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France: Armenian Genocide A new law Boyer could be discussed in Parliament in December

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arton118536-480x321The Parliament’s Committee on Laws spoke Tuesday a bill of Valerie Boyer, MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, to criminalize Holocaust denial, including that of the Armenian genocide. This text, written with Maître Bernard Jouanneau and recorded October 14 2014, could be presented in December at the National Assembly, as part of a parliamentary niche group “Republicans”.
The aim of the reform is to propose a new offense that is no longer treated as an abuse of freedom of expression, but as an offense that falls in line with international laws and conventions that criminalize genocide and all crimes against humanity, “the lawyer wrote in a scholarly article published in légipress. It is therefore out of the denial of the repression under the press law “
The bill, to be submitted to the vote of Parliament shortly, comes a few weeks after the ECHR judgment Perincek, the findings allow the principle of repression of denial of the Armenian genocide, thus opening a path for legislation to that effect in France.
The government bill promised by the state leader could also take advantage of this opening. But it remains for now in the making.

The text of the bill presented by Valérie Boyer:

LAW PROPOSITION

Article

It is inserted into the Criminal Code as a result of articles 211-1 and 212-2 and 213-6 following an article as follows: “The systematic contestation, negation of principle, commoditization, trivialisation, and attempted Justification of crimes against humanity and genocide of the twentieth century as defined by Article 211-1 and 212-2 of the Criminal Code and / or the Statute of the International Criminal Court, are punishable five years imprisonment and a 45,000 euro fine, provided:
1) it to pass through arguments or allegations involving the falsification of evidence and documents, ignorance or shelved or rejection of evidence, events or opinions membership meeting of qualified or informed enough for the sake of accurate information to prohibit ignore them, or to call into question the classification by jurists of international institutions, or to denaturation collected clues or evidence, or lack of any response or loyal attempted refutation of existing evidence and opinions of experts and historians;
2) that these crimes have been recognized:

- either by the State and / or people who are blamed,
- or by an international Convention that France and the States in question have signed and ratified,

- or by a body or international institution to which France would stick,

- or by the laws of a significant number of countries representing at least one-twelfth of the countries of the United Nations,

- or by a court order issued by a competent national court or an international court established by an international agreement,

- or, failing that, by a commission of experts appointed by the investigating judge of the complaint comprising two historians, two lawyers and an international official who would be able to appoint all knowing of their choice;
3) that the acts were committed in public by the means provided by Article 23 of the Law of 29 July 1881. “

Article 2

The facts object of the prosecution or complaint shall be deemed committed in bad faith, inspired by hostility or hatred towards a group of victims of these crimes and deemed to infringe on the dignity of these people or that of their ancestors or descendants. They could, however, benefit from freeing them under Article 122-4 of the Criminal Code, if it is established that they proceed discoveries or historical research in the state, are the freedom of expression and freedom of opinion laid down in Articles 6, 10 and 11 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789, by Article 34 of the Constitution as well as Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.

Article 3

The systematic contestation, negation of principle, commoditization, trivialisation, and the attempt to justify crimes against humanity and genocide of the twentieth century as defined by Article 211-1 and 212-2 of the Penal Code and / or the Statute of the International Criminal Court, are common crimes, subject to the requirement of Article 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Public action concerning these offenses is governed by the provisions of Book I of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the exception of those committed before the coming into force of these new provisions that remain governed by the law of 29 July 1881 on the basis of Article 24a.

Article 4

The Tribunal may also order:

1) the posting or publication of the decision in accordance with Article 131-35 of the Penal Code;

2) the total or partial forfeiture of civic, according to the provisions of Article 131-26 of the Penal Code and disqualification to hold public office.

