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Putin lauds Russian military ops in Syria

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Putin will be backRussian President Vladimir Putin has hailed Russia’s military forces returning from Syria, saying their achievements in the militant-riddled Arab country has laid the ground for peace there.

Speaking on the occasion of Russia’s military pullout from Syria, Putin said his country succeeded in strengthening Syrian army through months of aerial campaign against militant groups in Syria.

Putin said despite Russia’s partial withdrawal, which he said was agreed with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the battle against terrorism in Syria will continue.

The Russian president said his military forces created conditions for a peace process in Syria.

Putin further vowed that Russia will monitor Syria’s situation and will leave its advanced S-400 air defense missile system there as a means of precaution.

He also warned that Russia can ramp up its military presence in Syria within “several hours” if needed.

“If there’s a need, Russia literally within several hours can ramp up its presence in the region to the size required for the unfolding situation,” Putin said in the Kremlin on Thursday.

The comments came as he decorated officers who served in the war-torn country.

On Tuesday, President Putin announced that “the main part” of the Russian forces would start to withdraw from Syria, and that diplomats had been called upon to increase their efforts for a peaceful solution to the five-year-long conflict.

Russia launched its campaign against Daesh and other terrorist groups in Syria last September upon a request from the Damascus government. The air raids have expedited the advances of Syrian forces against militants.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February 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.

Syria: Russian MoD Accuses Turkey of Ongoing Hostilities in Syria’s Aleppo, Idlib

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1034853226Ankara is fully responsible for ongoing hostilities in Syria’s Aleppo and Idlib provinces as Turkey ensures steady supply of weapons to terrorists and keeps shelling groups of Kurdish militia fighting against al-Nusra Front, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

HMEIMYM (Sputnik) — Last week, Russia and the United States reached an agreement on the ceasefire in Syria. The cessation of hostilities took effect at midnight on Saturday, Damascus time, generally holding across the country despite reported minor violations.

“Truck convoys with materiel and weaponry cross the border from Turkey to Syria round the clock. They are headed exclusively to areas controlled by al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham terrorist groups,” Lt. Gen. Kuralenko, commander of the Hmeymim-based Russian center for Syrian reconciliation, told reporters.

Earlier, the Russian center on Syrian reconciliation said that it was receiving reports from the Syrian General Staff and Kurdish armed groups supporting the ceasefire, that complain of continuing artillery shelling from Turkey.

“Artillery shelling of Kurdish militia units, fighting against Nusra Front, continues from the territory of a Turkish border post near Yanankey,” Kuralenko said, adding that these actions hinder the restoration of peace and reconciliation in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

On February 13, Turkish artillery began shelling positions held by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish group with links to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), in Syria’s Aleppo Province.

On February 25, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the truce in Syria is not obligatory for Turkey to follow if the country feels a threat against its security.

Russian military exercises as warnings to Ankara

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arton121994-480x270The Russian military base in Armenia was put into combat alert in connection with its participation in large-scale war exercises dan the southwest of Russia initiated by President Vladimir Putin amid continuing tensions with Turkey.
Acting on an order from Putin, the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Monday a “sudden inspection of the combat readiness of troops in the strategic direction.

Number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey’s top resort down 81%

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205587The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey’s top holiday resort town of Antalya decreased by 81 percent, as their numbers plummeted to 2,427 in January from 12,870 of January 2015 while the total number of tourists visiting the city in January decreased 17 percent, according to official figures, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Numbers also showed that only a total of 97,601 tourists visited Antalya in January, the lowest for January in the last decade.

Antalya hosted some 135,010 tourists in January 2006 and 125,446 in January 2007. It saw its highest turnout in January 2008 with 140,306. In January 2009 and January 2010, Antalya received 106,539 and 140,019 visitors, respectively. After 2010, the number of tourists visiting the city reached a stable level, with 126,272 tourists in January 2011, 122,314 in January 2012, 111,485 in January 2013 and 116,974 in January 2014. Last January, Antalya’s total visitors stood at 117,746.

Antalya gathers millions of local and international tourists each year, with its luxury hotels usually overbooked especially in the summer seasons. Meanwhile in winter, tourism slows down due to dropping temperatures.

The Russian market experienced the largest decrease in the number of tourists visiting the city in January 2016, as Russia ranked 5th in 2016, compared to 2nd in 2015 in terms of countries with the highest number of visitors to Antalya.

