PHOTO: Displaced Syrians gathering at the Turkish border on Wednesday night
LATEST
- Video: Rebels Claim Killing of 50 Regime Troops in East Ghouta
- Jaish al-Islam Commander Buwaydani Gives 1st Interview
- As Iranians Fight in Syria, Iranian Commander Says “No Need to Send Foreign Troops”
- Turkey PM Erdoğan: US Must Choose Ankara or Kurdish “Terrorists” in Syria
- Kerry: “Syrian Talks Have Not Failed”
- Video: Kafranbel to UN — Stop the Bombing and Sieges
SUNDAY FEATURE
Kerry — “Go and Blame Your Opposition” for Russia’s Bombing
Tens of thousands of displaced people remain trapped in northern Syria on the Turkish border, amid the regime-Russian-Hezbollah-Iranian offensive in Aleppo Province.
About 50,000 civilians have gathered at the border crossing near the town of Azaz, across from Kilis in southeastern Turkey.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu maintained on Saturday that his country would keep its “open border policy” for the refugees, asserting that 5,000 have been allowed into Turkey.
“Another 50,000 to 55,000 are on their way and we cannot leave them there,” he said in Amsterdam after talking to European Union counterparts.
The Governor of Kilis Province said the displaced people were being sheltered in camps — some of them quickly established by Turkish aid agencies — on the Syrian side of the border.
Suleyman Tapsiz told reporters that another 70,000 Syrians could be expected if Russian airstrikes and the Aleppo offensive.
“Our doors are not closed, but at the moment there is no need to host such people inside our borders,” Tapsiz said.
The European Union’s head of foreign policy, Federica Mogherini, said, “We discussed this with our Turkish colleague remembering the fact that there is first a moral if not a legal duty…to protect those in need of international protection.”
Displaced Syrians in one of the tents set up on the border:
Turkey hosts most than 2 million Syrian refugees. It had closed border crossings in recent months amid American pressure to prevent the flow of fighters, and Ankara’s declaration of security concerns following a series of bombings by the Islamic State.
More than 55 thousand Syrians are now living in IHH's camps on the Turkish-Syrian border. pic.twitter.com/DeaFs5HgLn
— Humanitarian Relief (@IHHen) February 6, 2016
Refugees Soar with Offensive and Sealed Jordan Border
The offensive north of Aleppo city has been made possible by intense Russian bombing, which has killed hundreds of civilians, and by Iranian troops, Hezbollah units, and foreign militias alongside the Syrian Army.
Last week the advance reached the regime enclaves of Nubl and al-Zahraa and took a series of nearby villages. It is hoping to cut off the rebel supply route between the Turkish border and Aleppo city, divided since July 2012.
Meanwhile, 20,000 displaced civilians remain trapped in southern Syria on the Jordanian border. Jordan’s King Hussein said last week that the country, which has more than 660,000 registered Syrian refugees, is at “boiling point” and cannot take in more people without international assistance.
Video: Rebels Claim Killing of 50 Regime Troops in East Ghouta
Footage of a firefight in the East Ghouta area near Damascus, in which rebels claim the killing of 50 regime troops:
The regime forces attacked from the Brigade 39 base, southwest of Adra and north of Damascus.
Image of some of the regime casualties:
Issam al-Buwaydani, who became commander of the leading rebel faction Jaish al-Islam in December, has given his first interview.
Buwaydani told Syria Revolution News that he is “fighting for the sake of my nation and to bring an end to the oppression and establish justice”, promising the Syrian people “to preserve and remain true to the principles that we are fighting for”.
Buwaydani succeeded Zahran Alloush, who was killed by an airstrike on December 25.
The commander declared:
We will remain true to the covenant we made with our people and will continue upon the road of Sheikh Aloush and will not depart from our moderate approach. We are committed to defending our people and bringing down the regime. We will continue this struggle until we see an end to the occupying forces. We will also continue to counter extremism and aid our people in achieving the goals for which they sacrificed everything in the past five years.
He denied accusations that Jaish al-Islam has carried out unjust detentions. Responding to a question about democracy and a civil state, he replied, “We hope to see the creation of a regime that guarantees the rights of all Syrians, establishes justice, and removes oppression.”
