of Columbia University in 2015. He has also worked
in media and development in Armenia for several years in various
capacities at the Civilitas Foundation. He contributes regularly to
Hetq Online from New York City.)

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[Yervant1]

From: Katia Peltekian
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2016 22:30:56 +0200
Subject: Letter to Editor of Irish Daily Mail, Ireland

Irish Daily Mail
February 26, 2016 Friday

Our friends in Syria?
LETTERS


Some of our media are increasingly out of step with public opinion
over Syria.

The only people in the region who are 'on our side' and have any
credibility appear to be the Kurds, and they are opposed by our
supposed 'ally' Turkey, which would like to wipe those Kurds off the
face of the planet - as they tried with the Armenians in 1915-1917.

Our allies, the 'moderate opposition' - Turkey, the Saudis and Gulf
States - are, by and large, Islamists who don't seem to use words like
'tolerance' and 'diversity'.

However bad we might consider Assad and the Russians, I know who I
would rather have as my allies.

ANDY BROWN, by email.

[Yervant1]

Press TV. Iran
Feb 28 2016


Turkey violates Syria truce by shelling Kurds: Kurdish official

A senior Kurdish official says Turkish forces have once again fired
shells into Syrian towns controlled by Kurdish forces, violating a
ceasefire that has recently come into effect in the Arab country.

"The first violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2268 has been
made by Turkey. Its troops shelled the cities of Tal Abyad and Uslub,'
head of the Syrian Kurdish mission to Moscow, Rodi Osman, told
Russia's Interfax news agency.

He added that Turkey must be urged to stop "violating Syria's sovereignty."

The comments come as a ceasefire agreed by the United States and
Russia took effect in Syria on February 27 midnight Damascus time. The
Syrian government also accepted the terms of the truce on condition
that military efforts against Daesh and the al-Nusra Front Takfiri
militants, who are not included in the ceasefire agreement, continue.

A few days before the implementation of the truce, Turkey's President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan compared the Kurdish People's Protection Units
(YPG) and its affiliate, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), with
Takfiri terror groups in Syria, saying if Daesh and al-Nusra are kept
outside the truce, `then the PYD-YPG must similarly be excluded from
the ceasefire for it is a terrorist group just as they are.'

Ankara regards the YPG and PYD as allies of the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region
inside Turkey since the 1980s.

The YPG, which is nearly in control of Syria's entire northern border
with Turkey, has been fighting against Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The government in Ankara is angered by the rapid advance of Syrian
Kurdish fighters in areas near the Turkish border.

Osman, meanwhile, told Russia's Sputnik news agency that Turkish
forces have been carrying out attacks on Kurds in Turkey's southeast
in the cruelest ways that remind one of Daesh.

`The international community should see all these atrocities and judge
Erdogan,' Osman said, adding that the Turkish leader does not hide his
hostility toward the Kurdish people and insists on denying them their
rights.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in
its southern border region in the past few months. However, activists
argue that clashes have led to the death of civilians and inflicted
major damage to the buildings and infrastructure in the southeastern
region of the country.

Daesh terrorists come from Turkey: Russia

Meanwhile, in a separate development on Sunday, the Russian ceasefire
monitoring center in Syria said it is verifying reports that a
Saturday attack on the Kurdish town of Tal Abyad was carried out by
militants coming from Turkey.

`This information was verified though multiple channels, including
representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), (a coalition
of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, and Turkmen fighters, backed by
the YPG,' said Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, who heads the
center for Syrian reconciliation.

He added that Moscow has asked for clarification from the US center
based in Amman as Washington has influence on Turkey, a member of the
so-called US-led coalition which is purportedly targeting positions of
Daesh in Syria and Iraq.

The Takfiri terrorists launched an attack to capture Tal Abyad and
Suluk early on Saturday, YPG official Redur Xelil said, adding that
the towns were attacked from two sides with some terrorists
progressing from across the Turkish border and some others from the
south.

Ankara has widely been blamed for the surge in the deadly militancy in
Syria as it has been supporting militants with funds, training and
weapons.