Turkey was Russia’s number one foreign tourism destination for years but this came to an abrupt end following the shooting down of a Russian military plane by Turkish jets on the Syria-Turkey border on Nov 24, 2015. Upon the incident, Russia imposed economic sanctions against Turkey and travel restrictions on Russian tourists visiting Turkey.

Turkey’s tourism industry also expects to see losses in other markets this year after an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) suicide bomb attack in Istanbul’s top tourist spot Sultanahmet, which killed 11 German tourists on Jan 12, highlighted security concerns for tourists planning to visit Turkey.

The loss in the German market stood at 16 percent as the number of Germans visiting Antalya decreased to 44,262 in January 2016 from 52,731 in January 2015. While Germans took the top spot for tourists in Antalya, the Dutch followed second. However the Dutch market has also decreased by 20 percent compared to 2015, as this year’s January number fell to 4,544 from 5,688.

The number of Israeli visitors saw a 122 percent increase, bringing it to third. In January 2016, the number of Israeli tourists visiting the city reached to 4,475, a huge leap from 2,008 visitors in January 2015.

Britain came fourth with a 14 percent decrease as Antalya only hosted some 2,965 English tourists in January. British tourists mostly like Antalya for its luxury golf club resorts in the Belek region of the province.

According to the statistics of Antalya’s provincial directorate of culture and tourism, among the 38 countries that send tourists to Antalya, only nine surpassed their January 2015 numbers. However, the surplus in the number of tourists arriving from these nine (which included Israel, Ukraine, France, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Serbia and Syria) covered only 30 percent of the loss caused by the decrease in the Russian market.

Photo: Antalyahomes.com
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Hurriyet Daily News. Antalya sees record lows in Russian tourists with 81 pct decrease

Russian Defense Ministry Denies Violation of Turkish Airspace by Su-34 “propaganda”

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1030458634The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that no Russian aircraft had violated Turkish airspace, adding that neither Russian air defense in Syria, nor Syrian radards had detected violations of Turkish borders by a Russian Su-34 warplane as Ankara claimed earlier in the day.

Turkey’s reports of an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian Su-34 are unfounded and “propaganda,” the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.

“There were no violations of Turkish airspace by aircraft of the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic. Turkish authorities’ statements of an alleged violation of Turkish airspace by a Russian Su-34 jet are naked propaganda,” Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.

The alleged incident involving a Su-34 fighter bomber took place on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day, adding that the plane had been warned by Turkish air radar units.

“None of these radars are able to establish the type and affiliation of an aircraft — whether it belongs to Russia or to the so-called US-led anti-ISIL [Daesh] coalition,” Konashenkov told reporters.

He emphasized that neither Russian air defense systems in Syria nor Syrian radar stations detected any violations of the Turkey-Syria border.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said earlier in the day it had summoned the Russian ambassador after an alleged incident involving a Su-34 fighter bomber. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the incident.

© SPUTNIK/ ALEXEI DRUZHININ

Russia’s Reaction to Turkey Downing Su-24 ‘Is More Than Reserved’ – Putin

On November 24, a Turkish F-16 fighter shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber with two pilots on board over Syria. Ankara claimed it had downed the Russian warplane as it had allegedly violated Turkish airspace. Both the Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command have confirmed that the Russian jet never crossed into Turkish airspace.

In response to Ankara’s “stab in the back,” as the incident has been described by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow imposed a number of economic measures on Turkey.

German Sterligov recommends Russians to visit Karabakh

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russian touristRussian businessman, as well as political and public figure German Sterligov has recommended Russia’s Krasnodar residents to visit Karabakh. He made this suggestion during the presentation of the 5th volume of his book on the History of Russia, called “From Adam to Putin,” Yerkramas reports.

According to Sterligov, people in Karabakh have retained their best human traits and are happy to welcome not only guests, especially from Russia, but also each other.

Apart from this, the businessman called Karabakh the most secure place on the planet.

“There is no criminality in Karabakh: a child with valuable property can go from one end of Stepanakert to another at night and nothing will happen to him,” he said.

Sterligov especially stressed the ecological cleanness of the region, where “water can still be drunk from rivers.”

