Posted tagged ‘USA’

Turkish Military Carry Out Airstrikes on PKK Targets in Iraq

October 11, 2015

Turkish Military Carry Out Airstrikes on PKK Targets in Iraq

13:07 11.10.2015

(updated 13:26 11.10.2015)

Source: Turkish Military Carry Out Airstrikes on PKK Targets in Iraq

The Turkish military bombed targets of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkey and Iraq during airstrikes on Sunday.

PKK shelters and gun positions were destroyed during the airstrikes in areas of northern Iraq. At least 14 PKK fighters were killed in the Lice area of southeast Turkey, the military statement said.

The airstrikes were carried out a day after deadly twin bomb blasts in Ankara.Tensions in Turkey escalated in mid-summer when the country launched a military campaign against PKK in northern Iraq, after the militant group claimed responsibility for the murders of two Turkish police officers who they say had aligned themselves with Islamic State.

On Monday, Turkish Interior Minister Selami Altinok said that the Turkish security forces have killed more than 2,000 PKK militants since July.

PKK seeks to create a Kurdish state in parts of Turkey and Iraq. The organization is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and NATO.

 

What’s Behind Carter’s Claim That Russia Will Suffer Casualties in Syria?

October 10, 2015

What’s Behind Carter’s Claim That Russia Will Suffer Casualties in Syria?

18:26 10.10.2015

(updated 18:27 10.10.2015)

Source: What’s Behind Carter’s Claim That Russia Will Suffer Casualties in Syria?

When US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said that he expects Russia will soon suffer casualties, his phrase sparked the question whether the Pentagon has a Soviet-Afghanistan redux in mind for Syria, Germany-based political scientist and analyst Phil Butler remarks.

The real life “war on ISIL” conducted by the US is completely different from what Washington’s tame media sources are telling the public: in fact it is a part of a US strategy of widespread regime change across much of the world, Germany-based American political scientist and analyst Phil Butler notes.

“Without expanding our story too far, the Arab Spring we heard so much about is not finished yet. As Barack Obama and other Western leaders have made abundantly clear, Bashar Assad’s government must be overthrown by whatever means. ISIL, or even al-Qaeda, they’re only bit players in an overall strategy to shift world affairs,” Butler pointed out in his article for New Eastern Outlook.

The US’ large-scale project in the Middle East is supported by its partners and NATO allies, such as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco, Canada, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Also allied with the coalition are the Kurdish administration in Northern Iraq, the so-called “Syrian opposition,” and, rather surprisingly, America’s bitter enemy al-Qaeda, along with numerous jihadist extremist groups like al-Nusra, the political scientist underscored.And here comes Russia…

“Russia is now flying support for a massive Syrian Army push to regain territory and control. The short story being, ISIL has suffered more losses in the last few days than throughout the US/Coalition campaign supposedly designed to eradicate these terrorists,” Butler emphasized.

It goes without saying that Russia has largely upset the US and Co.’s applecart in the region.

Butler quoted US investigative reporter Jeffrey Silverman, who told him that Washington has invested too much in this Middle Eastern project to allow Russia “to just fly in and sort out the terrorists once and for all.”

“We can expect that the US, its proxies, including Turkey, Jordan and Israel, will provide all necessary covert material support to try to save their joint project,” Silverman emphasized.

The question remains open how far Washington will go to halt the Russo-Syrian advance in the war zone.Commenting on the issue, Butler called attention to US Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s recent remarks over Russia’s involvement in Syria.

“This will have consequences for Russia itself. And I also expect that in the coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer casualties in Syria,” Carter said.

Furthermore, less than a week ago Barack Obama declared that Syria would become a “quagmire” for Russia, the US analyst highlighted.

Carter and Obama’s words were not just casual comments, according to Butler. The political scientist referred to the fact that about three decades ago the Reagan administration provided the Afghani Mujaheddin, the would-be Taliban fighters, with Stingers to inflict serious damage on the USSR’s Air Force in Afghanistan. So, is this the option Carter and Obama are hinting at?

“At this juncture, if Obama gives a green light to jihadists shooting down Russian planes, America will be exposed in the game. With millions of lives at stake in the region, and hundreds of millions more affected by the refugee crisis, sanctions, and America polarizing the world, the string pullers of Washington have few options,” the analyst pointed out.

“If I were Ash Carter, I’d make damn sure Russian pilots had an American wing man or two. Even a lucky hit on an SU-34 sends a signal — Afghanistan Redux — America is guilty of chaos again,” Phil Butler stressed.