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[Johannes]

From: Katia Peltekian

Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2016 22:30:56 +0200

Subject: Letter to Editor of Irish Daily Mail, Ireland

Irish Daily Mail

February 26, 2016 Friday

Our friends in Syria?

LETTERS

Some of our media are increasingly out of step with public opinion

over Syria.

The only people in the region who are 'on our side' and have any

credibility appear to be the Kurds, and they are opposed by our

supposed 'ally' Turkey, which would like to wipe those Kurds off the

face of the planet - as they tried with the Armenians in 1915-1917.

Our allies, the 'moderate opposition' - Turkey, the Saudis and Gulf

States - are, by and large, Islamists who don't seem to use words like

'tolerance' and 'diversity'.

However bad we might consider Assad and the Russians, I know who I

would rather have as my allies.

ANDY BROWN, by email.

«However bad we might consider Assad and the Russians, I know who I would rather have as my allies»

 

Յարգարժան այրիշներ՝ Փելթեքեան եւ editor,

Who asked you to consider or not?

Երբ Ասադի մասին կը գրէք, պիտի գրէք the president of Syria, որ իմ նման միլիոններու ընտրածն է։ Ձեր կերած քաքը՝ ամէն գնով Ասադը հեռացնելու պահանջը, մեզ այսօրին հասցուց։

[MosJan]

https://www.facebook.com/halagoraniCNN/videos/1267724106577208/

[Yervant1]

«However bad we might consider Assad and the Russians, I know who I would rather have as my allies»

 

Յարգարժան այրիշներ՝ Փելթեքեան եւ editor,

Who asked you to consider or not?

Երբ Ասադի մասին կը գրէք, պիտի գրէք the president of Syria, որ իմ նման միլիոններու ընտրածն է։ Ձեր կերած քաքը՝ ամէն գնով Ասադը հեռացնելու պահանջը, մեզ այսօրին հասցուց։

Johannes it's not Peltekian who wrote this. It's ANDY BROWN who sent a letter (e-mail) in response of a news article in Irish Daily Mail. Andy Brown is showing the hypocrisy of the article and Ms. Peltekian just posted the e-mail on Groong.com

[Yervant1]

RUSSIAN TV CREW FILMS TURKISH FORTIFICATIONS, TANKS ON SYRIAN BORDER (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Published time: 29 Feb, 2016 02:02

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__on.rt.com_75nb&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=te9DAGi3a98yVGeE0d8Iq1VjeOheQCA4tG49FvWvkZ0&s=ZCuUQ4JiXelPxOvHmCZCCtD4UqH_Pp4cQ-f4EJ2jsuY&e=

© Murad Sezer / Reuters
5743
A Russian TV crew has managed to obtain video proof of Turkey's
increased military presence on the Syrian border, as it filmed
fortifications and tanks on the frontier.

The lodgments are heavily fortified by tanks and self-propelled guns,
REN-TV crew reported from the scene.

Shells and other ammunition are being delivered to the Turkish
positions, which are shelling Kurdish forces in Syrian territory,
according to the report.

"The barrels of the tanks and self-propelled guns are pointed in
the direction of the mainly Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane," the
journalist said.

There were at least six or seven tanks in the area and the Turkish
forces on the border can be deployed in Syria "in an instant,"
according to REN-TV.

Read more Reports of Syrian town attacked by militants coming from
Turkey - Russian military

Meanwhile, the area appeared to be very active, as Turkey continued
to transport various supplies to the border.

The REN-TV journalists spoke to the mostly Kurdish locals, who openly
accused Turkey of being "friends" with the Islamic State fighters
that had earlier raided nearby houses. The extremist fighters took the
most expensive things from the homes, including "money and jewelry,"
they said.

The residents also provided evidence proving that various military
crimes had taken place and described how Turkey and Islamic State
forces had opened fire on locals trying to flee the area - and then
stolen their cars.

"There were 30 cars moving towards the border when Turkish military
and Daesh fighters opened fire on the vehicles, a lot of them caught
fire. Terrorists ended up taking the vehicles that could still drive,"
resident Beker Ramadon told REN-TV.