As Iranians Fight in Syria, Iranian Commander Says “No Need to Send Foreign Troops”
As Iranian troops and Iranian-led foreign militias fight in the Syrian civil war, the Deputy Commander of the Revolutionary Guards has said, “There is no need to send forces to Syria.”
Brigadier General Hossein Salami declared on Saturday, “The good news is that Syria is in good conditions and it is getting even better day by day….Those already there are more than enough to battle the terrorist outfits.”
However, Salami appeared to be contradicted by the Guards commander, General Mohammad Ali Jafari. Speaking at the funerals of Iranian troops, Jafari praised their enthusiasm for devoting their lives for Islam in which “they compete for deployment to Syria”.
Iran, which has provided military support for the Assad regime since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, stepped up its involvement last autumn as Russia began bombing in support of ground offensives.
Working with Lebanon’s Hezbollah as well as the Syrian army, the Islamic Republic sent more commanders and troops and oversaw Iraqi, Afghan, and Pakistani militias.
Iranian media have confirmed the deaths of almost 170 Iranian fighters, including at least 10 commanders, since October 7.
See also Iran Daily, Feb 4: 12 Iranian Troops, Including General, Killed in Syria in 2 Days
Turkey PM Erdoğan: US Must Choose Ankara or Kurdish “Terrorists” in Syria
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned the US that it must decided whether it wants a partnership with Ankara or with Kurdish “terrorists” in Syria.
Returning from trip to Latin America, Erdoğan told journalists that Turkey seek recognition of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) as a “terrorist group”.
Turkey maintains that the PYD — whose YPG militia have advanced against the Islamic State in northern Syria and are now challenging rebels in the northwest — are led by the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, which is officially designated as a “terrorist organization” by Washington.
The President pressed the US to lift its objection to a safe zone along the Turkish border, as the regime-Russian-Iranian-Hezbollah offensive in northern Aleppo Province displaced up to 70,000 Syrians.
“Turkey is under threat. If these people are at our border and have no other option, we’ll have to allow them in,” he said and countered Moscow’s claims that Turkish forces are preparing to invade northern Syria.
It is Russia that needs to explain why it is there and cooperating with the murderer of 400,000 people. Turkey has a 911-kilometer border with Syria and will definitely take the necessary precautions. That’s what it is, while Russia is on the offensive. We need to be ready to defend ourselves.”
Kerry: “Syrian Talks Have Not Failed”
US Secretary of State John Kerry has insisted that political talks to end the six-year conflict have not failed, despite the collapse of discussions in Geneva last week.
Kerry said on Saturday that the effort for “proximity talks” between the Assad regime and the opposition-rebel bloc were merely “interrupted while modalities of humanitarian access and a potential ceasefire were worked out”.
See also Syria Feature: Kerry — “Go and Blame Your Opposition” for Russia’s Bombing
UN envoy Staffan de Mistura suspended the discussions on Wednesday, less than five days after formally opening the conference. The talks were undermined by Russian bombing for the regime-Hezbollah-Iranian offensive in northern Aleppo Province, with the opposition-rebel bloc saying no negotiations could be held without an end to the bombardment and a focus on aid for besieged areas.
See Syria Daily, Feb 6: Kerry — “Russia and Iran Told Me They Want A Ceasefire”
Syria Daily, Feb 4: “Peace Talks” Collapse Before They Begin
Kerry pointed to Thursday’s meeting in Munich of the 20-nation International Syria Support Group:
We’ll know in the next few days who is serious & who is not. That has always been the intention of the diplomatic process. If it’s an effort simply to game the process, then it will not end. The war will not end under those circumstances.
He claimed that he had sent a pointed message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
#SecKerry: I said to Putin, "if all you’re trying to do is leave Asad in place, the war won't end & there will be more terrorists created.”
— U.S. Embassy Syria (@USEmbassySyria) February 7, 2016
Video: Kafranbel to UN — Stop the Bombing and Sieges
The protesters of Kafranbel in northwest Syria challenge UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and the head of humanitarian operations Stephen O’Brien over the failure to halt Russian bombing and the Syrian military’s sieges:
As De Mistura’s effort for political talks has collapsed, Syrian activists inside and outside the country have criticized the UN for complicity in the sieges that have threatened ten thousands of Syrians with starvation.
See Syria Feature: People Are Still Starving to Death in Madaya
Syria Letter: 112 Syrian Activists to UN — “You Are Helping Assad with Sieges”