‘Russia’s Success in Syria Pushes Europe From US Stance Into Kremlin Line’

October 10, 2015

Russia’s Success in Syria Pushes Europe From US Stance Into Kremlin Line’

15:57 06.10.2015 (updated 16:02 06.10.2015)

Source: ‘Russia’s Success in Syria Pushes Europe From US Stance Into Kremlin Line’

A DC think tank has proposed another narrative regarding Russia’s involvement in Syria; having failed to sell the idea of Moscow’s anti-ISIL campaign being a ruse for bombing ‘friendly’ militants, it now claims that “Putin aims to drive a wedge between the US and Europe”, coaxing the latter to embrace closer ties with the Kremlin.

Two research fellows from the Hudson Institute, a conservative DC-based think tank, have laid out their vision of what Russia is up to in the skies above Syria.

The real reason for Russia’s presence, they claim, is not to assist in the fight against the Islamic State, but rather to “drive a wedge between Europeans and Americans”.In their article, which was published on the institute’s website and in Foreign Policy, the authors insist that Europe certainly can’t manage on its own and should be shepherded, if not by the US, then by Russia.

“Should Russia’s narrative on Syria carry the day, the consequences will test the reliability of US leadership,” they say.

The authors reiterate that the true purpose of the US-led coalition in Syria is to oust its legitimate president rather than to merely fight a terrorist group, and lament that the fight against the Islamic State has now taken precedence.

“European governments that have spent political capital supporting Washington’s position from the start of the Syrian crisis, now pressured to prioritize the fight against the Islamic State instead of ousting Assad, are left to ponder if Putin has been right all along.”

“Is he a more reliable ally than Washington? In any case, Russia’s move is less of an enigma to European policymakers than it is to the White House. “If I [were] Russia and Iran, I would act exactly the same way,” they quote a senior European diplomat as telling Foreign Policy.

“Even more worrisome for the future of European liberal polities, Putin’s moves in Syria will only embolden the voices that turn to Moscow as an alternative to Washington and Brussels.”

The authors then get down to the real business of worrying that if President Putin hasn’t been wrong all along, then perhaps the anti-Russian sanctions should be called into question: “more dangerously, this goes beyond Syria. Russian involvement in Syria is inextricably linked to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.”

“Should the Ukrainian situation remain calm, European leaders will have a hard time explaining why they must maintain sanctions on the very country they’re counting on to solve the Syrian problem.”

“Sanctions don’t come cheap for European economies. The European Commission projects that Ukraine-related sanctions cost European economies 0.3 GDP points in 2014 and 2015 — a non-negligible cut, when eurozone GDP is only expected to grow by 1.5 percent in 2015. In short, the sanctions regime is expensive, divisive, and European leaders are beginning to make noise about their desire to rebuild trade relations with Russia. Their business communities demand it, and Europe’s attention span for the conflict in Ukraine is waning.”

With these ‘grim’ prognostications, the authors conclude that “after his recent move, Vladimir Putin seems like a more coherent, reliable player than Washington,” warning that the “cost of American restraint may damage European and transatlantic unity for many years to come.”

A Few Thoughts on Syria From a Famous Russian Journalist (Vladimir Mamontov)

October 10, 2015

A Few Thoughts on Syria From a Famous Russian Journalist (Vladimir Mamontov)

Source: A Few Thoughts on Syria From a Famous Russian Journalist (Vladimir Mamontov)

Vladimir Mamontov is one of the best known journalists in Russia.  Formerly Editor-in-chief of Izvestia, Russia’s largest daily newspaper, he is currently the CEO of a large radio station and a popular blogger.  

The ideas in this short post, which originally appeared on Facebook, accurately reflect what a wide majority of Russians are saying about Syria, their response to Western reactions conveyed in the media.

Translated by Vladimir Gavryushin.

No sooner had the dust settled after the first strikes against terrorists in Syria, it became clear that:

1. The Syrian army will provide Russia with the identities of killed ISIS fighters, to the extent that this is possible.  These notices will contain the names of people who joined ISIS out of zealotry, greed or stupidity. At least 4000 ISIS troops come from countries of the former Soviet Union.

2. Our opponents will go above and beyond their usual efforts to “prove” that we are bombing the wrong people and that we are “bombing civilians or moderate opposition”. What do we have to say to that? – With all due respect ladies and gentlemen, piss off!

3. Assessing the validity of the oxymoron “military positions of the moderate opposition” will now be the responsibility of the Russian armed forces, who will gladly take over the task from the chattering classes.