Article 5

Article 2-4 of the Criminal Procedure Code is supplemented by a paragraph 2 reads:
“Any association lawfully registered for at least five years at the time of commission of the offense, which offers its statutes to combat crimes against humanity and / or genocide, and to keep the memory of these crimes may exercise the rights granted to the civil party in respect of the offense established by Article 213-6 of the Criminal Code. “

Wednesday, November 11, 2015,
Ara © armenews.com

Syria conflict: Russia ‘peace plan’ revealed ahead of key summit

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syrian-conflectA Russian document circulating at the United Nations has proposed a constitutional reform process in Syria, lasting 18 months, to be followed by presidential elections.

The document does not say whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should remain in power during that time, according to the BBC.
It says certain Syrian opposition groups should take part in key talks on the crisis in Vienna on Saturday.

The Syrian army meanwhile is reported to have broken a siege in the north.

Army units had made contact with troops defending Kuwairis airbase, east of Aleppo, and eliminated large numbers of Islamic State (IS) militants, the Sana news agency said.

The facility had been under attack by IS jihadists for nearly two years.

A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said that the priority ahead of next Saturday’s meeting should be to establish which Syrian opposition groups are to be regarded as partners in the process, and which are “terrorist” and unacceptable.

The eight-point proposal drawn up by Russia is reported not to rule out President Bashar al-Assad’s participation in the elections – something his enemies say is impossible if there is to be peace.

“[The] popularly elected president of Syria will have the functions of commander-in-chief of the armed forces, control of special services and foreign policy,” the document is quoted by Reuters as saying.

It says that the reform process should not be chaired by President Assad, but by a candidate agreed upon by all sides.

It also calls for UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura to launch a political process between the Syrian government and “a united delegation of opposition groups” on the basis of the June 2012 agreement between major powers in Geneva, which calls for the formation of a transitional government for Syria.

Syria War: Civil strife takes toll on Mideast country’s Armenian community

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Gevorg-Yazchyan-qesabBy Gayane Mkrtchyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

The four-year-long civil war in Syria has also left a mark on the 50,000-strong Armenian community of Aleppo, as a result of which nearly half of the Armenians have left the city and the country, others are concentrated in the north of the country and Damascus.

Syrian-Armenian historian Gevorg Yazchyan says that 15,000-17,000 Syrian Armenians came to Armenia, about the same number of them went to Beirut, Lebanon, while others have moved to the north-east of the country, the Kurdish-populated regions. According to the historian, a significant part of those who left the country do not plan to return to their birthplace at all, because they have lost everything they had in Syria. However, there are also Syrian Armenians who are waiting for visas to emigrate from Armenia and to settle down in other countries.

Referring to Armenians from Syria’s Kessab, which became a target of Islamist militants’ attack last year, Yazchyan says that 40 percent (about 1,000 people) of the Armenian population has returned to the city, among whom, however, there are few young people because many of them now serve in the Syrian army.

On March 21, 2014, terrorist groups crossed the Turkish border and invaded Kessab and surrounding 12 villages, making the region one of the hotspots of the Syrian war then. Only 87 days later, the Syrian National Army managed to regain control of the area that has been home to a large number of Armenians.

“The population in Kessab and Latakia has increased due to Armenians from Aleppo, because today the condition in Kessab is comparatively stable, although sounds of cannon fire can still be heard from the surrounding hills. I also want to speak on the villages of Yakub and Knie which are near Kessab, and there is little information about them. These villages are also occupied and there are also people who left those places and settled in Kessab,” says the historian. “There are Armenians in the regions of Kamishli and Al-Hasakeh where Kurdish defense forces act. They have quite positive attitude towards Armenians,” he adds.

Yazchyan makes an interesting observation about Armenian craftsmen. Most of them, crossing the border between the governmental forces and rebel groups, pay a tax, and go to repair militants’ equipment and machinery.

“Sometimes warring parties have secret agreements. They say they are well paid as there is a need for craftsmen there, and many Armenians in Aleppo have no jobs, there are no basic products. The most serious problem is water shortages. They have started to reuse old wells, or the state army brings water to people,” says the historian.

