PHOTO: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stand with the black box from a Russian warplane downed by Turkey

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Analysis: Allying with Assad v. ISIS is a Moral and Practical Mistake

UPDATE 1900 GMT: Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said that Turkey is prepared to work with Russia to prevent a repeat of the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish jets on November 24.

“We are ready to work with Russia to prevent similar incidents in the aftermath of the downing of the Russian jet,” Davutoğlu told foreign journalists in Istanbul.

However, the Prime Minister condemned Russia’s bombing of opposition-held territory in northwest Syria, describing the targeting of groups from the Turkmen community as “ethnic cleansing”.

“Russia is trying to create a safe zone for itself by isolating the Turkmen and Sunni population from Latakia [Province] and also trying to safeguard the Russian and Syrian bases,” he said.

Davutoğlu added that the Russian bombing of the Azaz region in Aleppo Province only served the Islamic State by cutting the supply lines of rebel groups fighting ISIS.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia launched more fronts in its campaign against Turkey on Tuesday, warning it against “reckless actions” in Syria and saying it will challenge the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq.

The display included a joint appearance by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in front of the black box from the Russian Su-24 strike aircraft downed by two Turkish jets near the Turkish-Syrian border on November 24.

“I ask you not to open it for the time being,” Putin told Shoigu at a meeting. “Open it only together with foreign experts, carefully determine everything.”

Shoigu insisted that the territory where the Russian warplane was shot down had been “liberated” by Syrian special forces. However, the Turkish military says its jets fired during a 17-second interval when the Su-24 was over Turkey’s airspace, following 10 warnings in five minutes as it approached the border.

Putin said an analysis of the black box would help determine the Su-24’s flight path and position, which Ankara and Moscow have furiously disagreed upon.

But the Prime Minister indicated that the findings would not matter:

Whatever we learn won’t change our attitude to what the Turkish authorities did.

We used to treat Turkey not only as our friend but also as an ally in the fight against terrorism, and nobody expected this low, treacherous stab in the back.

Putin and Shoigu also used the occasion to announce that Russia launched its first cruise missiles from a submarine in the Mediterranean.

The Defense Minister said the Kalibr missiles launched by the Rostov-on-Don submarine hit targets in the Islamic State’s center of Raqqa.

Putin said the new cruise missile can be equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads, adding his hope that the latter “will never be needed”.

Russia Challenges Turkey at UN

At the UN, Russian Vitaly Churkin linked the Syrian crisis to a warning to Turkey over the deployment of hundreds of troops, following an agreement with the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, at a base in northern Iraq near the Islamic State’s center of Mosul.

See Turkey Feature: Ankara — We Will Not Remove Troops from Iraq

Churkin said he hoped concern “will cool down the hot minds in Ankara and that they will settle the situation in Iraq the way it will satisfy the Iraqi government”.

The Ambassador then condemned the US-led coalition carrying out airstrikes in Syria as “not fully legal”, since the Assad regime has not consented to its operations.

Moscow Steps Back from New York Conference

Churkin also indicated that a third international conference on the Syrian crisis will be delayed, with Moscow objecting to it taking place in “the hectic atmosphere” of New York.

The Ambassador said any gathering should be in Vienna, the site of the first two meetings in October and November.

The 2nd session on November 14 issued a nine-point proposal for an 18-month transition including ceasefires, a new Constitution, and elections. It made no reference to the future of President Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran.

Churkin indicated that the delay was also due to Moscow’s disagreements with the list of opposition and rebel groups who are “acceptable” for negotiations with the Assad regime. Russia wants more of those groups labelled as “terrorist”.

Video: Free Syrian Army Claims Large Bomb on Regime Area in Aleppo

The Free Syrian Army has claimed the explosion of a large bomb on Monday on the regime area of Khalidiya in Aleppo city:

Rebels celebrate:

Video: Rebels Leave Homs Under Ceasefire Agreement

Seventeen buses take away rebel fighters, their families, and the injured from the al-Wa’er section of Homs under a ceasefire agreement:

Hala Jaber of The Times of London says 100 unarmed fighters and 447 family members were among those who departed. Another 172 fighters left with their personal weapons, and 20 wounded were evacuated.

