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Aid convoy heading to northern Syria amid clashes with Turkey: ICRC

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Aid convoy

Aid convoy

A Syrian convoy of humanitarian aid has reached the northern district of Afrin, which has been the target of a Turkish offensive for more than a month.

The convoy bringing humanitarian supplies to 50,000 displaced people in the war-torn district, said spokeswoman of The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Iolanda Jaquemet said on Thursday under the supervision of

It is the first time this year that the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) have got agreement from all warring sides to send a convoy to the area, she pointed out.

Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that in Aleppo the convoy including 28 trucks entered the crossing of al-Zyiara heading for Afrin under the supervision of the SARC and the ICRC.

SANA’s reporter said the aid convoy is carrying food and medina and other relief supplies to support the residents of Afrin in the face Turkey’s ongoing act of aggression in the region.

The development comes days after the UN Security Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution demanding a 30-day truce in Syria “without delay” to allow aid delivery and medical evacuations.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, however, said the resolution will have no effect on Ankara’s ongoing cross-border offensive in Kurdish areas in northwestern Syria.

Turkey launched the so-called Operation Olive Branch in Syria’s Afrin on January 20 in a bid to eliminate the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara views as a terror organization and the Syrian branch of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’Party (PKK).

Ankara is angry over Washington’s refusal to drop its support for the Kurdish militants.

The Damascus government has already condemned both Turkish and American military activities in Syria as illegal and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

#Russia announces #Syria ceasefire to establish ‘humanitarian corridor’ in Eastern #Ghouta

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Russia announces Syria ceasefire

Russia announces Syria ceasefire

The Russian president has ordered a new ceasefire to allow civilians to exit one of Syria’s last rebel strongholds. The UN has urged warring parties to end hostilities to allow much-needed aid into devastated areas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday ordered a daily “humanitarian pause” to air strikes in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to Russian news agencies.

The ceasefire comes amid calls from the international community to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities as the humanitarian situations worsens on the ground.

What the ceasefire entails:

  • The ceasefire is aimed at establishing a “humanitarian corridor” to allow civilians to exit from Eastern Ghouta, considered one of Syria’s last rebel strongholds.
  • It will begin on Tuesday and last from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time (07:00 to 12:00 UTC), according to the order.
  • It is similar to the ceasefire that was implemented during the siege of eastern Aleppo to avoid civilian casualties.

Massive casualties: Over the past week, more than 500 civilians have been killed by the Syrian government’s latest offensive in Eastern Ghouta. Russian warplanes formed an integral part of the offensive, according to independent monitors, rights groups and US authorities.

Why now: More than 300,000 people have been killed since the conflict emerged in 2011 following a government crackdown on protesters calling for the release of political prisoners and President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Since then, the conflict has evolved into a multifaceted war, drawing in global superpowers, neighboring countries and non-state actors. But as the conflict winds down, Damascus is attempting to consolidate territory across the country with the help of Russia to secure its interests during peace talks.

Given that Eastern Ghouta is one of the last remaining rebel strongholds, the Syrian regime is seeking to strike a fatal blow to the opposition movement before peace talks gain ground.

Report Syrian Government Forces Enter Afrin – YPG Representative

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YPG representative in Afrin Brusk Haseke told Sputnik that the Syrian government forces have entered Afrin besieged by the Turkish military. The Syrian armed forces, however, yet to confirm this information.

“Yes, this is true. Today the Syrian government army entered Afrin in order to defend the city from the Turkish Armed Forces and the Free Syrian Army jointly with the Kurdish forces of the YPG. The government forces have come to help the people of Afrin. We cannot report on the number of soldiers that entered Afrin. This is military information.”

At the same time, the Syrian state TV has shown a convoy, what it says are pro-government forces, entering Afrin.

The troops, wearing camouflage fatigues and waving weapons and Syrian flags from their vehicles are seen on the screen, Reuters said.

Meanwhile, the Syrian TV reports of the shelling of the Syrian government forces, which had entered Afrin by the Turkish military.

However, no official confirmation to this has followed from both — the Syrian and the Turkish sides.

Turkey’s Warning Against Entering Afrin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in the day that Turkish army would encircle Afrin to speed up its operation, adding that possible deployment of Syrian government forces into the city had been “halted through our communications.”

The day before, a senior Kurdish official said that Syrian Kurdish forces and the country’s government had agreed on the deployment of Syrian army troops along border positions in the Afrin region to curb the Turkish campaign.

Later on, Syrian state television channel Ikhbariya reported that pro-Syrian government forces would enter Syria’s Afrin area “within hours.”

However, this information has been refuted by Brusk Haseke, who had called them false and fake news in his interview to Sputnik, saying that the Syrian government forces would not enter Afrin.

Commenting on reports, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said that if Syrian armed forces entered Afrin to support Kurdish militants, this would lead to a catastrophe, giving a green light to split the country.

International Reaction

Reacting to the recent developments in Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that “worse was ahead of us” if nothing is done in the war-torn country.

