Syrian Govn’t, Russia tighten siege on Aleppo

September 24, 2016 By administrator

sage-aleppo Rebel-held districts of the northern Syrian city have again come under intense air and artillery fire. Syria’s army has also seized ground north of Aleppo following the collapse of the latest ceasefire.

At least 25 civilians were killed during renewed airstrikes on Aleppo early on Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group.

The fierce aerial bombardment from Russian and Syrian warplanes has toppled several buildings in the besieged northern Syrian city.

The monitors warned that the death toll was likely to rise because a number of people remained trapped under rubble.

“There are planes in the sky now,” Ammar al Selmo, the head of the Civil Defense rescue service in the opposition-held east, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday morning.

Harrowing scenes

A correspondent for the French news agency Agence France-Presse described one airstrike, at a market in the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, which left seven people dead and multiple body parts strewn at the site.

Medics said that they were carrying out many amputations to try to save the wounded and that supplies of blood and IV drips were running out.

Syrian forces and allied militia pushed on with their latest ground offensive following the failure of a US-Russian brokered ceasefire on Monday.

Analysts said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s decision to launch an all-out assault on the last big urban area still in rebel hands marked a turning point in a conflict that was stalemated for years. Around 250,000 civilians are thought to remain trapped in eastern districts.

On Friday, at least 47 people were killed in heavy bombing, among them seven children, according to the Observatory, which described large-scale destruction in several rebel-held eastern areas.

This week’s death toll has now reached at least 180, the observer group said.

Civilians remain trapped

Residents and activists described the use of a missile that produced earthquake-like tremors upon impact and razed buildings right down to basement level, where many residents desperately seek protection during bombing.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF said the attacks had left nearly two million people without water.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces seized ground north of Aleppo on Saturday, capturing the Palestinian refugee camp of Handarat, which had been in rebel hands for years.

“Handarat has fallen,” an official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups told Reuters.

“The shelling and the raids did not stop. It is continuous,” Bahaa al-Halabi, an activist in the east of the city, told the German news agency dpa.

mm/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

Syria ‘shoots down Israeli jet, drone’

September 13, 2016 By administrator

A picture taken from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on September 10, 2016 shows smoke rising from the Syrian village of Jubata al-Khashab after Israeli airstrikes against Syrian army positions. (By AFP)

The Syrian army says it has shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone inside Syria following an Israeli attack on Syrian army positions in the south, state media report.

Syria’s official SANA news cited the Syrian military as saying that the intruding aircraft had been detected and targeted by the country’s air defense system while they were striking Syrian military positions. The warplane, it said, was downed in western Quneitra and the drone in an area called Sa’sa’ and located on the Damascus Reef.

Soon after the report, the Israeli military denied that any of its aircraft had been shot down in Syria, claiming that two missiles were fired at them during the airstrike on Quneitra but missed.

Israeli fighter jets had attacked two Syrian army cannons in the Golan Heights, where Quneitra is located, early on Tuesday morning. It was the fifth such attack in just over a week.

Israel seized parts of the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

source; http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/13/484460/Syria-army-downing-Israeli-jet-drone

Syrian ceasefire largely holds, aid preparations begin

September 13, 2016 By administrator

syrian-pace The truce in Syria continued to hold up on its second day despite reports of minor violations. The Russian government counted 23 breaches of the ceasefire in its first 24 hours, it was reported.

The truce in Syria, brokered between the United States and Russia, could serve as a precursor for peace talks if it continues to hold up. While having the primary purpose of allowing the delivery of humanitarian aid, the ceasefire also stops Assad’s forces from bombing Syrian opposition groups, raising hopes for the revival of peace talks to address the conflict.

The Syrian army said it would abide by the stipulations of the ceasefire for a week, while stressing that it would still defend itself against any acts of aggression and continue attacking Islamist groups, such as the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS). Groups linked to al Qaeda such as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which was previously known as the al-Nusra Front, have meanwhile denounced the agreement.

This is why Syria’s largest insurgent groups have expressed doubts about the feasibility of the deal, which still allows for airstrikes against al Qaeda linked militant groups. Several jihadi movements fight alongside more moderate rebels.