The BBC’s Lyse Doucet, reporting from Homs, describes the scene:

The long road into al-Wair was lined with passenger buses, UN cars, ambulances, and Syrian military vehicles. A buffer zone at the entrance was packed with Syrian soldiers and officials, blue-vested UN staff, and the red coats of the Syrian Red Crescent.

The first to leave were dozens of injured, young and old, hobbling on crutches or bent in wheelchairs.

Then came 100 families of the fighters, some tearful to be leaving their homes, many desperate to be free of a punishing siege.

The last to board waiting buses were more than 300 fighters from hardline groups who reject the ceasefire but agreed not to disrupt it.

Under the agreement, reached this week after months of negotiations, hundreds of rebels will be moved to opposition-held Idlib Province in northwest Syria. Aid will be allowed into al-Wa’er, besieged and bombarded for years by the Syrian military.

Rebels accepting the terms of the ceasefire will remain in al-Wa’er, the last opposition-controlled district of Homs. It is unclear if they can retain arms; however, Homs Province Governor Talat al-Barazi said that, in a “third stage” of the agreement, al-Wa’er will be “clear of weapons and gunmen and under the full control of the State”.

The Syrian military captured much of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, after an air campaign devastated many areas in early 2012. A ceasefire agreement with opposition districts was reached in spring 2014, but rebels remained in al-Wa’er, which has about 90,000 residents.

Negotiations Begin at Opposition-Rebel Conference in Riyadh

Negotiations have begun in Saudi Arabia among 105 opposition and rebel delegates, seeking the formation of a bloc for discussions with the Assad regime.

Those attending include 40 members of the external-based Syrian National Coalition, 36 “independent” delegates, 12 representatives of the domestic National Coordinating Body for Democratic Change, and 15 officials from rebel factions and blocs such as the Levant Front, the Free Syrian Army, Ahrar al-Sham, and Jaish al-Islam. There are also two members of Building the Syrian State, an opposition group considered “acceptable” by Russia.

Ahrar al-Sham has issued a statement that it is “disappointed that many anti-revolution, pro-Bashar figures are present” but says that it is attending “to make sure the world understands the Syrian people’s demands that Bashar and the regime in all its components are removed, including the security sector.”

Ahrar al-Sham, the largest faction in Syria’s rebellion, also said that it is opposed to a State dominated by Alawites — the group to which President Assad belongs — or a separate Kurdish State, and that it will object to any outcome “which violates Islamic identity and Islamic teachings and values”.

Meanwhile, former SNC President Hadi al-Bahra has hailed a positive atmosphere in the talks, an assessment echoed by Gareth Bayley of the British Foreign Office:

Appeal for 1000s of Syrians Stuck in Desert Near Jordanian Border

The UN’s refugee agency has appealed to Jordan to allow the entry of about 12,000 people squatting in a remote desert border area near the Syrian-Jordanian border.

The UNHCR said on Tuesday that the number in makeshift camps at two border crossings has tripled in a month.

“We appeal to the government of Jordan to allow refugees stranded at the border to enter the country,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. “If refugees are not admitted to Jordan and substantial assistance not provided, the lives of refugees will be at risk in the coming winter months.”

The majority of the refugees are at Rutban, near the intersection of the Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi borders, gathered in makeshift camps of flimsy tents and exposed to increasingly cold temperatures.

Jordah, which hosts more than 630,000 registered refugees, began imposing restrictions on the flow in mid-2013.
The number of registered arrivals dropped from nearly 310,000 in 2013 to about 82,000 last year and slightly more than 27,000 in 2015.

The Kingdom allowed a small number of the displaced to enter last week.