“We’re heading toward a humanitarian cataclysm” in Syria if nothing is done, Le Drian told French lawmakers.

As the minister stated, he would travel to Russia and Iran in the next few days to discuss the war raging in Syria.

The mighty power The United State capitulate to Erdogan Ottoman Slap

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Rex Tillerson

Turkey,FM Çavuşoğlu US have ‘come to terms’ to normalize ties, Manbij is priority:

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu have agreed that Washington and Ankara will “no longer act alone” in Syria. The US still urged Turkey to “show restraint” in Afrin.

After weeks of tensions between the US and Turkey, with the two NATO powers perilously close to fighting on opposite sides of the conflict in northern Syria, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to try to calm the mood.

Washington and Ankara are at odds over Turkey’s offensive in the northwestern Syria region of Afrin which seeks to drive the Kurdish YPG from the area. The YPG had been Washington’s most effective Syrian ally in the fight against the militant “Islamic State” (IS) group.

‘Normalizing’ relations

“We are not going to act alone any longer, not the US doing one thing, Turkey doing another,” Tillerson said at a joint press conference in Ankara. “We will work together … we have good mechanisms on how we can achieve this, there is a lot of work to be done,” he said.

Tillerson also said that Syria and the US had “precisely the same” objectives for the conflict in Syria, namely defeating IS, stabilizing the wartorn country, and creating a unified and democratic nation. Both the US and Turkey oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We are agreed on normalizing relations again,” Cavusoglu said at the press conference, adding that Washington-Ankara ties were at a “critical phase.”

Israel launch another Aggression on Syria heavy air strikes after F-16 downed

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Israel has struck what it referred to as Iranian targets inside Syria in “large-scale” raids. The operations come after an Israeli warplane crashed under fire from Syrian air defenses.

Israel’s raids came after it had intercepted what it said was an Iranian drone entering its airspace from Syria, which it labeled an “attack.” The incident marked the first occasion that Israel has publicly acknowledged attacking what it identified as Iranian targets in Syria since the conflict started.

“Twelve targets, including three aerial defense batteries and four Iranian targets that are part of Iran’s military establishment in Syria were attacked,” a military statement said. Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus sent a warning to Syria and Iran, saying they were “playing with fire,” while he stressed that his country was not seeking an escalation.

“This is the most blatant and severe Iranian violation of Israeli sovereignty in the last years,” Conricus told journalists. The ongoing confrontations are seen as the most serious between archenemies Israel and Iran since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

The Syrian military and its allies deny that the unmanned drone had violated the Jewish state’s airspace, saying it was on a regular mission gathering intelligence on “Islamic State” (IS) militants.

During the confrontations, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet was hit, presumably by Syrian fire, resulting in the plane crashing over Israeli soil. An Israeli official told the Reuters news agency that the jet was shot down. The two pilots involved survived the crash and are being treated for injuries.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties to “exercise restraint” and work towards “an immediate and unconditional de-escalation of violence.”

In a statement, he stressed that the Syrian people are suffering “through one of the most violent periods in nearly seven years of conflict.”

Netanyahu discusses military actions with Putin

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the tensions in Syria in a telephone call, the Russian Interfax news agency cited the Kremlin as saying.

“They discussed the situation around the actions of the Israeli air force, which carried out missile strikes on targets in Syria,” Interfax said, stressing that Putin told Netanyahu that there was a need to avoid any steps that would lead to a new confrontation in the region.

Iran decries Israeli ‘lies’

Iran, meanwhile, denounced the news of successful Israeli strikes as “lies” and said Syria had the right to self-defense in response to Israeli strikes.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in order “to cover their crimes in the region, Israeli officials are resorting to lies against other countries.” Ghasemi added that “Iran does not have a military presence in Syria, and has only sent military advisers at the request of the Syrian government.”

Syrian anti-aircraft shot down Israeli F-16 jet military says

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An Israeli F-16 fighter jet crashed Saturday in northern Israel due to “massive anti-aircraft fire” from Syrian forces, the CNN reports, citing the Israeli army.

Both pilots aboard the Israeli jet are safe, the Israeli army reported.

The incident was reported after an Israeli combat helicopter came in contact with an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle that had been launched from Syria, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

Israeli forces also launched attacks on what they described as Iranian targets in Syria, the IDF said.

Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman with the Israel Defense Forces said in a tweet that “Iran is responsible for this severe violation of Israeli sovereignty.

Breaking News: U.S.-backed Kurds Shoot Down Turkish Military Helicopter in Syria

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Kurds Shoot Down Turkish Military Helicopter in Syria

Kurds Shoot Down Turkish Military Helicopter in Syria

As of Friday, Turkish warplanes have launched a new wave of bombing of Kurdish militia targets in Syria’s Afrin region

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says those responsible will ‘suffer the consequences.