A shaky truce

The ceasefire had been hammered out by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in early September, coming into full effect at sunset on Monday, September 12, marking the beginning of the Muslim high holiday of Eid al-Adha. If it holds for seven days, the US and Russian militaries would set up a new center to coordinate strikes against IS and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

The deal marks the second attempt in 2015 to reduce violence in the country following the collapse of a truce at the beginning of the year. The conflict has killed more than 290,000 people since its beginning in 2011 while displacing half of the country’s population.

Violations in Aleppo and beyond

Opposition activists in the city of Aleppo, which has seen heavy fighting in recent months, said that rebel-held parts of the city remained calm. However, aid deliveries, which are also part of the ceasefire, have yet to enter the contested city.

Turkey Conspired with ISIS in its Deceptive Invasion of Syria

September 7, 2016 By administrator

Photo by gagrulenet

BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Syria has been the hub of shifting international military and political intrigues since the start of the ‘civil war’ in 2011. The diverse conflicting sides include: Hezbollah, Iran, Islamic State (ISIS), Israel, Jordan, Kurdish fighters, Lebanon, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, assorted terrorists from around the world, Syria, Syrian opposition groups, Turkey, the United States, and other NATO states.

The latest ominous development is the Turkish invasion of the Syrian border town Jarablus, which had been occupied by ISIS. However, contrary to Turkish propaganda, Turkey’s military did not invade Syria to chase out ISIS, and the U.S. Air Force did not drop any bombs on Jarablus to pave the way for the advancing Turkish troops, according to David Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-Building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Phillips had served as a Senior Adviser and Foreign Affairs Expert to the U.S. Department of State under Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama.

Turkey’s actual plans were to prevent further inroads into North-West Syria by Kurdish YPG fighters (People’s Protection Forces) who have been the most reliable military allies of the United States in countering ISIS, while Erdogan calls the YPG ‘terrorists.’

Phillips revealed in his Huffington Post article that “Turkish-backed Islamists never engaged ISIS in the so-called battle for Jarablus. Before invading, Ankara made a deal with the Islamic State. Rather than resist, ISIS forces simply changed into FSA [Free Syrian Army] uniforms. Jarablus was ‘liberated’ from ISIS with barely a shot.” ISIS had evacuated all civilians from Jarablus prior to the Turkish invasion because it did not “want civilians to identify newly clad FSA members as hard core ISIS fighters,” Phillips wrote.

“It is not surprising that Erdogan and ISIS made a deal. ISIS and Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) are ideologically aligned,” Phillips asserted, since “they are both branches of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite official denials, there is a mountain of evidence that Turkey provided weapons, money, and logistical support to Islamists in Syria beginning in 2014. Turkey also underwrote the Islamic State by transporting its oil and selling it on the international market. About 500 Islamist fighters are still transiting from Turkey to Syria each month.”

Turkish leaders have made no secret of their true aim. Erdogan announced that his objective is to go after YPG and “terror groups that threaten our country.” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu pledged that Ankara would “do what is necessary” to keep the Kurdish fighters away from the Turkish border.

Washington is not pleased with Turkey’s misdirected military actions in Northern Syria. Senior Pentagon official Brett McGurk told CNN that “the Turks never cared about Jarablus until the Kurds wanted to get there.” McGurk called the Turkish attacks on Kurdish fighters “unacceptable and a source of deep concern” for the United States.

The Editor of Veterans Today was also highly critical of the Turkish invasion of Syria as reflected in his cynical explanation: “Turkish troops who had been in Syria for years dressed up as ‘ISIS’ have simply gone home to Turkey, had a good wash and shave, put back on their Turkish uniforms then returned to Syria.”

Saadeddine Somaa, a Syrian Arab militant who joined the Turkish incursion into Syria, expressed to The New York Times his disappointment for being misled into fighting the Kurds instead of ISIS and the Syrian government. “Everyone is pursuing their own interests, not Syria’s,” Somaa complained.

The New York Times article stressed that due to in-fighting, the rebel groups “risk reinforcing criticism that they are Turkish and American proxies at best, de facto allies of ISIS at worst.” Furthermore, “Turkish airstrikes had killed 35 civilians in Kurdish-held villages. And there was a video online showing rebels kicking prisoners from the Kurdish-led militias.” Some of the fighters accompanying the Turkish troops’ incursion into Syria, such as members of Nooredine al-Zinki, “were accused of having ties to Qaeda-linked groups” and were “widely condemned when a group of its fighters videotaped themselves beheading a young prisoner…. Its participation in the Jarablus operation was an indication that it has not been completely shunned, at least by Turkey.”

