PHOTO: President Assad “Transitional government is illogical and unconstitutional”
LATEST
- Jaish al-Islam Rebels Drop Leaflets over Damascus
- Erdoğan: West Must Reject Syrian Kurdish “Terrorists”
- Syrian Currency Continues Steep Fall, Now 520:1 v. US Dollar
- Turkey: We Are Prepared to Shell Advancing Kurdish YPG Militia in Aleppo Province
- Regime Exchanges 6 Prisoners for 2 Captured Sergeants
THURSDAY FEATURES
Defying Ceasefire, Regime Bombs Near Damascus
Report: Russia Encouraged Jihadists to Join Conflict in 2014
Bolstered by the intervention of Russia, Iran, and foreign militias, President Assad has rejected the central element of political negotiations seeking a resolution to Syria’s five-year conflict.
In an interview with Russian State media, published on Thursday, Assad dismissed the transitional governing authority that has been pursued since 2012.
There is nothing, neither in the Syrian constitution nor in any other constitution in the world, called a transitional body. This is illogical and unconstitutional. What are the authorities of this body? How shall it run the daily affairs of the population? Who oversees its performance?
Assad offered a “National Unity Government” to be established from “opposition, independents, the present government, and others”.
However, the President did not define how this government would be established and dismissed any immediate negotiations with an “opposition”, notably the opposition-rebel bloc established in December at a conference in Saudi Arabia.
The West, or some countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, want to reduce all the other side to the Riyadh opposition, which includes terrorists. So, there should be a single image for the opposition. This doesn’t exist.
Then [when it exists], we negotiate with them over a constitution.
Assad also rejected a resolution based on federalism, proposed by his ally Russia last month and put forward by a conference led by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) two weeks ago.
Most Kurds want to live in a unified Syria, under a central system, not in a federal system, in the political sense. So, we shouldn’t confuse some of the Kurds who want a federal system, on the one hand, with all the Kurds on the other….
The idea of federalism is not a general proposition in Syria; and I don’t believe that if it was put to the vote, will be endorsed by the Syrian people.
The opposition-rebel High Negotiations Committee rebuffed Assad’s comments, standing on the requirement of a transitional body with full powers, in which Assad would have no role.
“What Bashar al-Assad is talking about has no relation to the political process,” said the HNC’s George Sabra.
The Obama Administration supported the opposition’s line. “I don’t know whether he envisioned himself being a part of that national unity government. Obviously that would be a nonstarter for us,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
The proposal for a “transitional governing authority” was first established at a June 2012 conference in Geneva, including representatives of the US, Russia, China, Britain, and the UN. It has remained at the center of plans discussed at subsequent conferences.
However, the Assad regime has refused any negotiations at the latest Geneva talks, which were adjourned last Thursday after 10 days, which include the departure of the President. Officials and diplomats have said that the regime’s counter-proposal of “basic elements” of a resolution are “bland” and “vague”.
Despite this, President Assad insisted in his interview, “These are not difficult questions.”
The Geneva talks, brokered by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, are scheduled to resume on April 11.
Russia Backs Assad’s Rejection of Talks With Opposition-Rebel Bloc
Russia’s Foreign Ministry supported Assad’s refusal of talks with the opposition-rebel bloc.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov specifically denied the legitimacy of the rebel faction Jaish al-Islam, whose commander Mohammad Alloush is the lead negotiator for the opposition-rebel bloc:
From the very beginning, Russia opposed inclusion of the representatives [of Jaysh al-Islam] in the opposition delegation… They were included in the delegation in personal capacity… We will only welcome, if they do not participate in the negotiations.
Jaish al-Islam Rebels Drop Leaflets over Damascus
The rebel faction Jaish al-Islam has dropped leaflets over Damascus, calling on people to move away from the Assad regime and work with the opposition.
Using drones, Jaish al-Islam sent messages such as “Don’t let the butcher send your sons to death”; “Soon, welcome to freed Damascus”; “We will protect you and give you back your rights”; and “Hold on and wait for us we are coming to free you”.
The leaflets were dropped as regime warplanes bombed opposition-held Damascus suburbs on Wednesday and Thursday, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens. The Syrian military has also dropped its own leaflets on the areas, calling on residents to “reconcile” with the regime.
See Syria Feature: Defying Ceasefire, Regime Bombs Near Damascus
Erdoğan: West Must Reject Syrian Kurdish “Terrorists”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has used an appearance in the US to call on the “West” to distance itself from the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its YPG militia.
Speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, Erdoğan said the West must reject the idea that “YPG are good terrorists just because they fight Daesh [the Islamic State]”.
The President repeated Ankara’s line that the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK, which has waged an armed campaign for more than 30 years, leads the PYD.
He told the audience, “Just because the YPG is fighting with Daesh, does not mean that they are good. Jabhat al-Nusra and Al-Qa’eda also fight with Daesh — does it mean that they are good, too?”
Erdoğan’s speech came a day after his Government, through a media outlet, chided the US for airstrikes supporting the advance of a Kurdish-led force in northern Syria. The Turkish military threatened to shell the YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces if they moved closer to the Syrian-Turkish border, west of the Euphrates River.
See Turkey: We Are Prepared to Shell Advancing Kurdish YPG Militia in Aleppo Province
Syrian Currency Continues Steep Fall, Now 520:1 v. US Dollar
The Syrian pound has continued its steep fall, losing 8% in value against the US dollar in the past 12 days.
The Syrian pound is now 520:1 v. the dollar, having sunk as low as 550:1 before a limited recovery.
See also Syria Feature: How Low Can the Currency Go?
The pound is now less than 10% of its value of 47:1 in March 2011, the start of the Syrian uprising.
Regime Exchanges 6 Prisoners for 2 Captured Sergeants
The Assad regime freed five female detainees and one male prisoners on Wednesday, in return for the release of two sergeants captured by the Free Syrian Army in late 2012.
The freed detainees are now with their families, according to a rebel statement.
A local activist said this was the first time that the regime had exchanged prisoners for its captured soldiers.
The pro-regime Al-Masdar News mentions the release of the sergeants, who served in Daraa Province in southern Syria, but says nothing about the exchange for detainees.
Turkey: We Are Prepared to Shell Advancing Kurdish YPG Militia in Aleppo Province
The Turkish military has said that it is prepared to fire artillery on the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG if it seizes territory in northern Aleppo Province.
The officials said they would shell YPG forces if they advanced between the border towns of Azaz and Jarablus.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US since its formation last October, have advanced against the Islamic State throughout northeast Syria. As the SDF neared the Euphrates, Turkey warned of a “red line” against any advance further west.
Ankara argues that the Syrian Kurdistan Democratic Party (PYD) and its YPG militia, the leading factions in the SDF, are actually led by the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK.
The Turkish Government and Syrian rebels have warned that the PYD will try to link the Afrin canton in northwest Syria with the Kobane and Cezire cantons in the northeast. The YPG raised those concerns last month by seizing rebel territory in the northwest between Afrin and the border town of Azaz.
The Turkish military responded to YPG attacks on Azaz with shelling to deter any further advance.
“The required response would be given from inside Turkey without entering Syrian territory,” the sources said on Wednesday. Turkish forces would again attack with South Korean-designed T-155 Fırtına howitzers.
Earlier, a pro-government newspaper in Turkey denounced US airstrikes supporting the Kurdish-led offensive against the Islamic State in Aleppo Province.
Citing local sources via the Anadolu News Agency, the Daily Sabah newspaper claimed 25 airstrikes in and near the town of Manbij since Monday.
Manbij is about 40 km (25 miles) south of the Turkish border and west of the Euphrates River. It has been occupied by ISIS since January 2014, when the jihadists defeated rebel factions.
Daily Sabah goes further today by accusing the PYD and YPG of joint operations with the Assad regime:
Local sources [said]…regime forces may also be preparing for an attack in the region, and both the PYD and regime forces may stage attacks on multiple fronts against Daesh [Islamic State].
The cooperation between the PYD and regime is apparent in the northeastern province on Hasakah, where the regime’s public institutions continue to operate and collect taxes in the region co-controlled by the regime and PYD.
Regime and PYD forces also have a joint operation room for planned advances on the Azaz-Jarablus line in northwestern Afrin district controlled by the PYD. The two groups have also expressed their intent to advance in Daesh-held city of Deir el-Zor from Hasakah.
Defying Ceasefire, Regime Bombs Near Damascus
Defying the February 27 “cessation of hostilities”, regime warplanes are continuing strikes near Damascus.
Supporting an attempt by ground forces to take territory northeast of the capital, jet fighters and helicopters attacked both the al-Marj area and the town of Douma.
Now see Syria Feature: Defying Ceasefire, Regime Bombs Near Damascus