Moreover, in the city of Jarabulus, which is located in the north of
Syria near the Turkish border, residents told the journalists that
local houses are being destroyed by Turkish tanks.

"Turkish tanks fired at and destroyed a house five days ago," a
Kurdish fighter said, pointing to the rubble.

The REN-TV reporters tried to determine where the fire had come from
and noticed a couple of hidden tanks in the pictures they had taken
from the crime scene.

During the first night of the Syrian ceasefire, more than 200 Islamic
State fighters crossed the Turkish border into Syria and another
100 came up from the Syrian city of Raqqa before joining forces near
Kurdistan, the Russian center for reconciliation said in a report.

READ MORE: 9 violations of Syrian ceasefire in 24 hours - Russian
monitors

The journalists said the fighting had intensified quickly after that,
adding that if not for the brave efforts of the Kurdish forces in
Syria, the city could have been easily overrun by the terrorists.

There have also been reports of a heavy artillery attack on the
Kurdish town of Tel Abyad in northern Syria near Kurdistan. However,
Turkish military sources denied to Hurriyet that its forces had been
involved in any cross-border shelling.

The much-anticipated Syrian ceasefire was brokered by leading world
powers, including the US and Russia. It aims to pave the way to
reconciliation between the Syrian government and "moderate" rebel
forces, which would together agree on a peaceful political transition
for the country.

The terrorist groups in Syria, such as Islamic State and Nusra Front,
are excluded from the ceasefire, which took effect at midnight on
February 27.

In an interview earlier this week, Turkey's Prime Minister, Ahmet
Davutoglu denied that Turkey had any intent to invade Syria. According
to the PM, it was unlikely that such a move would be supported by its
Arab allies, which have already criticized Ankara for sending troops
into northern Iraq.

At the same time, Davutoglu told CNN Turk that the Syrian ceasefire
plan will not be considered binding if it threatens Turkey's security,
adding that Ankara will continue to fight the Syrian Kurds and ISIS,
taking all the "necessary measures."

In an Al-Jazeera interview this week, Davutoglu also admitted that
Ankara was, in fact, supporting armed groups in Syria.

"How would they be able to defend themselves if there was no Turkish
support for the Syrian people? ... If there's a real moderate Syrian
opposition today, it's because of Turkish support. If the [Assad]
regime isn't able to control all the territories today, [it's]
because of Turkish and some other countries' support," he said.

[Yervant1]

ARMENIANS TO RUN FOR SEATS IN SYRIAN PARLIAMENT

13:27, 2 March, 2016

YEREVAN, MARCH 2, ARMENPRESS. Deadline for nominating candidates for
parliamentary elections in Syria comes to end. The commissions of all
provinces concluded the process of nomination by March 1. "Armenpress"
reports, citing the Facebook page of Perio News, the Syrian electoral
commission announced that 8 thousand and 681 candidates from provinces,
including Armenians, have been nominated by March 1.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad scheduled April 13 for holding
elections. Elections will be conducted in 15 polling districts for
250 seats. MPs are elected directly, confidentially and by 4-year term.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__armenpress.am_eng_news_838020_armenians-2Dto-2Drun-2Dfor-2Dseats-2Din-2Dsyrian-2Dparliament.html&d=CwIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=aCFO9RrM9SwDTQthU_lkDAv4LTJmQJ2sr_05CgkfRv4&s=g-OWyDcmnKZFgHqMyorQmaz8bgAlvqbnw8ov5lwiIi4&e=

[Yervant1]

MP: TURKEY USING CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST IRAQI KURDS IN BORDERING AREAS

Mon Mar 07, 2016 12:46

TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Kurdish member of the Iraqi parliament revealed
that Turkey is using chemical weapons against the Kurdish residents
of bordering villages under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

"The Turkish government is practicing genocide against the Kurds and
has killed and wounded over 500 Kurd citizens so far," Mahmoud Reza
said in a statement on Monday.

"Turkey is attempting to weaken the Kurds and make them surrender to
the Turkish ruling system's megalomania," he added.