David Phillips ended his revealing Huffington Post article with an ominous prediction: “Syria will be Erdogan’s Waterloo. The U.S. Government must not be tethered to Turkey’s sinking ship.”

Turkey to blame for US, Russia failure to effect ceasefire in Syria: Analyst

September 5, 2016 By administrator

Turkey is to blame for no outcome in the US-Russia talks over the situation in Syria, an analyst says.

“Grave differences” remained between Moscow and Washington to finalize a ceasefire in the war-ravaged Muslim country, according to US President Barack Obama.

“We’re not there yet,” Obama said on the sidelines of the G20 economic summit in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday. “It’s premature for us to say that there is a clear path forward, but there is the possibility at least for us to make some progress on that front.”

Reporters had been invited by the US for a planned announcement of ceasefire by US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov but the department later cancelled it as the two failed to reach a deal.

According to Washington-based author and investigative journalist Wayne Madsen, the reason for such a failure is “because the US is giving a green light to Turkey to invade northern Syria, where the Turkish military, including Turkish armored divisions, are successfully seizing ground from both the Syrian army and the Syrian Kurdish groups.”

Madsen anticipated that “as long as the Turkish army has its military forces in Syria and [they] are acting as proxies for the Pentagon, the US sees no need to come to a ceasefire.”

On the other hand, it is “difficult” for Russians to clinch a deal with the Obama administration, which will not stay in power for long as the November presidential election approaches.

Meanwhile, “the perceived successor to Obama, [Democratic nominee] Hillary Clinton has made no secret of the fact that she intends to wage war against the Russian forces in Syria and any other country that refuses to follow her orders.”

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Source: http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/05/483206/Turkey-to-blame-for-US-Russia-failure

Were Erdogan and Obama False-Flag Military coup to fool Putin and invade Syria?

September 1, 2016 By administrator

syria map By Prof Michel Chossudovsky,

Global Research, August 29, 2016

In mid-July, President Erdogan pointed his finger at the CIA, accusing US intelligence of having supported a failed coup directed against his government. Turkish officials pointed to a deterioration of US-Turkey relations following Washington’s refusal to extradite Fethullah Gülen, the alleged architect of the failed coup.

Erdogan’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag was categorical:

“If the US does not deliver (Gulen), they will sacrifice relations with Turkey for the sake of a terrorist”

Public opinion was led to believe that relations with the US had not only deteriorated, but that Erdogan had vowed to restore “an axis of friendship” with Moscow, including “cooperation in the defence sector”. This was a hoax.

Turkey’s Invasion of Syria

The implementation of the Turkish invasion required routine consultations with the US and NATO, coordination of military logistics, intelligence, communications systems, coordination of ground and air operations, etc. To be effectively carried out these military endeavors required a cohesive and “friendly” US-Turkey relationship.

We are not dealing with a piecemeal military initiative. Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield could not have taken place without the active support of the Pentagon, which ultimately calls the shots in the war on Syria.

The likely scenario is that from mid July to mid-August US, NATO and Turkish officials were actively involved in planning the next stage of the war on Syria: an (illegal) invasion led by Turkish ground-forces, backed by the US and NATO.

The Failed Coup Sets the Stage for a Ground Invasion

1. Massive purges within the armed forces and government were implemented in the immediate wake of the July coup. They had been planned well in advance. ”Arrested immediately were 2,839 army personnel with 2,745 Judges and Prosecutors ordered detained… In under a week 60,000 people had been fired or detained and 2,300 institutions closed” … “ (See Felicity Arbuthnot, Global Research, August 2, 2016)

2.The coup was intended to fail. Erdogan had advanced knowledge of the coup and so did Washington. There was no conspiracy directed by the CIA against Erdogan. Quite the opposite, the failed coup was in all likelihood engineered by the CIA in liaison with Erdogan. It was intended to consolidate and reinforce the Erdogan regime as well as rally the Turkish people behind their president and his military agenda “in the name of democracy”.