4. Projecting power with our armed forces beyond our borders is from now on going to be a daily reality for Russian foreign policy, joining that other pillar of Russian power, our nuclear deterrent. This is not very pretty, but that’s the world we live in today.

5. People can argue about the legality of Russia’s action in Crimea, but in Syria we are acting in the strictest possible compliance with international law. This returns Russia to the moral high ground. Claims about “Assad’s tyranny” have become meaningless because he is fighting (with the support of our Air Force and Iran which is in a new phase of cooperation and raprochement with the West) against those who decapitate Christians and other ordinary civilians.

6. Boneheaded John McCain, who seemingly didn’t get enough war during his Vietnam captivity era, is now bawling that the US has lost the initiative. You had the place to yourself for three years!  What the hell were you doing all this time, playing footsie?

7. Amidst all the developments in Syria, Poroshenko (who at the UN was hanging on to Obama for dear life, while Obama spitefully reproached him with: “Well, Petro, when are you going to invite me to your Crimean resort?”) is now in a serious jam. I doubt the recent increase in the sales of his chocolate company will be enough to compensate the bitterness of the rest of his life.  As Alexander Lukashenko (the president of Belarus) pointed out in his speech to the UN, “God sees it all”.

8. Russia is waging a pre-emptive war in Syria.  It’s about time!

9. Guys, be careful, and fly with the angels!

Jordan slams Palestinian deaths, urges international intervention

October 9, 2015

Jordan slams Palestinian deaths, urges international intervention Amman accuses Israel of human rights violations, warns of repercussions for further violence;PA seeks UN protection

By Times of Israel staff October 9, 2015, 11:19 pm

Source: Jordan slams Palestinian deaths, urges international intervention | The Times of Israel

King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses the UN General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2015 (screen capture: YouTube)

King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses the UN General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2015 (screen capture: YouTube)

Jordan on Friday issued a strong condemnation over the deaths of Palestinians at the hands of Israeli security forces in the ongoing violence, branding it a violation of human rights and urging international intervention.

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani expressed outrage at the killing and wounding of many Palestinians at the hands of what he called “ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people,” the Jordanian news agency Petra reported.

Momani said that the killing of Palestinian citizens was one in a series of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. He attributed the violence to “the occupying power in the West Bank and Gaza,” Israel Radio reported.

The minister, who also serves as government spokesman, called on the international community to take immediate steps to force Israel to put an end to its aggression. He also warned of the repercussions of continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, Petra said.

Jordan has issued several vehement condemnations of Israel in recent weeks, with King Abdullah telling the UN General Assembly last month that his country “rejects threats to the holy places and the Arab character of this holy city [of Jerusalem].”

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah also demanded international intervention on Friday, Israel Radio said, calling on the United Nations to provide protection for the Palestinians. Speaking to a local news website, Hamdallah maintained that the Palestinians had the right to defend themselves, both on their land and at their holy places.

At least seven Palestinians were killed Friday by Israeli security forces, including six people who were shot along the border fence that separates Israel from Gaza. Another Palestinian was shot dead by police in the West Bank after he stabbed and wounded an officer in Kiryat Arba, adjacent to Hebron.

Obama Will Violate Law By Implementing Iran Nuclear Deal, Senior Officials Say

October 9, 2015

Obama Will Violate Law By Implementing Iran Nuclear Deal, Senior Officials Say

BY:
October 9, 2015 10:50 am

Source: Obama Will Violate Law By Implementing Iran Nuclear Deal, Senior Officials Say – Washington Free Beacon

 

Senior U.S. officials have said anonymously that the Obama administration will violate federal law by implementing the Iran nuclear agreement.

A sanctions relief provision included in the deal that directs the U.S. to allow foreign subsidiaries of U.S. businesses “to engage in activities with Iran” if Tehran abides by the deal’s stipulations violates a law signed by President Obama in 2012 that closed this foreign subsidiary loophole.

Fox News reported:

[The law, the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (ITRA)] also stipulated, in Section 218, that when it comes to doing business with Iran, … what is prohibited for U.S. parent firms has to be prohibited for foreign subsidiaries, and what is allowed for foreign subsidiaries has to be allowed for U.S. parent firms. What’s more, ITRA contains language, in Section 605, requiring that the terms spelled out in Section 218 shall remain in effect until the president of the United States certifies two things to Congress: first, that Iran has been removed from the State Department’s list of nations that sponsor terrorism, and second, that Iran has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and development of weapons of mass destruction.

