بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | أبريل 24, 2019 | Syria in a Week, غير مصنف
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Easter and Refugees
21 April 2019
Pope Francis on Sunday urged world leaders to exert efforts to find a solution to the Syrian crisis and help millions of refugees go back to their home. He also called on the parties involved in Libya to choose dialogue over war.
In his traditional Easter Sunday at the Vatican, where some seventy thousand people were gathered in Saint Peter’s square, the pope also expressed his “sadness” at news of the deadly bomb attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka.
In Syria, where President Bashar Al-Assad has steadily recovered territory lost to armed opposition groups, the pope lamented the fate of “the beloved Syrian people, victims of an ongoing conflict to which we risk becoming ever more resigned and even indifferent.”
“Now is the time for a renewed commitment for a political solution able to respond to people’s legitimate hopes for freedom, peace and justice, confront the humanitarian crisis and favor the secure re-entry of the homeless, along with all those who have taken refuge in neighboring countries, especially Lebanon and Jordan,” the pope said.
Port for Lease
20 April 2019
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said on Saturday that his country would lease Syria’s Tartus port for forty-nine years.
The port would be used for economic and logistic purposes, the Russian Sputnik news agency cited Borisov as saying after a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia and Syria signed an agreement in 2017 to establish a logistic center for the Russian navy’s technical equipment in Tartus.
After al-Assad’s visit to Tehran, Damascus agreed to hand over Lattakia port to Iran so that it can be used to transport oil products to Syria, which is suffering from a fuel shortage crisis.
Parliamentary Summit
20 April 2019
Iraq hosted on Saturday a summit for heads of parliaments, in which representatives from six neighboring countries participated, seeking to strengthen its comeback to the regional diplomatic arena.
The summit was held under the slogan of “Iraq … Stability and Development” and attended by the heads of parliament in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey, while Iran sent Alaa al-Deen Brojirdi, a parliamentarian, as a representative for the head of the Iranian parliament who apologized for not attending.
The importance of this summit stems from joining political rivals on the same table despite the rupture of diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran, and the latter’s support for the government in Damascus against the opposition that is supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, in addition to Jordan which is an ally to the United States, which in turn is Iran’s arch-foe.
In the final statement, the heads of parliaments agreed on the fact that “the stability of Iraq is essential to the stability in the region.”
As for the western border with Syria, Iraq is the only Arab country that is publicly communicating with all parties inside Syria, including Russia, the international coalition, the Kurds, in addition to the opposition and the government, which officially asked Iraq to launch airstrikes on Syrian territory targeting ISIS.
Government Casualties
20 April 2019
Attacks by jihadist factions in various areas in Syria have left around fifty government troops and allied forces dead, most of whom were killed in the last two days as a result of attacks carried out by ISIS that are considered to be the most violent since the collapse of the “caliphate”.
After eight years of a devastating crisis, government forces currently control around sixty percent of the country, while various areas are still out of its reach including areas controlled by the Kurds in the north and east of the country and Idlib governorate – controlled by Tahrir al-Sham (previously Nusra), while ISIS still maintains its presence in the desert between the eastern countryside of Homs (middle Syria) all the way to the Iraqi border.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported the deaths of at least thirteen government soldiers and allied forces after a “fierce attack by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Army, which is affiliated to Tahrir al-Sham, early Saturday on government checkpoints and posts west of Aleppo” in northern Syria.
On another front in Syria, The SOHR reported the deaths of at least thirty-five government soldiers and allied forces as a result of attacks carried out by ISIS in the Syrian desert, which are considered to be the most violent since the collapse of the “caliphate” a month earlier.
Sudden Passing
19 April 2019
The United Nations announced on Friday the sudden passing of Major General Francis Vib-Sanziri of Ghana, Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observation Force (UNDOF), at age sixty-two without stating the cause of his death.
“The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres extends his deep sorrow for the sudden death of Major General Francis Vib-Sanziri,” the UN said in a statement. He “will be remembered for his exemplary career and leadership in the service of United Nations peacekeeping,” the statement added.
The late general was born in 1957 and is a father of two children. He had headed the UNDOF since October 2017 and worked in UN peacekeeping missions in Syria, Lebanon, Rwanda, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
UNDOF has been deployed in the Golan Heights since 1974 to observe the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces. It is made up of a thousand blue hat troops.
The current jurisdiction ends this June and costs around sixty million dollars annually.
After the 1967 war, Israel occupied a major part of the Syrian Golan Heights (1200 km2). These heights possess a strategic position and are rich with water resources.
In 1981, the Jewish country annexed the Golan in a decision not recognized by the international community. However, the United States recently defied this consensus with US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied part of the plateau.
Trump’s decision sparked a wave of condemnations around the world, which brings to mind the reactions that followed the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017.
Kurds in the Elyse
19 April 2019
Turkey sharply criticized French President Emanuel Macron for receiving a Syrian Kurdish delegation, which Ankara perceives as “terrorists”.
“We condemn the reception by French President Emmanuel Macron of a delegation of so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in the statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday hosted a delegation of the SDF, an Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting ISIS in Syria. Macron assured the delegation of “active French support in their fight against ISIS.”
Macron also vowed to keep French forces alongside the SDF and to provide financial support for reconstruction and public services of the Kurdish administration in northern Syria.