3. The purges within the Armed Forces were intended to get rid of members of the military hierarchy who were opposed to an invasion of Syria. Did the CIA assist Erdogan in establishing the lists of military officers, judges and senior government officials to be arrested or fired? The Turkish media was also targeted, many of which were closed down.

4. Erdogan used the July 15 coup to accuse Washington of supporting the Gulen movement while seeking a fake rapprochement with Moscow. He flew to St Petersburg on August 9, for a behind closed doors meeting with President Putin. In all likelihood, the scenario of a rift between Ankara and Washington coupled with the “my friend Putin” narrative had been approved by the Obama administration. It was part of a carefully designed intelligence ploy coupled with media disinformation. President Erdogan, vowed according to Western media reports: “to restore an ‘axis of friendship’ between Ankara and Moscow amid a growing rift between Turkey and the West.”

5. While “mending the fence” with Russia, Turkey’s military and intelligence apparatus was involved in planning the invasion of Northern Syria in liaison with Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels. The underlying objective is to ultimately confront and weaken Syria’s military allies: Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.

In St Petersburg in the immediate wake of the July 15 failed coup, Erdogan thanked his “dear friend” Vladimir Putin.

“The fact Mr Putin called me the next day after the coup attempt was a very strong psychological factor,” he said at a joint press conference. “The axis of friendship between Moscow and Ankara will be restored,” he said. Telegraph, August 7, 2016

Did Putin know that the failed coup, covertly supported by the CIA, was meant to fail? One suspects that Russian intelligence was aware of the ploy and was also informed regarding Turkey’s invasion plans:

“Your visit today, despite a very difficult situation regarding domestic politics, indicates that we all want to restart dialogue and restore relations between Russia and Turkey,” Mr Putin said as the pair met in the city’s Constantine Palace.

… Mr Putin on Tuesday said Russia would “step by step” lift sanctions, … Mr Erdogan in turn promised to back major Russian energy projects in Turkey, including the construction of the country’s first nuclear power station and a gas pipeline to Europe.

He also said the two countries would step up “cooperation in the defence sector,” but did not elaborate.

The Putin-Erdogan Saint Petersburg meeting was interpreted by the media as a rapprochement with Moscow in response to the alleged involvement of the CIA in the failed coup.

According to the Washington Post, an improvised about-turn in US-NATO-Turkey relations had occurred despite Erdogan’s “friendly” encounter with Putin:

NATO went out of its way Wednesday to insist that Turkey — whose president this week visited Moscow and promised a new level of cooperation with the man he repeatedly called his “dear friend,” Russian President Vladimir Putin — remains a “valued ally” whose alliance membership “is not in question.”

In a statement posted on its website, NATO said it was responding to “speculative press reports regarding NATO’s stance regarding the failed coup in Turkey and Turkey’s NATO membership.”

A nonsensical report. In actuality, the Pentagon, NATO, the Turkish High Command and Israel are in permanent liaison. Israel is a de facto member of NATO, it has a comprehensive bilateral military and intelligence relationship with Turkey.

With the invasion of the border area of Northern Syria and the influx of Turkish tanks and armoured vehicles, the Turkey-Russia relationship is in crisis. And that is the ultimate objective of US foreign policy.

Russian forces are acting on behalf of their Syrian ally.

How will the Kremlin and Russia’s High Command respond to what constitutes a US-Turkey-NATO ground invasion of Syria?

How will they confront Turkish and allied forces? One assumes that Russia will avoid direct military confrontation.

After the US, Turkey is NATO’s heavy weight.

Sofar the Turkish op is limited to a small border territory. Nonetheless it constitutes and important landmark in the evolution of the Syria war: invasion of a sovereign country in derogation of international law. Washington’s endgame remains “regime change” in Damascus.

Is the military initiative a preamble for a larger military undertaking on the part of Turkey supported by US-NATO? In many regards, Turkey is acting as a US proxy:

Turkey’s incursion was backed by US air-cover, drones, and embedded special forces per the WSJ. These were there largely to prevent Russia and Syria from even thinking about taking action against the invading forces.