Reza expressed deep concern about the Turkish government's using
chemical weapons against the residents of Kurdish villages located
in Iraq-Turkey bordering areas.

In relevant remarks on Sunday, a representative of the Kurdish Peoples'
Democratic Party to the United States said Turkish security forces
have killed 137 Kurds in Cizre over the past week.

At least 137 Kurds were killed in Cizre town over the past week as
part of the continuous crackdown on the Kurds in the country, Mehmet
Yuksel told Sputnik.

"In Cizre over the last week they killed 137 people," Yuksel said.

One of the victims was Rohat Aktas, a young journalist who worked
for the oldest Kurdish newspaper, he said.

According to Yuksel, Sur, a downtown district of Diyarbakir, the
largest city of the Kurdish-populated southeast of Turkey, is now
facing same atrocities.

"These were all Kurdish people, all civilians. They were all burned
alive... Right now we are facing the same situation in Sur. Over 200
civilians were killed there. The situation is getting tougher day by
day," Yuksel said.

Diyarbakir is considered to be an unofficial capital of the Turkish
Kurds. In recent months it has seen a number of attacks by Ankara
as part of the security forces' operation against Kurdish fighters
allegedly linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Security
forces are enforcing a curfew in the city and, according to Yuksel,
set buildings on fire.

"The situation in Diyarbakir is tightly connected to the Syrian issue.

In Syria Kurds gained more territories and rights, and Turkey is
afraid that in Turkey they will ask for the same.... We are asking
for decentralization in Turkey and some kind of local autonomy for
the Kurds. Turkey does not want to accept that," Yuksel said.

The central Sur district of Diyarbakir, which houses historic monuments
dating back to 400 BC, has been the site of confrontations between
the Kurdish activists and Ankara forces.

According to the Turkish General Staff, over 1,000 Kurdish militants
have been killed since mid-December. Kurdish activists, in their turn,
argue that most of the dead were civilian victims.

According to Yuksel, the most recent attacks carried out by Ankara
against the Kurds took place in Diyarbakir and Cizre, where at least
137 people have been killed over the past week.

Turkey's Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party is an alliance of several
pro-Kurdish movements, founded in 2012, which places strong emphasis
on minority rights.

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[Yervant1]

Al-Nusra militants in Syria shell Turkey to prompt return fire `
Russian military

Published time: 6 Mar, 2016 18:28

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© Rodi Said / Reuters
Jihadists in Syria have been shelling the Turkish area in an apparent
attempt to provoke a response that could lead to Ankara sending troops
into the neighboring country, according to Russia's truce center in
Syria.

`On March 6, 2016 several militants of Jabhat Al-Nusra terror group
repeatedly fired mortars at Turkish territory from the area near the
Syrian settlement of Metishli,' Lieutenant General Sergey Kuralenko,
Head of the Center for Reconciliation, said on Sunday.

`The actions of militants are aimed at provoking the Turkish military
units to return fire and bring their troops into Syria, which will
inevitably lead to the disruption of the peace process,' Kuralenko
added.

He also stated that several Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)
armed groups are stationed near the settlement Nusaybin in Turkey,
some 1.5km from the Syrian border.

According to the information the Center has, these groups are
preparing an attack on the settlement of Qamischli, located on the
Syrian territory and populated mainly by Syrian Kurds.

The official also spoke about terrorists' attempts to demonize the
Syrian army and blame it for violations of the ceasefire.

`Staged clashes between two armed groups were filmed by terrorists
near Narb-Nafsa settlement in Hama province. To add feasibility to
what was happening the militants used real firearms, Molotov cocktails
and a variety of simulation tools. They plan to use the footage of the
so-called `armed conflict' will be used to accuse the Syrian army of
violating the agreement of the cessation of hostilities.'

Read more
Syrian ceasefire holds, paves way to transition ` Putin, European leaders

According to the official press release of the Russian Reconciliation
Centre on March 6, the center continues receiving ceasefire
applications, as well as appeals for participating in the discussion
of the new Syrian Constitution from representatives of opposition
forces.