Russian agriculture watchdog warned Iran against transit of Turkish goods, which have been banned by Moscow.

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1030987550MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor warned Iran against transit of Turkish goods, which have been banned by Moscow, the agency’s head, Sergey Dankvert, said.

“Rosselkhoznadzor warned Iran about inadmissibility of transit of Turkish goods through the country,” Dankvert said, as quoted by the Russkaya Sluzhba Novostey radio station on Sunday.

He added that Iran was expected to start deliveries of poultry to Russia after January 20, and of diary products after February 15.

Relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated following the downing of Russia’s Su-24 frontline bomber over Syria by a Turkish jet on November 24.

On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on economic measures against Ankara in retaliation for the downing of the Su-24 aircraft. The decree, which entered into force on January 1, 2016, included a food import ban on certain categories of products.

Russian, Syrian Air Forces Conduct First Joint Operation (VIDEO)

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1033136068The Russian Aerospace Forces have conducted a joint combat mission with the Syrian Air Force for the first time, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Syrian Air Force’s MiG-29 fighter jets have escorted Russian Su-25 bombers during an anti-terrorist aerial campaign over Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Crews of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Su-25 aircraft and Syrian Air Force’s MiG-29 jets have carried out a joint mission in skies over Syria. Two MiG-29 fighter jets have provided escort for Russian attack bombers, which have been conducting airstrikes on terrorist infrastructure,” the statement read.

Since September 30, Moscow has been conducting pinpoint airstrikes on terrorist targets in Syria at President Bashar Assad’s request.

The Russian Aerospace Forces coordinate their actions with the Syrian army which is operating on the ground.

Russian warplanes have hit 1,097 terrorists targets in Syria and conducted 311 sorties since the beginning of 2016, the Russian General Staff said Monday. Over 150 towns and villages in Syria have been freed over the last 1.5 months due to the support provided to Syrian troops by Russian aviation.

Russian airstrike targets al-Qaeda prison in Syria’s Idlib

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Russian servicemen prepare a Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jet before a departure for a mission at the Hmeimin military base in the Latakia province, in the northwest of Syria, on December 16, 2015. (AFP)

Russian servicemen prepare a Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jet before a departure for a mission at the Hmeimin military base in the Latakia province, in the northwest of Syria, on December 16, 2015. (AFP)

The Russian air force has carried out a strike on an al-Qaeda run prison killing around 60 people in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, a UK-based monitoring group says.

According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights(SOHR), a jail and a religious court belonging to the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front were hit in the town of Maarat al-Numan on Saturday.

SOHR claims that at least 29 terrorists and 21 civilians were killed as four missiles hit the buildings in the militant-held city.

Russia launched its first airstrikes against the Takfiri terrorists in Syria on September 30 at the request of the Syrian government.

Syrian forces have cut off foreign-backed militants’ key supply routes by taking control of several villages in the northern areas of Latakia Province.

Meanwhile, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the villages of Rweiset al-Qamoua, al-Mgheiriyeh, Hawsh al-Mgheiriyeh, Rweiset Bani Jazi and Kedin were liberated.

Syrian forces have been battling militants, particularly Daesh, on different fronts throughout Syria since March 2011, when the foreign-sponsored militancy began. Over 250,000 people have been killed over the past few years of turmoil.

Rare footage of Russian Tor-M2U surface-to-air missile

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c971101a-37a3-4fbc-951f-800e0e119e0dThe Russian army has released a rare video from a Tor-M2U surface-to-air missile launcher capable of firing while on the move.

According to a Saturday statement released by the Russian Defense Ministry, the launcher was driving at the speed of 25 kilometers per hour (15.5 miles per hour) off-road on a rough terrain when it fired a missile that precisely hit the target.

The short-range Tor missile system was originally designed by the Russian military in mid 70s to operate in all weather conditions and to target airplanes, choppers, cruise missiles, precision guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles and even short-range ballistic threats.

Unlike the previous models, the M2U modification of the Tor has the capability of firing on the move, which is considered to be a great advantage and makes it unrivalled since the launcher does not need to stop intermittently to fire.

The new test was carried out this summer at Kapustin Yar test range in northwestern Arkhangelsk region and its video was released in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Defense Forces.

The footage also contains a night test-fire of the S-300 long-range missile system.

https://youtu.be/WmzQZ2GrDjw