Turkey is moving into Syria not just with its own military, but with thousands of “rebel opposition groups” including US-backed FSA brigades allied with AlQaeda/Nusra/Sham and the child head-chopping al-Zinki who are reported to form the vanguard. Syrian territory is outright being turned over to them by the Turkish military, simply exchanging control from one group of terrorist jihadis (ISIS) to others who are more media acceptable and more direct proxies of the Erdogan regime, the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

That said, ISIS has not resisted the Turkish advance at all – simply “melting away” (or exchanging one set of uniforms for another?). (Moon of Alabama

Do the SAA Syrian forces have the military capabilities of confronting Turkish ground forces without Russian and Iranian support? How will Tehran react to the influx of Turkish forces? Will it come to the rescue of its Syrian ally?

An “incident” could be used as a pretext to justify a broader NATO-led war. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty (NATO’s founding document) states under the doctrine of “collective security” that an attack against one member state of the Atlantic Alliance (e.g. Turkey) is an attack against all members states of the Atlantic Alliance.

Dangerous crossroads. With the incursion of Turkish ground forces, military confrontation with Syria’s allies, namely Iran and Russia, is a distinct possibility which could lead to a process of escalation beyond Syria’s borders.

The Erdogan-Jo Biden Meeting

From Washington’s perspective, this ground invasion sets the stage for a possible annexation of part of Northern Syria by Turkey. It also opens the door for the deployment of US-NATO ground force operations directed against central and southern Syria.

Erdogan met up with Vice President Biden on August 23, following the influx of Turkish tanks into Northern Syria. The invasion is carefully coordinated with the US which provided extensive air force protection. There is no rift between Ankara and Washington, quite the opposite:

It [is] difficult to believe that Turkey truly suspected the US of an attempted decapitation of the nation’s senior leadership in a violent, abortive coup just last month, only to be conducting joint operations with the US inside Syria with US military forces still based within Turkish territory.

What is much more likely is that the coup was staged to feign a US-Turkish fallout, draw in Russia and allow Turkey to make sweeping purges of any elements within the Turkish armed forces that might oppose a cross-border foray into Syria, a foray that is now unfolding. (See The New Atlas, Global Research, August 24, 2016)

Media reports convey the illusion that the Biden-Erdogan meetings were called to discuss the extradition of the alleged architect of the failed coup Gulen. This was a smokescreen. Jo Biden who had also met Erdogan back in January, gave the green-light on behalf of Washington for a joint US-Turkey-NATO military incursion into Syria.

The Kurdish Question

The invasion is not directed against Daesh (ISIS) which is protected by Ankara, it is geared towards fighting SAA forces as well as Kurdish YPG forces, which are “officially” supported by the US. The US supported ISIS-Daesh and Al Qaeda affiliated rebels are working hand in glove with the Turkish invaders.

The invasion is also part of a longstanding project by Turkey of creating a “safe-haven” within Northern Syria (see map above) which can be used to extend US-NATO-Turkey military operations Southwards into Syria’s heartland.

Washington has warned its Kurdish allies not to confront Turkish forces:

Biden said the Kurds, who Turkey claims intend to establish a separate state along a border corridor in conjunction with Turkey’s own Kurdish population, “cannot, will not, and under no circumstances will get American support if they do not keep” what he said was a commitment to return to the east.

Washington will no doubt eventually clash with Ankara with regard to Turkey’s project of territorial expansion in Northern Syria. Washington’s longstanding objective is to create a Kurdish State in Northern Syria, within the framework of a territorial breakup of both Syria and Iraq. (see US National War Academy map below). In a bitter irony, this “New Middle East” project also consists in annexing part of Turkey to the proposed Kurdish State. In other words, Turkey’s New Ottoman objective of territorial expansion encroaches upon Washington’s design to fragment Iraq, Syria, Iran as well as Turkey. In other words, America’s ultimate imperial design is to weaken Turkey as a regional power.

The Pentagon has defined a military roadmap: “The road to Tehran goes through Damascus.” The invasion of Northern Syria creates conditions for a broader war.

Moreover, on the US agenda is a longstanding objective, namely to wage war on Iran. In this regard, US military strategy largely consists in creating conditions for America’s staunchest allies (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel) to confront Iran, and act indirectly on behalf of US interests. i.e. “do the job for us”.

Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-nato-turkey-invasion-of-northern-syria-cia-failed-turkey-coup-lays-groundwork-for-broader-middle-east-war/5542921

Yerevan, Rojava, Drones

August 29, 2016 By administrator

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

The long-awaited Invasion of Syria by Turkey has commenced. What has Turkey to gain?

1. It stops Kurdish advances westward;
2. It regains some credibility with the U.S. by “fighting” ISIS/Daesh;
3. It reinforces and consolidates its relationships and connections with Syrian opposition groups;
4. It allows Turkey to attack PYD (Kurdish forces), which is already happening with Turkish artillery hitting Kurdish positions inside Syria;
5. It provides a miniscule smidgen of credibility for Turkey in Iran’s and Russia’s eyes, that despite Turkey’s commitment to toppling Syria’s President Assad, their ally, it is also giving lip service to “fighting” the region’s and Syria’s current greatest nemesis (ISIS/Daesh);
6. It creates a physical, actual, Turkish military presence inside Syria’s borders, feeding into Erdoğan’s ever-present Ottoman fantasies and Turkish expansionism;
7. It may even be a way to start rebuilding the Turkish military after the significant blows and weakening it experienced thanks to Erdoğan’s post-coup purges (some 40% of the upper echelons) of the military leadership who are allegedly Gulenists.

Why does this matter to Armenians? Anything that can strengthen Turkey is inimical to the Diaspora’s and homeland’s interests, pure and simple, until such time as Turkey fesses up to the Genocide, makes reparations, and terminates its occupation of Wilsonian Armenia. Plus, with the Kessab and Haleb/Aleppo Armenian communities so close, coupled with the damage already caused to our compatriots by the Turkish-supported Syrian opposition, there is a very real risk of further and even more serious harm if Turkish supported forces are strengthened.

What can we do? Aside from the obvious public relations and governmental advocacy work, perhaps it’s time to take military, albeit covert, action.

You might recall reading, since 2011, that in recent months the Republics of Armenia and Karabakh have UAVs – unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, built “in house” and not purchased from other countries. You might also recall that Artzakh has had some success in downing Azerbaijan’s purchased drones. These two areas of experience/expertise – the building and combatting of drones – could be valuable to Kurdish forces. I suggest that some of these drones be shipped to the Syrian-Kurdish area known as Rojava, along with Armenian advisers to fly them and combat opposing drones, to fight ISIS/Daesh.

What have Armenians to gain from this?
1. Our experts/technicians will gain valuable experience which can be used on the Azeri front and to improve the technology in the drones;
2. It is an opportunity to build up a technology/industry in which the RoA has had success;
3. Armenians would be making a contribution to fighting ISIS/Daesh, thus benefitting not just the region, but also the Armenian communities there. Remember, how the church in Der Zor was desecrated and destroyed by those murderous forces?
4. It quietly conveys to Turkey that harming Armenian interests will not be ignored;
5. It would build trust and cooperation between Armenians and Kurds;
6. It is an unusual, out-of-the-box thinking, potentially highly effective step that makes Armenians stronger actors in the region. This is the region where our deported ancestors were walked to death. The place names in the news now read like a tour of Genocide era death zones. Reasserting our presence there is not only a measure of restorative justice, but also another tiny step on our long journey back home…

What do you think? Do you have any other clever ideas that can further empower us in and near the Armenian highlands? Please throw them out for discussion.

***

Endless CDP Summer: How the Democrats Are Losing Armenians

It seems that the California Democratic Party (CDP) is out to create a new summertime tradition.

Unfortunately, it is not a positive tradition. But it IS highly undemocratic.

It’s called voter disenfranchisement. That’s a term Democrats like to hurl at Republicans as a way to give the GOP a black eye among minority voters. But when the minority is Armenian, that’s a different story. Democrats do whatever they want with no repercussions.

What am I referring to?

Earlier this month, the CDP went through its process to determine which of the two Democratic candidates in the runoff election of the 43rd Assembly district would be officially endorsed by the party. The people making this decision are delegates, some elected, some appointed by elected governmental officeholders (Congress, Assembly, statewide, etc.). Both candidates had worked on getting as many of their supporters as possible into the delegate positions.

Just as with other elections, a “vote-by-mail” option is available to the delegates. They can sign a ballot indicating their preferred candidate rather than showing up on the day of the election. Glendale’s thrice elected City Clerk Ardy Kasskahian had more delegate votes than Laura Friedman, in each round of party-endorsement voting leading up to this final showdown before the November election but… were it only that simple.

