The Syrian Crisis

[anoop_mig25]

more so...........

 

[anoop_mig25]

last but not least ................

 

[pmaitra]

This is getting complicated.

The US is about to ditch its allies, the Kurds. This is a no-brainer. The US has ditched anyone and everyone whose usefulness is diminished.

Anyway, the Kurds are fighitng back.

 

[anoop_mig25]

This is getting complicated.

The US is about to ditch its allies, the Kurds. This is a no-brainer. The US has ditched anyone and everyone whose usefulness is diminished.

Anyway, the Kurds are fighitng back.

Is not about to ditch but has allready ditched

I am just wondering What kind of deal might have happened between USA and turkey

I think its Nato base in turkey

 

[asianobserve]

A very good backgrounder on the convoluted war in Syria from Der Spiegel...

Syria à la Carte: Turkish Invasion Highlights Rapidly Shifting Alliances

But first, a bit of background. For years, a tense alliance of convenience had existed in Hasakah between troops loyal to Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and Kurds with close ties to the PKK, the Kurdish militant group in Turkey. The Kurds have continually founded new PKK offshoots in the region, an alphabet soup of groups including most importantly the YPG (which stands for People's Protection Units in Syria) and, more recently, the SDF, or Syrian Democratic Forces. All the groups share personnel, funding and leadership and the image of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan can be seen everywhere. The YPG did not participate in the uprising against Assad and in exchange, the group was allowed to expand its control in Kurdish areas with Assad's unspoken acquiescence. There have been occasional skirmishes between the YPG and Assad troops, but the conflicts have always been rapidly resolved.

Because it is running out of troops, however,

Assad's army in July began recruiting a new militia as part of the "National Defense Force" from Sunni tribes in Hasakah -- fighters from the same clans that were involved in earlier plundering and killing of local Kurds when they rose briefly in 2004. The Kurds haven't forgotten and within days, the situation escalated, with the two sides firing on each other and the Kurds conquering almost the entire provincial capital, likewise named Hasakah. Then on August 18, the Syrian air force bombed Kurdish positions in the region for the first time in five years.

The air strikes didn't have much impact on the local fighting, but they completely altered the international balance of power. Though Turkey has long been fighting against Syrian President Assad, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recognized that the Syrian strikes against the Kurds could be useful. As a leading member of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party formulated it in June: "Ultimately, Assad is a killer and tortures his own population. But he doesn't support Kurdish autonomy. We abhor one another, but in this respect, we are pursuing similar policies."

Assad's attack on the Kurds also facilitated rapprochement between the Turkish and Russian governments on the Syrian question. Ankara and Moscow have long been far apart on Syria. Erdogan has been demanding Assad's deposition since 2011 and finances some rebel groups. Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has preferred to prop up the Assad regime in the hopes of a more orderly transition of power. But the ice age between Erdogan and the West, which has only become colder since the recent putsch attempt in Turkey, has once again made Russia a potential ally for the Turks.

In the tactical shifting of alliances in Syria, the Kurds had hoped to be the cleverest player. Now, however, it looks as though they may have risked too much.

To make matters worse for the Kurds, their relations with the US have likewise deteriorated rapidly, despite being Washington's closest ally in the fight against Islamic State. After pushing IS out of its own areas, Kurdish fighters did not, as had been agreed with the US, turn their attentions to the de facto IS capital of Raqqa but opted instead to head in the opposite direction and push IS out of the Arab city of Manbij before heading north to Jarabulus, another predominantly Arab city.

The recent events mark an unfortunate example of history repeating itself -- of the PKK allowing itself to be used by the Syrian regime only to be dropped at the whim of Damascus. For many years beginning in the 1980s, Assad's father and predecessor Hafez Assad allowed the PKK to maintain a presence in the Syrian-occupied Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. But when Turkish tanks appeared on Syria's northern border in 1998, Hafez turned his back on the Kurds and the PKK had to abandon its Bekaa Valley camps. That marked the beginning of Öcalan's odyssey across the world, which ended with his arrest by Turkish special forces in Kenya.

Now, it looks as though the PKK has once again miscalculated. The group had hoped to take advantage of the US and Russian battle against IS to establish a Kurdish state in northern Syria. And Russia had been happy to use the Kurds to pressure the Turks. Now that Moscow has achieved its goal, though, it looks to be abandoning the PKK.

http://www.spiegel.de/international...-highlights-shifting-alliances-a-1109649.html


It would appear that the real strategic victory that Russia is looking for in Syria is Turkey. Putin wants Turkey to divorce US-NATO and marry it. The US on the other seem bent on holding on to Turkey including making inconvenient concessions to Erdogan.

 

[asianobserve]

Meanwhile in the air war...

In Show of Stealth, F-22s Tailed Su-24s in Syria: Report

The stealth prowess of the fifth-generation fighter jet made by Lockheed Martin Corp. was apparently in effect during the encounter, as the

U.S. pilots said they came within 2,000 feet of the enemy aircraft without the Syrian pilots realizing they were being tailed, according to the article. “I followed him around for all three of his loops,” one of the pilots told Michaels. “He didn’t appear to have any idea I was there.”

The F-22s were prepared to engage the Su-24s but determined the latter didn’t appear to be carrying a weapons payload and thus didn’t pose a threat to U.S. and coalition forces on the ground, USA Today reported.

http://www.defensetech.org/2016/08/26/in-show-of-stealth-f-22s-tailed-su-24s-in-syria-report/

 

[pmaitra]

Is not about to ditch but has allready ditched

I am just wondering What kind of deal might have happened between USA and turkey

I think its Nato base in turkey

According to one report (I cannot remember which one), it was because Erdogan extended the olive branch to Putin.