Up to 50 Armenian civilians have been killed in Syria, 10 soldiers of Armenian origin were killed in action and another 50 Armenians got wounded.

Referring to the actions of the Russian Air Force he says that the positive effect is large enough. They use the right equipment, while the Syrian army’s ground operations’ efficiency is quite low, because there is a lot of desertion. Hezbollah, a Shi’a Islamist militant group, helps them in ground operations.

“The Russian air forces and the Syrian army can get a lot of success, but for the end of the war those masses should be offered a new ideology that will fit their world outlook and religious ideas. Western democracies will not work there. A pan-Arabian idea will not convince people either. One needs new ideologies to eliminate those groups,” says Yazchyan.

Met with Israel’s President, and Spoke at Armenian Genocide Conference

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Harut-SassounianBY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Last week I spoke at the first conference on the Armenian Genocide in Israel, gave a lecture at the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem, and attended a meeting with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin.

Pres. Rivlin was a staunch supporter of Armenian Genocide recognition while he was Chairman of the Knesset (parliament). As President, he is now more circumspect, not wishing to contradict his government’s reprehensible silence regarding the Armenian Genocide. However, during his meeting with the scholars attending the genocide conference last week, Pres. Rivlin left no doubt that his position on the Armenian Genocide has not changed. He even used the term “Armenian Genocide” during the meeting. He also recalled his speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this year in which he specifically referenced the Armenian Genocide.

I reminded Pres. Rivlin that over two dozen countries have already recognized the Armenian Genocide and that Israel should also acknowledge it simply because it is the right thing to do! I expressed the hope that with his continued support Israel would complete ‘the missing page’ of my book which lists the countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide!

I then handed Pres. Rivlin my book, “The Armenian Genocide, The World Speaks Out: 1915-2015, Documents & Declarations,” a copy of the speech I delivered at the conference, and my newspaper, The California Courier.

The Armenian Genocide conference was organized By Prof. Yair Auron and the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication at The Open University of Israel. Among the distinguished speakers were: Jacob Metzer, President of The Open University of Israel; Prof. Yair Auron; Prof. Israel Charny; Prof. Elihu Richter; Prof. Dina Porat, Chief Historian of Yad Vashem; Dr. Stefan Ihrig, author of “Ataturk in the Nazi Imagination”; Ragip Zarakolu, a prominent human rights activist from Turkey; Prof. Ayhan Aktar from Istanbul Bilgi University; Ya’akov Ahimeir, Journalist and Editor of Israel Broadcasting Authority’s weekly international news survey on Channel 1; Benny Ziffer, Editor of the literary and cultural section of Haaretz newspaper; and George Hintlian from Jerusalem’s Armenian community.

In my conference presentation, I expressed regret that The State of Israel has yet to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Here are excerpts from my remarks:

“I must first draw an important distinction between the position of the Israeli government and the people of Israel and Jews around the world who have been some of the leading voices calling attention to the Armenian Genocide and its recognition:

— Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, during the Genocide;

— Franz Werfel, the Austrian Jewish novelist, who wrote in 1933 the international bestselling novel, “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh.” His book was translated into Hebrew in 1934 and was widely read by Jews everywhere, particularly in the Warsaw ghetto, as a source of inspiration for survival and resistance to the Nazis during the Shoah;

— Raphael Lemkin, the Polish Jewish lawyer, who coined the term genocide. He disclosed during a 1949 interview on the CBS-TV Program Face the Nation: “I became interested in genocide because it happened to the Armenians”;

— I would add to these historical figures the name of Yossi Beilin, who spoke out on the Armenian Genocide as Israel’s Minister of Justice on April 24, 2000, and as Deputy Foreign Minister in 1994, despite heavy pressures and criticisms from the Israeli government;

— We also fondly remember Minister of Education Yossi Sarid who was the keynote speaker in Jerusalem on April 24, 2000, the 85th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. He declared: “I am here, with you, as a human being, as a Jew, as an Israeli, and as Education Minister of the State of Israel…. Whoever stands indifferent in front of it [genocide], or ignores it, whoever makes calculations, whoever is silent always helps the perpetrator of the crime and not the murdered.”