Friedman’s campaign consultant, Parke Skelton found a way to “invalidate” some of Kassakhian’s votes by crying and accusing Kassakhian supporters of “illegal” activities. The party went along with this even though there were no provisions in the State Party bylaws to support the Skelton/Friedman allegations.

Skelton is very good at what he does. What he does often descends in dirty tricks. In this case, he noticed that the dates on some of Kassakhian’s supporters’ ballots were earlier than the date of their formal appointment as delegates. Sure, this is technically, formalistically, ritualistically, speaking, an issue, though not one that invalidates a vote baesd on the party’s rules. But in reality, what difference does it make? Were those people going to vote differently? Were they not going to be appointed as delegates? Spare me… And, to top it all off, Skelton ended up screwing over one of his Northern California clients who had done the same thing as Kassakhian. Win some, lose some. Disenfrachise anyone and particularly the district’s Armenian community. That’s what the Democratic Party did and condoned by going along with Skelton’s accusations.

That was this summer. Last summer – 2015, you might remember, an election was held for the 43rd Assembly District’s 14 elected delegates to replace a January 2015 election voided by, you guessed it, the CDP. It was the result of nothing but an effort supported by the current Assemblymember, Mike Gatto, to unseat a slate of delegates who won. The slate was called Democrats United. It included members and activists from all of the local grassroots democratic clubs, among them many Armenians. In fact, it included more Armenians than the slate that Friedman and Gatto had been pushing under a misleading banner of being “progressive.” The election was invalidated and held again under the careful, watchful, eye of the Democratic Party only to have similar results. In fact, the second election proved to be an even bigger defeat for the Gatto-Friedman camp than the first one. Mark Twain once said that “It’s better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” But the line between perceptions and reality is often blurred by those who seek a certain outcome and to try to manipulate the process.

These are the kinds of shenanigans that lend credence to those who want to discredit the Democratic Party’s claims to be broadly representative and inclusive. This seems to hit the Armenian community of the region with uncommon frequency. If you were at the receiving end of such exclusionary actions, how would you feel? What would you think of the party? Who would you vote for if you thought the party didn’t want you?

The authorities of the CDP should really take stock and reconsider their invalidation of the delegates’ ballots. In one case (2015) they decided to hold a revote, draining significant time and resources, at the whining and behest of a grown adult Assembly member and his ultra-loyalists. In the other (2016) instance, where a revote would have been quick, easy, and the appropriate action to take, they decided to invalidate the results and postpone a review of their own decision to November 16. That’s more than a week after the November 8 election. At that point, whatever they conclude, it will be inconsequential because it will have absolutely no impact on the election.

Politics is a brutal game requiring sincere and intense participation. Jump in and defend everyone’s right to be counted. More importantly, remember the 43rd! This is the district where the Armenian community’s votes have been marginalized, brutalized, vilified, and taken for granted. Every vote should count – regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or creed. To not count them or give them the opportunity to be counted reeks of the tactics that party bosses used to use to disenfranchise other minorities in this county not too long ago.

Contact the party and let them know how you feel! The endless summer of discontent must come to an end. It’s time to stand up and be counted.

US says clashes between Turkish forces and opposition in Syria ‘unacceptable’

August 29, 2016 By administrator

The United States criticized clashes between Turkish forces and some opposition groups in northern Syria on Aug. 29 as “unacceptable” and called on all armed actors in the fighting to stand down and focus on the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

“We want to make clear that we find these clashes – in areas where ISIL is not located – unacceptable and a source of deep concern,” Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the coalition to counter ISIL, said on his official Twitter account, citing a defense department statement.

“We call on all armed actors to stand down… the U.S. is actively engaged to facilitate such deconfliction and unity of focus on ISIL, which remains a lethal and common threat.”

Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies seized territory controlled by Kurdish-aligned forces on Aug. 29, the fifth day of a cross-border campaign.

Turkish officials say their goal in Syria is to drive out ISIL but also to ensure the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, which Ankara says directly linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), do not expand the territory they already control along Turkey’s border.

The YPG fighters are backed by the United States in the fight against ISIL in Syria.