`In the course of the past 24 hours, preliminary agreements with
elders of six towns located in the Damascus province have been
achieved. The total number of towns, which joined the ceasefire
agreements, remains 42. Thirty ceasefire application forms have been
signed with leaders of armed groupings.'

However, it also states that the situation on the ground remains
unstable, with 15 ceasefire violations have been registered in the
course of last 24 hours and four civilians injured in attacks on
inhabited areas and units of government troops in Damascus.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reports that in order to debar
the ceasefire, IS militants have launched a headhunt to capture elders
and administration leaders of Syrian towns, as well as field
commanders of the `moderate' opposition, who had signed ceasefire
agreements. The Russian Centre for Reconciliation says it will assist
in providing security to these persons.

The release stresses that both Russian Aerospace and Syrian Air Forces
did not strike any armed formations, which have been following the
ceasefire agreement and have informed the Russian or American centers
for reconciliation about their location.

[Yervant1]

BBC FOCUS ON ARMENIAN CHURCH DESTROYED BY ISLAMIC STATE

[ Part 2.2: "Attached Text" ]

ChristianToday
March 10 2015

Ruth Gledhill

Its architecture speaks of Christian history going back many centuries.

The church, in Aleppo, Syria, was built to commemorate those martyred
in the 1915 Armenian genocide. It contained a shrine made of the bones
of some of the slaughtered. The church was only consecrated in 1991.

Just 23 years later, in 2014, it was blown up by Islamic State.

Now it features on the BBC's Museum of Lost Objects series that traces
stories of sites looted or destroyed in Iraq and Syria.

British-Armenian writer Nouritza Matossian, whose family was caught
up in the persecution of the Armenians, told the BBC how she felt
on seeing the desert shrine for the first time when she visited the
church in 2001.

"I was so shocked. I just stood and looked at the bones. Everybody
was hushed, it was silent in there. We were all lost in our thoughts.

It was really quite an isolated moment. It wasn't pulling at you to
cry or weep. It was just very simple and dignified and noble."

She said her people had been driven across the deserts starving,
without water, stripped naked, their clothes torn off their backs.

Heghnar Watenpaugh, Lebanese-Armenian historian at the University of
California, said: "Deir al-Zour was the end of the road, it was the
last Ottoman outpost into the desert in the eastern part of Syria.

Beyond that there's really nothing, no settlements. Very few people
made it there, and once they made it they were killed outright,
or just succumbed to disease and starvation."

Turkey has always denied that the massacre of the Armenians was
genocide.

Matossian was shocked that it had been destroyed so soon in its life.

"It's a very dark moment in our life, in our history. I never thought
this could be repeated," she said.

She still owns a small box containing a tiny cross she bought at
the shrine.

"The priest told me that that is the earth of Deir al-Zour. Some
people take earth from where they're born and they spread it on their
grave when they die. This soil has that significance. I always keep
this box within eyesight, on my desk. I never expected that one
day I would be looking at this box and that church would be gone,
destroyed. It's very hard to accept."

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.christiantoday.com_article_bbc.focus.on.amenian.church.destroyed&d=CwIBAg&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=ieAWZOZagu4BkCYjnZG5P1Y_5e_9vJm_-R--6xm0p4U&s=n4zXLP5VYNxLo3aFpXYvhv2gs4DxWSh5kWerQoJ7q7w&e= .

by.islamic.state/81619.htm

[Yervant1]

WHY IS DAVID CAMERON SO SILENT ON THE RECAPTURE OF PALMYRA FROM THE CLUTCHES OF ISIS?

In the end, it was the Syrian army - and its Hizballah chums from
Lebanon, and the Iranians, and the Russians - who drove the Isis
murderers out of Palmyra

Robert Fisk @indyvoices Sunday 27 March 2016

Palmyra's historic monumental arch. Bernard Gagnon

The biggest military defeat that Isis has suffered in more than
two years. The recapture of Palmyra, the Roman city of the Empress
Zenobia. And we are silent. Yes, folks, the bad guys won, didn't they?

Otherwise, we would all be celebrating, wouldn't we?