— I must include in this list of Righteous Jews, Professors Israel Charny, Yair Auron, Yehuda Bauer, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, and a large number of Jewish scholars who were the trailblazers in writing articles and books on the Armenian Genocide, even before Armenian scholars.

— I must also commend Knesset members and former Knesset Chairman Reuven Rivlin — the current President of Israel — who staunchly supported Armenian Genocide recognition despite his government’s vehement opposition.

As it is well known, the Armenian Genocide was the ‘prototype’ of the Shoah in view of German complicity in the extermination of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. In the process of that criminal cooperation, the German military learned from its Turkish ally practical evil lessons on how to organize and implement the elimination of an entire race! Hitler was emboldened by the silence of the world while Armenians were getting wiped out, to confidently declare on the eve of his invasion of Poland in 1939, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Consequently, The State of Israel should have been the first country, and hopefully not the last, to recognize the Armenian Genocide! Who should empathize more with the victims of a genocide than those who have suffered a similar fate?

Those who give Realpolitik reasons to justify Israel’s reluctance to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, should answer the following question: Would they accept the denial of the Shoah by another country, simply because it is in that country’s strategic interest to do so?

Equally illogical is the claim that now is not the right time to recognize the Armenian Genocide! When is a good time to recognize a genocide? Isn’t 100 years of waiting long enough?

Moreover, for years, we were told that acknowledging the Armenian Genocide would ruin Israel’s good relations with Turkey. Now, we are being told that Israel cannot acknowledge it in order not to make its bad relations with Turkey worse!

It would be immoral to exploit the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a bargaining chip between Turkey and Israel. No political, economic or military interest should override the recognition of any genocide!

Israel should recognize the Armenian Genocide for one reason only: It is the right thing to do!”

Serj Tankian’s ‘Wake Up The Souls’ Tour Guitar Auctioned For $27,000

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Serj Tankian (Source: Armenpress)

Serj Tankian (Source: Armenpress)

YEREVAN (Public Radio of Armenia)—The guitar played by The System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian during the “Wake Up The Souls” 2015 tour has been auctioned off for $27,000.

“Amazing News!! The one of a kind custom Wake Up The Souls guitar I played on the tour, signed by all band members got auctioned off for $27,000 in support of the non-profit Orran children’s charity,” Tankian said in a Facebook post.

Tankian played the guitar in Los Angeles, Yerevan, Moscow and other cities all through the historic “Wake Up The Souls” tour aimed at raising awareness about the Armenian Genocide.

US Ambassador: Armenia is a wonderful country that is achieving great things

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4621260500YEREVAN. – Armenia is a wonderful country that is achieving great things, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills stated in his speech at the meeting with the representatives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia (AmCham) today.

“I have seen many positive changes since I first started working on Armenian issues in the 1990s, changes that have benefitted the Armenian people. But more needs to be done. I believe the four priorities I’ve identified will help the U.S. Government and people provide the people and government of Armenia with the tools and resources it needs to find Armenian solutions to the challenges it faces. We at the Embassy will be working to increase our bilateral business and trade ties,” the Ambassador said.

“We will be helping Armenians fight corruption. We will be partnering with Armenia to strengthen its democratic institutions and civil society. I promise a more robust engagement to explain the broad range of U.S. foreign policy goals. I invite you to judge the success of my ambassadorship by how strongly and faithfully we cleave to these goals,” Richard Mills concluded.

Breaking news: Plane crashes into Akron, Ohio apartment building

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564257efc3618895268b45fb A small airplane crashed into a residential area of Akron, Ohio. Many local residents are without power, and the building is on fire. N=

Two people have died, Akron police told WEWS-TV. It is assumed they were on board the plane as no one was injured inside the apartment building, and all the residents are accounted for, local officials said.