The  Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which Obama signed in May before the nuclear agreement was finalized, holds that “any measure of statutory sanctions relief” provided to Iran in the deal must be “taken consistent with existing statutory requirements for such action.”

As Iran remains on the State Department’s list of countries that sponsor terrorism, the Obama administration would be violating the 2012 law by implementing the nuclear deal and allowing foreign subsidiaries to do business with Iran, the officials concluded.

While the State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed “confidence” Thursday that the administration has the authority to implement the provision of the deal related to foreign subsidiaries, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), a lawyer, said companies that allow foreign subsidiaries to engage in business with Iran could face criminal prosecution.

Lawmakers have previously accused the president of breaking the law in relation to the nuclear deal. Nearly 100 House Republicans, led by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), sent a letter to the president in August suggesting he was violating the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act by refusing to disclose side deals related to the agreement to Congress as it reviewed the deal.

Obama never released the side deals, but an apparent draft of one of the undisclosed agreements indicated that Iran would be able to use its own experts to inspect the Parchin nuclear site believed to have housed nuclear arms development.

Obama administration ends $500mn program to train Syrian rebels

October 9, 2015

Obama administration ends $500mn program to train Syrian rebels – report

Published time: 9 Oct, 2015 11:56

Edited time: 9 Oct, 2015 14:00

Source: Obama administration ends $500mn program to train Syrian rebels – report — RT News

 

he Obama administration is set to overhaul the Defense Department’s $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels, according to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. The US president is expected to speak on the matter later on Friday.

Carter said during a Friday news conference in London that Washington has been “looking for several weeks at ways to improve” the program.

He added that he “wasn’t satisfied with the early efforts” of the program, and that Washington is looking for “different ways to achieve the same kind of strategic objective.”

“I think you’ll be hearing very shortly from [President Obama] in that regard about the proposals that he has approved and that we are going to go forward with,” Carter said following a meeting with his British counterpart Michael Fallon.

READ MORE: ‘Who are Syrian moderates & where are they?’

Meanwhile, a Pentagon official told The New York Times that the recruitment of so-called moderate Syrian rebels to go through training programs in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will end.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that a much smaller training center will be opened in Turkey, where a small number of “enablers” – mostly leaders of opposition groups – will be taught operational maneuvers, such as how to call in airstrikes.

A separate US defense official said on Friday that the training program is not ending, but is simply being refocused. Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, the official said that some US training and vetting of Syrian forces would continue, Reuters reported.

Speaking to RT, political analyst Dan Glazebrook said “it was obvious that something was going to have to change…my opinion has always been that this whole business about funding moderate rebels has always been a bit of a fantasy, for a number of reasons.”

“There’s nothing moderate about what they’re being trained to do. There’s nothing moderate about forming a militia and then going and killing as many police and soldiers of a sovereign state as you can. And that’s assuming the best case scenario that they’re only attacking police and soldiers…”

He added that there’s “no great surprise that Russia has achieved more in a week of airstrikes than a 62-power coalition has achieved in a year against ISIS.” 

A top US General told Congress in September that only “four or five” US-trained rebels were still fighting on the ground, with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ga.) calling the program a “total failure.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at the time that the small number “certainly raises legitimate questions about what kinds of changes need to be made to this program.”

Senator John McCain has been a vocal critic of Obama’s campaign against ISIS in Syria.

“One year into this campaign, it seems impossible to assert that [Islamic State] is losing and that we are winning. And if you’re not winning in this kind of warfare, you are losing,” McCain said in September.

It comes just one day after reports of a funding bill which earmarks $600 million to support “appropriately vetted” Syrian rebels fighting against both ISIS and the Assad government.

The $500 million training program has experienced multiple setbacks. The first group of trainees disbanded soon after being sent into combat, with some captured or killed and others fleeing. A second class of troops introduced only a small number of new fighters. The original plan, devised in December 2014, aimed to prepare as many as 5,400 fighters this year, and 15,000 over the next three years.

Proof please? CNN claims Russian missiles crashed in Iran, Moscow refutes, US can’t confirm

October 9, 2015

Proof please? CNN claims Russian missiles crashed in Iran, Moscow refutes, US can’t confirm

Published time: 8 Oct, 2015 22:16
Edited time: 8 Oct, 2015 22:37

Source: Proof please? CNN claims Russian missiles crashed in Iran, Moscow refutes, US can’t confirm — RT News

A CNN report, claiming that several Russian cruise missiles targeting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) positions in Syria actually landed in Iran, has been refuted by the Russian Defense Ministry, while the US State Department say they can’t confirm.
Trends
Russian anti-terror op in Syria

The American broadcaster cited two unnamed US officials, who said that four Russian missiles had crashed somewhere in Iran after being launched from vessels in the Caspian Sea. The report suggested that “some buildings were damaged and civilians may have been hurt.”