 

[amoy]

SYRIA TO MAKE MACAU ITS ‘HOME’ FOR 2018 WC QUALIFIERS IN CHINA GROUP
RENATO MARQUES SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2016


Macau Stadium: Syria’s home sweet home for WC qualifiers

Syria’s National Football team will be playing all of their “home” matches for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in Macau, as proposed by the Macau Football Association (MFA) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and confirmed last week to the Times.

According to AFC, “Macau FA proposed to Syria FA to host all five Syrian team home matches. Syria FA accepted this offer and the AFC, following communication with FIFA, has confirmed Macau as the venue for the Syrian home matches, taking into consideration logistics and security aspects,” they told the Times.

Syria ranks 105 in FIFA’s ranking, which is the lowest rank of the six teams included in Asia’s Round 3 Group A qualifiers that includes China, Iran, South Korea, Qatar and Uzbekistan.

On September 6, Syria will play its first match at “home” in Macau against South Korea before heading to China where, exactly one month after, they will face China’s team at Shaanxi Province Stadium, Xian.

Chinese media reports said the initiative will cost AFC 6 million patacas.

 

[Akim]

\
The Turks entered Syria from Kilis province.

 

[arpakola]

8 Palestinian Liberation Army martyrs today in east Damascus. They helped liberate new parts of Tal Sawwan from the Islamists.
The martyrs:

1) 1st Lt. 'Alaa 'Ali 'Ajaj
2) Lt. Maj. Mohannad Hamid 'Abdullah
3) Lt. Maj. Mustafa Mohammad Hawari
4) Mohammad Nasr Falaah
5) Dhiya Mohammad Ahmad
6) Ra'efat Mohammad Hamid Shamlouni
7) Mohammad Qusai Baro
8) Ahmad Zuheir Sha'aban

Rest in peace, heroes.
photo from the Danoun Refugee Camp in Damascus. Paying tribute to their martyrs.
via @leithfadel

 

[Akim]

.....................................................................

 

[Akim]

_____________________________________________

 

[arpakola]

30 Intelligence Officers Including Israelis Killed in Russia Missile Attack in Aleppo
http://en.alalam.ir/news/1864011
The Russian warships in Syria's coastal waters targeted and destroyed a foreign military operations room in Dar Ezza region in the Western part of Aleppo near Saman mountain, killing over two dozen Israeli and western intelligence officers.
Several US, Turkish, Saudi, Qatari and British officers were also killed along with the Israeli officers.
The foreign officers who were killed in the Aleppo operations room were directing the terrorists' attacks in Aleppo and Idlib.
"The Russian warships fired three Caliber missiles at the foreign officers' coordination operations room in Dar Ezza region in the Western part of Aleppo near Saman mountain, killing 30 Israeli and western officers," Sputnik quoted military source in Aleppo as saying on Wednesday.
The operations room was located in the Western part of Aleppo province in the middle of sky-high Saman Mountain and old caves. The region is deep into a chain of mountains, FNA

 

[arpakola]

US coalition Predator drone spotted at time & place of Syria aid convoy attack – Russian military
https://www.rt.com/news/360165-us-drone-syria-russia/
he Russian Defense Ministry says that a US coalition drone was in the vicinity of a humanitarian convoy when it was attacked outside Aleppo. According to the Russian military, the unmanned aircraft was a Predator drone.
“On the evening of September 19, in that specific region, a drone belonging to the international condition, which had taken off from the Incirlik air base in Turkey, was flying at a height of 3,600 meters and traveling at around 200 kilometers per hour,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

“The object was in the area around the town of Urm Al-Kubra, where the convoy was a few minutes before it caught fire,” Konashenkov added. “It left after about 30 minutes.”

A boy rides a bicycle near a damaged aid truck, western Aleppo city, Syria September 20, 2016. © Ammar AbdullahRussia presented all evidence on aid convoy attack, now wants impartial investigation – Lavrov
The Defense Ministry spokesman said he wanted to point out that, as was the case with the tragedy on September 17 which saw US-led coalition airstrike kill and injure 200 people, the Russians would not be making any unfounded allegations.

“Only the owners know what exactly the drone was doing at this particular area at that exact time,” he added.

 

[arpakola]

The Show-Down Over the Damaged Aid Convoy in West Aleppo Is Reaching Comedy Levels
Why would the Syrian or Russian forces attack a convoy which they had earlier let pass through their checkpoints? They could have simply stopped aid at the checkpoint
http://russia-insider.com/en/syria-aid-convoy/ri16594

 

[Anikastha]

This is getting complicated.

The US is about to ditch its allies, the Kurds. This is a no-brainer. The US has ditched anyone and everyone whose usefulness is diminished.

Anyway, the Kurds are fighitng back.

Same will be with us if our usfulness is diminished?

 

[arpakola]

...........................................

 

[arpakola]

China Joins Russia in Syria: Shaping the New Anti-Terrorist Alliance
In a major policy shift, China has launched the pivot to the Middle East aimed at increasing its involvement in the region by providing military training and humanitarian aid in Syria
http://russia-insider.com/en/politi...a-shaping-new-anti-terrorist-alliance/ri16618

 

[arpakola]

.......................................

 

[arpakola]

\....................................