Nine people, two of whom are pilots, were confirmed to be onboard the plane, the aircraft’s owner told the Akron Beacon Journal.

The small jet, identified as a “Hawker H25B,” was on approach to Akron Fulton Airport when it clipped a residential building in the area of Mogadore and Skelton roads in eastern Akron, WJV in Cleveland quoted a FAA spokesman.

BFP Exclusive- Russia’s Syria Intervention Enrages US-led Coalition, ISIS & Al-Qaeda

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111015_CGPost

By: Christoph Germann | November 10, 2015

‘Syrian Taliban’, Sinai crash & ‘Gladio B’ give Moscow food for thought

Russia’s intervention in Syria has whipped up feelings across the region and around the world. As soon as Russian aircraft began conducting airstrikes in Syria, Western media started complaining that Russia is bombing the wrong terrorists.[1]

After the Pentagon failed to find more than a few dozen “moderate rebels” for its much-publicized training program,[2] Russian bombs supposedly managed to find countless “moderate Syrian rebels” and U.S. officials suddenly remembered that the CIA has been running a much more effective training program than the Pentagon.[3]

U.S. government and media are still pretending that the CIA “began a covert operation in 2013 to arm, fund and train a moderate opposition to Assad” and that this secret program “is the only way the U.S. is taking on Assad militarily.”[4]

As Boiling Frogs Post exposed four years ago, U.S. covert operations started as early as April-May 2011 when a joint U.S.-NATO training camp was set up in Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base.[5]

Moscow’s intervention is now complicating efforts to hide the true extent of U.S. involvement in the conflict as well as Washington’s real objectives. Even the neocon comedians at The Daily Beast couldn’t help but wonder why CIA-trained “rebels” were fighting alongside Jabhat al-Nusra against Syrian government forces instead of battling the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).[6]

To make matters worse, Russia’s move has scuppered U.S. coalition plans for a no-fly zone in Syria, as the Financial Times so aptly put it.[7] Under the guise of establishing an “ISIS-free zone,” the United States and Turkey had been leading efforts to set up a no-fly zone and wanted to seize Syria’s Aleppo Governorate. Turkish media was already cheerfully proclaiming Aleppo as the 82nd province of Turkey before the Russians ruined everything.[8]

Although it is not exactly a secret that “an imminent move to ramp up coalition activity in Syria” forced Moscow’s hand,[9] the very same countries that are operating illegally in Syria[10] tried to claim the moral high ground when the Russian Air Force joined the fight at the request of the Syrian government.

The U.S., Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other coalition members called on Russia “to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians” and warned that Russian military actions “will only fuel more extremism and radicalization.”[11]

In case anybody had not gotten the message, a senior Qatari source told the Middle East Eye that the Russians “will be begging Qatar in 10 years time to negotiate a ceasefire with the ‘Syrian Taliban’” if they don’t back down.[12]

Both ISIS and al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch Jabhat al-Nusra also called for jihad against Russia.[13] The terrorists apparently don’t share the U.S. government’s assessment that 85 to 90 percent of Russian airstrikes are hitting “the moderate Syrian opposition.”[14]

By now, the Islamic State has probably realized that The Daily Beast cannot be trusted.[15] Instead of giving air support to ISIS fighters, the Russian Air Force is actually targeting vital supply lines from Turkey after the U.S. had allowed “these supply lines to continue flowing.”[16]

This might explain why ISIS was so eager to claim responsibility for the downing of a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Egypt‘s Sinai peninsula. According to the Islamic State’s Aleppo “province,” the plane was attacked in retaliation for Russia’s intervention in Syria.[17]

While investigators were still trying to figure out what caused the crash, a former U.S. diplomat with an interesting background,[18] who features in Sibel Edmonds’ The Lone Gladio, took the same line as ISIS and gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a little advice:

Matthew Bryza and the Kremlin clearly have a different interpretation of “truly fighting ISIS.” The Russians have no illusions about the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS and the true nature of the so-called Islamic State.