Terrorist State of Turkey’s army shelled a Kurdish militia group near the Syrian border town of Jarabulus,

August 25, 2016 By administrator

syria-jarabulus-kurd ANKARA (Sputnik) — The Turkish military opened artillery fire on Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters to the south of the town, wiping out the group, Turkish channel NTV said, citing military sources. Ankara announced on Wednesday that Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft,

had begun a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus of militants from the Islamic State jihadist group, outlawed in Russia and many other countries. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the operation in Jarabulus was aimed at stopping the threats posed both by Daesh and Kurdish militants in Syria, which Ankara considers to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) branded a terrorists organization in Turkey. Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said that Turkey expects Syrian Kurds to leave the western bank of the Euphrates within the next week.

Terrorist State of Turkey’s Syria offensive backed by the US aimed at Kurdish YPG

August 24, 2016 By administrator

ypg Turkish forces have crossed into Syria in an attempt to wrestle control of Jarablus from “Islamic State” fighters and thereby prevent Syrian-Kurdish forces from taking the city. Tom Stevenson reports from Istanbul.

For the first time since the start of the Syrian civil war, Turkish forces backed by the United States have crossed the Syrian border and openly intervened against “Islamic State” (IS) forces.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Turkey began conducting heavy artillery strikes – including Howitzer strikes – on the IS-controlled city of Jarablus, which lies on the Turkey-Syria border on the banks of the Euphrates river.

Turkish F-16 aircraft then conducted airstrikes on IS positions in Jarablus as Turkish special forces made for the city. German-built Leopard tanks operated by the Turkish army have followed in their wake with a force of 1,500 Turkish-backed Syrian fighters. The United States has confirmed that it will provide air cover for the Turkish forces.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey has launched the operation “against terrorist groups that constantly threaten our country,” referring to both the Islamic State and Syrian-Kurdish YPG forces whom Ankara views as terrorists.

Before the operation, Syrian-Kurdish YPG forces linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were advancing on Jarablus following their military victory over IS in Manbij.

Turkish pretext?

Syrian Kurdish forces say the operation, which Turkish forces have code-named “Euphrates Shield,” is motivated more by a desire to stop their advance against IS than by anti-IS sentiment.

During the operation, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Kurdish forces to keep away from Jarablus. “If YPG doesn’t retreat back to the east of the Euphrates, Turkey will do what is necessary,” Cavusoglu said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have accused Turkish military intelligence of assassinating the Kurdish forces commander in Jarablus, Abdulsettar Al-Cadiri, just prior to the operations.

The head of the Syrian-Kurdish forces, Salih Muslim, claimed before the operation that Turkey was backing Jihadists in Syria. “Turkey is also trying to activate terrorist groups like al Qaeda in Syria, which are celebrating the beheading of children in Aleppo,” Muslim said.

According to a Western intelligence analyst working on Syria in Gaziantep, there are questions as to the make-up of the 1,500 strong Turkish-backed force.

“There’s some evidence the forces are comprised of Ahrar al-Sham fighters but there has been talk recently of a potential merger between Ahrar al-Sham, Nur ad-Deen az-Zinki, and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham [formerly known as the al Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra – the ed.],” the analyst told DW on condition of anonymity.

Fighters from Liwa Suqour al-Jebal (Falcons of the Mountain Brigade), a US-backed Syrian militia, are also believed to be among the Turkish-backed forces.

Turkey’s change in strategy

Turkey’s intervention underlines a shift in how the Turkish government sees the Syrian civil war, says Selim Sazak, a foreign policy analyst at The Century Foundation.

“Turkey’s original doctrine, under former Prime Minister Davutoglu, was to push for regime change in Syria,” Sazak told DW. “Turkey then found itself facing the possibility of a PKK safe haven in Northern Syria and now Ankara seems to have shifted from total regime change to active denial geared toward containing the YPG and thwarting a PKK safe haven in Northern Syria.”

Sazak points out that for the last year Turkey has been facing IS attacks and a PKK insurgency inside its own borders.

“Turkey simply took the fight to them now that it has replaced the pro-regime change Davutoglu with the more pragmatic-minded Prime Minister [Binali] Yildirim, mended fences with Russia, and seems to have lost all hope in the US keeping the YPG on a short leash.”