A Turkish military helicopter has been shot down in northern Syria during an operation against US-backed Kurdish forces, according to Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Speaking in Istanbul, Mr Erdoğan did not mention the name of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units or YPG but said those responsible would pay for their actions.

The Turkish military has not made a statement but a spokesman for the Kurdish militia, Mustafa Bali, confirmed his fighters downed the chopper in Raju, northwest Afrin.

“A military helicopter was downed. We will have losses, but they [perpetrators] will suffer the consequences,” Mr Erdoğan said, according to YeniSafak.

“Our security forces are engaging in a great fight. We destroyed many of their missile depots yesterday,” he added.

Turkey launched a military offensive on 20 January to uproot the YPG from Afrin in what has been dubbed Operation Olive Branch.

The YPG are considered by Turkey to be an extension of an insurgency within its own borders.

Nineteen Turkish soldiers have died since the operation started

Syria air defenses respond to new Israeli aggression near Damascus: Army

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The Syrian army says its air defenses intercepted several missiles fired by Israeli warplanes towards a military position near the capital, Damascus.

In a statement carried by state media on Wednesday, the army said the Israeli aircraft used Lebanese airspace for the missile strikes.

Loud blasts were heard in Damascus at around 3:30 a.m. local time.

“Our air defense systems blocked them and destroyed most of them,” said the statement.

“The general command of the armed forces holds Israel fully responsible for the dangerous consequences for its repeated, aggressive and uncalculated adventures,” it added.

The new Israeli act of aggression was first reported by state media, which said the missiles had been aimed at a scientific research center in Jamraya village.

Over the past few years, Israel has frequently attacked military targets in Syria in what is considered as an attempt to prop up terror outfits that have been suffering heavy defeats against Syrian government forces.

Israel has also been providing weapons to anti-Damascus militants as well as medical treatment to the Takfiri elements wounded in Syria.

Netanyahu visits Golan Heights

The latest attack on Syria came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a rare visit to the occupied part of Syria’s Golan Heights and peered across the border.

Netanyahu said the regime was ready for “any scenario and I wouldn’t suggest to anyone that they test us.”

The warning came one week after the Israeli minister of military affairs stressed that a new war with Lebanon would also likely involve Syria.

“Israel’s northern front extends to Syria; it is not just Lebanon. I am not sure that the Syrian government can resist Hezbollah’s attempts to drag them into a war with Israel,” Avigdor Liberman said.

Israel launched two wars on Lebanon in 2000 and 2006, in both cases the Hezbollah resistance movement inflicted heavy losses on the regime’s military.

The regime seized the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later occupied it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

It has built tens of illegal settlements in the area ever since and has used the region to carry out a number of military operations against the Syrian government.

#Egyptian, #Saudi businessmen gear up for #Iraq, Syria, Libya reconstruction “No Turks Please”

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Iraqi Minister of Planning Salman al-Jumaili said Iraq’s reconstruction will cost at least $100 billion

Iraqi Minister of Planning Salman al-Jumaili said Iraq’s reconstruction will cost at least $100 billion

Cairo (Iraqinews.com) – A group of Egyptian and Saudi investors are gearing up to play a more active role in reconstructing Iraq, Libya, and Syria in the coming period by pumping huge investments into the two countries, according to Russia Today TV channel on Sunday.

The initiative came in cooperation between the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC), the Council of Saudi Chambers and the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council.

FEDCOC Chairman Ahmed el Wakil said Cairo and Riyadh have reached a deal to keep on promoting economic cooperation between the two countries and making use of their economic potentials to reconstruct Iraq, Libya and Syria.

“Later this year, two expanded meetings will be held in Libya and Syria to discuss means of supporting their economies,” Wakil said, adding that the gatherings will be attended by businessmen from several Arab countries.

Earlier in January, Iraqi Minister of Planning Salman al-Jumaili, in an interview with Al-Monitor from his office in Baghdad, said that his country will require a massive amount of funds to rebuild the areas liberated from Islamic State (IS) control.

While he noted that it was too early to reach a precise estimate, he estimated the amount would be around $100 billion, adding that this figure “includes all the areas that were damaged during the presence of IS, either by direct occupation or due to terrorist acts.”

Also, Kuwait is scheduled to host an international conference later this month for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Terrorist State of #Turkey say US needs to withdraw from #Syria’s Manbij region immediately: Turkish FM

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The United States needs to withdraw from northern Syria’s Manbij region immediately, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Jan. 27.

President Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 26 had said Turkish forces would sweep Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia from the Syrian border and could push all the way east to the frontier with Iraq, including Manbij.

Speaking to reporters, Çavuşoğlu also said Turkey wanted to see concrete steps by the United States to end its support for the YPG militia.

“We want to see more concrete steps rather than words. The U.S. must cut ties with the terrorist organization,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters before a meeting in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.

Ankara said earlier it had been told by U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster that Washington would not provide the YPG with weapons anymore.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-needs-to-withdraw-from-syrias-manbij-region-immediately-turkish-fm-126385