After calling the U.S.-led coalition out for “pretending” to bomb ISIS,[19] influential Russian lawmaker Alexey Pushkov recently explained that Russia is fighting for its own security in Syria because “those behind Islamic State are the same people who were in the past destabilizing Central Asia and attempted to break Chechnya away from Russia.”[20]

Pushkov’s allusion to the Pentagon-led ‘Gladio B’ operations in Central Asia and the Caucasus region is particularly interesting in light of recent reports suggesting that al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who participated in these operations,[21] is now taking a more prominent role in the Syrian conflict.

In a newly released audio message, Zawahiri urged his “mujahideen brothers in all places and of all groups” to join forces against Russia and the West.[22] According to unconfirmed reports, he has already sent senior al-Qaeda leader Saif al-Adel to Syria to mediate between Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS.[23] Given Zawahiri’s background, it is safe to say that he is more interested in fighting Russia than the West.

As the U.S. and its allies are stepping up arms supplies to the non-existent “moderate Syrian rebels,”[24] the Russians might be wondering if there is any difference between the “Syrian Taliban” and their Afghan prototypes.

# # # #
Christoph Germann- BFP Contributing Author & Analyst Christoph Germann is an independent analyst and researcher based in Germany, where he is currently studying political science. His work focuses on the New Great Game in Central Asia and the Caucasus region. You can visit his website here

[1] Nancy A. Youssef, “Putin Hits West’s Rebels Instead of ISIS,” The Daily Best, 30 September 2015: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/30/putin-orders-u-s-jets-out-of-syria.html.

[2] Tom Vanden Brook, “Pentagon’s failed Syria program cost $2 million per trainee,” USA Today, 5 November 2015: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/11/05/pentagon-isil-syria-train-and-equip/75227774/.

[3] Ken Dilanian, “Officials: CIA-backed Syrian rebels under Russian blitz,” The Associated Press, 10 October 2015: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dfe1547ba36f4f968deee227d467dc08/officials-russian-bombs-cia-rebels-had-syrian-gains.

[4] Ibid., Dilanian.

[5] Sibel Edmonds, “What & When We Exposed, and the MSM- Quasi Alternative Culprits Who Fought Our Exposés,” Boiling Frogs Post, 29 August 2013: http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2013/08/29/bfp-syria-coverage-track-record-what-when-we-exposed-and-the-msm-quasi-alternative-culprits-who-fought-our-exposes/.

[6] Nancy A. Youssef, Michael Weiss and Tim Mak, “U.S. Admits: We Can’t Protect Syrian Allies From Russia’s Bombs,” The Daily Beast, 1 October 2015: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/01/u-s-admits-we-can-t-protect-syrian-allies-from-russia-s-bombs.html.

[7] Sam Jones, “Moscow scuppers US coalition plans for no-fly zone in Syria,” Financial Times, 4 October: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cee6fcba-69bf-11e5-8171-ba1968cf791a.html.

[8] Selin Nasi, “Conquering Aleppo,” Hürriyet Daily News, 18 August 2015: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/conquering-aleppo.aspx?pageID=238&nID=87106&NewsCatID=396.

[9] Ibid., Jones.

[10] Theo Farrell, “Are the US-led air strikes in Syria legal – and what does it mean if they are not?,” The Telegraph, 23 September 2014: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11116792/Are-the-US-led-air-strikes-in-Syria-legal-and-what-does-it-mean-if-they-are-not.html.

[11] “Joint Declaration on Recent Military Actions of the Russian Federation on Syria,” Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 October 2015: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-267_-02-october-2015_-joint-declaration-on-recent-military-actions-of-the-russian-federation-on-syria.en.mfa.