Less than a week after the lost souls of the 'Islamic Caliphate'
destroyed the lives of more than 30 innocent human beings in Brussels,
we should - should we not? - have been clapping our hands at the most
crushing military reverse in the history of Isis. But no. As the black
masters of execution fled Palmyra this weekend, Messers Obama and
Cameron were as silent as the grave to which Isis have dispatched so
many of their victims. He who lowered our national flag in honour of
the head-chopping king of Arabia (I'm talking about Dave, of course)
said not a word.

As my long-dead colleague on the Sunday Express, John Gordon, used
to say, makes you sit up a bit, doesn't it? Here are the Syrian army,
backed, of course, by Vladimir Putin's Russkies, chucking the clowns of
Isis out of town, and we daren't utter a single word to say well done.

Syria: Government forces demine Palmyra after retaking the ancient
city from Isis

When Palmyra fell last year, we predicted the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

We ignored, were silent on, the Syrian army's big question: why,
if the Americans hated Isis so much, didn't they bomb the suicide
convoys that broke through the Syrian army's front lines? Why didn't
they attack Isis?

READ MORE

The US must recognise the Armenian genocide

"If the Americans wanted to destroy Isis, why didn't they bomb
them when they saw them?" a Syrian army general asked me, after his
soldiers' defeat His son had been killed defending Homs. His men had
been captured and head-chopped in the Roman ruins. The Syrian official
in charge of the Roman ruins (of which we cared so much, remember?)
was himself beheaded. Isis even put his spectacles back on top of
his decapitated head, for fun. And we were silent then.

Inside Isis secret tunnels

Putin noticed this, and talked about it, and accurately predicted the
retaking of Palmyra. His aircraft attacked Isis - as US planes did not
- in advance of the Syrian army's conquest. I could not help but smile
when I read that the US command claimed two air strikes against Isis
around Palmyra in the days leading up to its recapture by the regime.

That really did tell you all you needed to know about the American
"war on terror". They wanted to destroy Isis, but not that much.

How the West got it wrong as the Syrian civil war developed

So in the end, it was the Syrian army and its Hizballah chums
from Lebanon and the Iranians and the Russians who drove the Isis
murderers out of Palmyra, and who may - heavens preserve us from such
a success - even storm the Isis Syrian 'capital' of Raqqa. I have
written many times that the Syrian army will decide the future of
Syria. If they grab back Raqqa - and Deir el-Zour, where the Nusrah
front destroyed the church of the Armenian genocide and threw the
bones of the long-dead 1915 Christian victims into the streets -
I promise you we will be silent again.

Aren't we supposed to be destroying Isis? Forget it. That's Putin's
job. And Assad's. Pray for peace, folks. That's what it's about,
isn't it? And Geneva. Where is that, exactly?

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[Yervant1]

Turkey is key supplier of weapons, military hardware to ISIS - Russian envoy to UN

Published time: 1 Apr, 2016 14:25Edited time: 1 Apr, 2016 15:31

http://www.groong.com/news/attachments/msg568305/pngr4VVfQV8Qo.png

http://on.rt.com/78ty

© Denis Sinyakov / Reuters

Moscow has submitted data on Turkey’s illegal arms and military hardware supply to Islamic State in Syria to the UN Security Council. Supplies are supervised by the Turkish intelligence service, Russian UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said as cited by Russian media.

"The main supplier of weapons and military equipment to ISIL fighters is Turkey, which is doing so through non-governmental organizations. Work in this area is overseen by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey," Churkin wrote.

According to the envoy, transportation "mainly involves vehicles, including as part of humanitarian aid convoys."

Terrorist groups operating in Syria received explosive materials worth $ 1.9 million via Turkey last year, according to the letter.

In total, the terrorists were delivered 2.5 thousand tons of ammonium nitrate (worth around $788,700), 456 tons of potassium nitrate ($468,700), 75 tons of aluminum powder ($496,500), sodium nitrate ($19,400), glycerin ($102,500) and nitric acid ($34,000 thousand) via Turkey in 2015, Churkin wrote.