READ MORE: 4 Russian warships launch 26 missiles against ISIS from Caspian Sea

This triggered a quick reaction from the Russian Defense Ministry, with spokesman Igor Konashenkov saying that all the missiles had hit their targets on Wednesday. “Unlike CNN, we don’t distribute information citing anonymous sources, but show the very missile launches and the way they hit their targets almost in real time,” Konashenkov said. The spokesman pointed out that the strike targets are being photographed before and after being hit, while Russian drones are monitoring the situation from Syrian skies 24/7.

The high precision strikes might have been “unpleasant and surprising for our colleagues in the Pentagon,” but the fact is that “the missiles launched from the ships hit their targets,” he said.
“Otherwise one would have to acknowledge that IS facilities – located at a considerable distance from each other – exploded all by themselves,” Konashenkov said.

US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that he couldn’t confirm CNN’s report, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, a source in Iran’s Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti that Tehran has “no information of Russian missiles crashing on Iranian territory.”

On Wednesday, four Russian naval warships in the Caspian Sea fired a total of 26 missiles at positions of Islamic State in Syria, hitting all the targets, according to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.
Moscow slams Carter’s warning about cost of Syria strikes

Konashenkov also lashed out at a fresh statement from Pentagon head Ashton Carter, who predicted Russian losses in its Syrian operation.

“In their assessments of the US military’s actions in various operations conducted by them all over the world, the Russian Defense Ministry has never stooped to publicly speaking of expectations of the deaths of American soldiers” Konashenkov stressed.

READ MORE: Combat report: Russian jets strike 27 terrorist facilities in Syria overnight

According to the spokesman, Carters’ words demonstrate the degree of cynicism among “some of the representatives” of the current US government.

Moscow’s air operation in Syria “will have consequences primarily for Russia itself,” Carter said at a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“I expect that in the next few days the Russians will begin to lose in Syria,” the US Defense Secretary added, also mentioning the possibility of retaliatory attacks by extremists in Russia.
Russia launched its anti-terror air campaign in Syria at the request of the Syrian government on September 30.The Russian military has destroyed over a hundred terrorist targets, including command posts, ammunition depots, training camps and armored vehicles, since the start of the operation.

U.N. Officials on Way to ‘Rescue’ Israel and PA with ‘Peace Process’

October 8, 2015

’ The Palestinian Authority is ruled by anarchy, Israel has no choice but to kill or be killed, so the U.N. will gallop in next week on its horse called the “peace process.”

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu

Published: October 8th, 2015

Source: The Jewish Press » » U.N. Officials on Way to ‘Rescue’ Israel and PA with ‘Peace Process’

The "peace process."

The “peace process.”
Photo Credit: Asher Schwartz

 

There is no “Third Intifada” nor is there “war.” Plain and simple, Jerusalem and Palestinian Authority Arabs are on a murder spree.

The United Nations announced Thursday it will send high-ranking officials to Jerusalem and Ramallah next week to try to dig up the “peace process” and save Israel and the Palestinian Authority from themselves.

Or at least, that is how they see it.

This is an old scene, played hundreds of times. Whenever Israel does not give the Palestinian Authority what it wants, Mahmoud Abbas calls for “peaceful resistance” in English while his Fatah party call for the murder of Jews in Arabic.

For example, the official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on Wednesday reported on a statement by Fatah Central Committee Member Jamal Muhaisen, according to a translation and posting by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW):

Muhaisen stated that the Palestinian people has proven that its life and blood have little value [compared] to support for the Al-Aqsa Mosque and achieving freedom and independence… Muhaisen stressed that it is important that the popular uprising) increases, in order to deal with the occupation’s crimes and the settlers. He clarified that the settlers’ presence is illegal, and therefore every measure taken against them is legitimate and legal.

In plain Arabic, Arabs have a license to kill Jews.

But maybe Hamas terrorists and not Fatah terrorists or behind the murders of Rabbi Eitam and Naama Henkin?

A host on official Palestinian Authority TV asked PLO Executive Committee member Mahmoud Ismail, according to PMW:

Are they [killers of the Henkin couple] from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (Fatah’s military wing) or from Hamas?