[12] David Hearst, “Putin’s Syrian bombing ‘will spark jihad against Moscow’: Qatar source,” Middle East Eye, 8 October 2015: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russias-syrian-bombing-will-create-frankensteins-monster-qatar-source-634154673.

[13] Joanna Paraszczuk, “Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front Call For ‘Jihad’ Against Russia,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 14 October 2015: http://www.rferl.org/content/islamic-state-nusra-jihad-russia/27306477.html.

[14] Arshad Mohammed and Patricia Zengerle, “85-90 percent of Russian strikes hit moderate Syria rebels: U.S.,” Reuters, 4 November 2015: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/04/us-mideast-crisis-usa-russia-idUSKCN0ST26920151104.

[15] Michael Weiss, “Russia’s Giving ISIS An Air Force,” The Daily Beast, 8 October 2015: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/08/russia-s-giving-isis-an-air-force.html.

[16] Angelo M. Codevilla, “U.S. And Russian Airpower In The Desert,” War on the Rocks, 5 November 2015: http://warontherocks.com/2015/11/u-s-and-russian-airpower-in-the-desert/.

[17] Thomas Joscelyn, “Islamic State video congratulates Sinai ‘province’ for downing Russian airliner,” The Long War Journal, 6 November 2015: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/11/islamic-state-video-congratulates-sinai-province-for-downing-russian-airliner.php.

[18] Sibel Edmonds, “Obama Appoints a Not-Too-Long-Ago-Hatched Neocon Larva,” Boiling Frogs Post, 27 July 2010: http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2010/07/27/obama-appoints-a-not-too-long-ago-hatched-neocon-larva/.

[19] Astrid Wendlandt, “Russian air strikes in Syria to last three-four months: Putin ally,” Reuters, 2 October 2015: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/02/us-mideast-crisis-russia-strike-idUSKCN0RW0I020151002.

[20] “Lawmaker: IS sponsors once tried to break Chechnya from Russia,” TASS, 23 October 2015: http://tass.ru/en/politics/831336.

[21] Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed, “Why was a Sunday Times report on US government ties to al-Qaeda chief spiked?,” Ceasefire Magazine, 17 May 2013: https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/whistleblower-al-qaeda-chief-u-s-asset/.

[22] Vasudevan Sridharan, “Al-Qaeda: Ayman al-Zawahiri urges jihadis to unite against Russia and West,” International Business Times, 2 November 2015: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/al-qaeda-ayman-al-zawahiri-urges-jihadis-unite-against-russia-west-1526714.

[23] J.J. Green, “Mysterious al-Qaida figure emerges in Syria,” Washington’s Top News, 5 November 2015: http://wtop.com/national-security/2015/11/mysterious-al-qaida-figure-emerges-in-syria/.

[24] Adam Entous, “U.S., Allies to Boost Aid to Syria Rebels,” The Wall Street Journal, 4 November 2015: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-allies-to-boost-aid-to-syria-rebels-1446682624.

Syrian Army Breaks 2-Year ISIL Siege of Airbase in Aleppo

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1029620794The Syrian Armed Forces have broken a two-year ISIL siege of the Kweiris airbase in the Aleppo province, a military source told RIA Novosti.

For two years, Syrian soldiers stationed at the airbase have been under an ISIL siege.

“The army managed to break through to Kweiris defenders, lifting the siege which had lasted over two years,” the military source said.

The source added that “this became possible after the liberation of Sheikh Ahmad [a village 2 km away from the airbase].”
Syrian government forces continue their offensive in the Aleppo province in the north of the country.
Over the weekend, the Syrian army supported by popular forces advanced in the area, leaving dozens of the militants dead or wounded.
In October 2015, the Syrian army, with support of Russian aircraft deployed in Syria at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad, started a military operation, trying to free territories controlled by the Islamic State and the Nusra Front militants.