He answered:

There is no need to return to the argument and dispute about who carried out the operation… There is no need to announce it and boast of having done it. One fulfills his national duty voluntarily, as best as one can.

In plain Arabic, that is more than license to kill. It is a “national duty.”

Abbas has the instincts of a hunting dog. He knows exactly when the time is ripe for the “international; community” to step in and save his neck from being slit by his political opponents, which is just about everyone.

He can count on the U.N. delegation to blame Israel for anything and everything at a time when the Obama administration and even most foreign media are having a hard time blaming the “occupation” for attempted murders in Tel Aviv, Petach Tikvah and Kiryat Gat, let alone the “occupied territory.”

Abbas also knows very well that if he breaks off security arrangements with Israel, he has to make sure his will is in order and that a burial plot is ready.

He also knows that Israel always deals from weakness when international leaders get involved.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not have many cards to play and that he also cannot make much more concessions.

He may have to promise that no new Jewish outposts will be built, even if it means preventing a new community near the location where the Henkins were murdered.

There are a lot of things the Prime Minister “should” do, such as reinstating roadblocks and checkpoints in Judea and Samaria, but like it or not, he cannot do it. Israel cannot roll back concessions, at least not now.

It has to wait until the Palestinian Authority regime totally disintegrates, and that is not going to happen before the United Nations fulfills Abbas wish and flies to his rescue next week.

 

A leaked German document confirms what we already know about Turkish support to Syrian rebels

October 8, 2015

A leaked German document confirms what we already know about Turkish support to Syrian rebels

Published October 6th, 2015 – 09:44 GMT

via SyndiGate.info

Source: A leaked German document confirms what we already know about Turkish support to Syrian rebels | Al Bawaba

Ahrar al-Sham is an ally of al-Nusra Front, Syria's al-Qaeda affiliate. (AFP/File)

Ahrar al-Sham is an ally of al-Nusra Front, Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate. (AFP/File)

It’s a report we’ve all heard before — that Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia, is supporting Syrian rebels to help take President Bashar al-Assad down.

According to the document leaked from the German Intelligence Services, Turkey is providing Ahrar al-Sham and the Islamic Front with weapons. Turkey denied the claim again in May, but it still doesn’t come as much of a surprise.

The document shows German parliamentarian Katrin Kunert’s written request from the German government on May 18.

Here’s a translation:

… Question 25 asked which Syrian parties are receiving which type of weapons from the Turkish government (if possible please list border cities where deliveries take place).

Answer: Since mid-November of 2014, information from Federal German Intelligence Service indicate that Ankara delivers weapons to armed Syrian rebel groups. Recipients are said to be the groups Ahrar al-Sham and Islamic Front. 

German paper Die Welt (“The World”), which published a photo of the document, seemed to confirm the document’s legitimacy when it reported Germany’s attempts to find the person who leaked it to PKK-owned media.

“The German Parliament is filing charges,” said Martin Steltner, a speaker of the prosecution, according to Die Welt. “We are investigating and the investigations will continue.”

So what’s the problem with Turkey supporting these rebels? Both Salafist groups, Ahrar al-Sham and the Islamic Front are known to have more extreme goals in the Syrian conflict. Ahrar al-Sham has partnerships with al-Nusra Front, which is affiliated with al-Qaeda and sometimes considered more dangerous than Daesh (ISIS) itself.

By Hayat Norimine

 

 

turkey-syria-border

 

The so-called “buffer zone” — allegedly established to protect refugees and stage military operations aimed at ISIS — is a de facto no-fly zone used to protect jihadist fighters entering the country from Turkey.

More Evidence of Turkish Collusion with ISIS

Earlier this week a leaked German intelligence document confirmed reports that Turkey is directly assisting Harakat Ahrar ash-Sham al-Islamiyya, a coalition of Islamist and Salafist units that have vowed to establish a Sunni Wahhabist state under Sharia law in Syria.

Ahrar ash-Sham is aligned with al-Nusra which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

The Russians understand that Ahrar ash-Sham — currently the most powerful and effective jihadist group fighting in Syria — must be targeted if it hopes to turn back the effort to unseat Bashar al-Assad.

If NATO follows through on its promise to “defend all allies” by inserting troops in Turkey’s illegal “safe zone,” it will be effectively aiding and abetting the Islamic State.

In May declassified US Defense Intelligence Agency documents from 2012 revealed the United States and its partners in the Gulf states and Turkey supported the Islamic State and plan to establish a Salafist principality in Syria.