Idlib’s Notre-Dame
19 April 2019
In a small village in north-west Syria lies a centuries-old church with two towers at its entrance that are meticulously engraved. Researchers say it is the architectural forerunner of France’s famed Notre-Dame cathedral.
Hemmed by the village of Qalb Lozeh (Arabic for Heart of the Almond), the cathedral which goes by the same name is widely hailed as Syria’s finest example of Byzantine-era architecture. And it is believed to have been the source of inspiration for Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals in Europe.
“It is the earliest known example of the twin tower facade flanking a highly elaborate arched entrance, the precursor to what became known as the Romanesque style,” says Middle East cultural expert Diana Darke.
Qalb Lozeh was built by Syrian Christians whose wealth was based on wine and olive oil production, says Darke. The church was frequented by pilgrims and is thought to have been a key stop on the way to the nearby basilica of Saint Simeon the Stylite.
The abandoned church is within a cluster of forty so-called “Ancient Villages of Northern Syria” which UNESCO has included on its World Heritage List since 2011 and placed on its list of endangered sites.
Hundreds of ruins sites have been damaged in Syria in recent years as a result of fighting and bombardment, in addition to theft and looting. However, Qalb Lozeh church was spared of damage despite its proximity to hot spots.
Fuel Crisis
17 April 2019
A pro-government newspaper in Syria said that the country was suffering from fuel shortage after an Iranian credit line stopped six months ago, and that no Iranian oil tanker had arrived in the country since then.
Syrians say the fuel shortage became worse last week. A witness said that hundreds of cars formed a long line at one of the gasoline stations in Damascus on Wednesday. The official Syrian news agency SANA posted a photo of a traffic jam with a caption stating that Syrians are facing an “economic war.”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in February that the crisis is part of an embargo imposed by governments opposed to his, including the United States which has imposed sanctions banning any commercial trading with Damascus.
The Watan newspaper, which is closely linked to the Syrian government, published a report on its first page saying that the government want to “portray the situation as it really is.”
The report stated that oil production from areas recaptured by government forces is currently twenty-four thousand barrels a day, which is well below the country’s need of one hundred and thirty-six thousand barrels per day.
Therefore, we need more imports, and this is precisely when the Iranian credit line started, the report said, adding that the line was the main source in this context.
The report did not present an explanation on why the Iranian credit line stopped. Tehran is also a target of US sanctions that were re-imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
Iran Mediation
17 April 2019
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Turkey and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
“I met extensively with Bashar al-Assad. I will inform Erdogan of the outcomes of the meeting,” Zarif said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu before meeting with Erdogan.
Ankara cut off its ties with Bashar al-Assad’s government after the onset of the Syrian conflict in 2011, and provided support for militant factions seeking to oust him. However, Erdogan said in February that Turkey maintains “low-level” communication with the Syrian government.
Iran, along with Russia, is one of the Syrian government most prominent allies in the war ravaging the country.
Iran, Russia, and Turkey co-sponsor the Astana track to find a political settlement for the Syrian conflict.
بواسطة Fadia Afashe | مارس 29, 2019 | Culture, غير مصنف
تعتبر اللغة إحدى المكونات الثقافية الأبرز للمجتمعات البشرية، وهي مرآة عاكسة لفكر المجتمعات وتراتبية القوى فيها. هناك جدل واسع بين المفكرين حول أسبقية الفكر على اللغة وعجز اللغة عن التعبير المطلق عن الفكر. لذلك أعتقد أن مناقشة موضوع اللغة لا يكتمل دونما استحضار الفكر الفردي والإجماع المجتمعي. فمفردات اللغة المستعملة تتحدد وفق تصور المرأة لذاتها وتصور المجتمع للدور المرسوم لها. فمن الصعب تشريح اللغة على كافة المستويات، فيما لو تحدثنا فقط عن مفردات اللغة بحد ذاتها. فالقضية هنا ليست بصدد الحديث عن التأنيث أو التذكير في مفردات اللغة بل عن ضرورة الغوص فيما هو أبعد من ذلك ألا هو التعايش بين الفكر واللغة. فاستعمال اللغة ومفرداتها هو أحد الأدوات في التعبير عن الذات التي تحدد العلاقات الاجتماعية المتشابكة ورؤية المرأة لذاتها وانعكاس صورتها في مرآة المجتمع. فما اللغة إلا أداة لتعزيز الفكر.
السؤال المطروح هنا: هل يختلف هذا التعايش بين الفكر واللغة عندما يقوم الشخص بتعلم لغة ثانية؟ خاصة عندما يكون هذا المتعلم شخص بالغ يرزح تحت ظرف اللجوء في بلاد العالم المتقدم؟ وهل هذه التجربة متشابهة عند الرجل والمرأة في مرحلة خلق الهويات الجديدة بتعلم لغة ثانية؟
إن اتقان لغة بلد اللجوء حاجة أساسية لا مفر منها للقدرة على النجاة والتأقلم في مجتمعات جديدة، وهي مهمة غاية في الصعوبة خاصة للاجئين السوريين، فقد حُرم غالبيتهم بسبب النظام التعليمي السوري من اتقان لغة ثانية، مما ضاعف من معاناتهم. واعتقد أن هذه سياسة تعليم مقصودة بكل تأكيد، بغاية تكبيل عقول السوريين للسيطرة عليهم حتى ولو خرجوا من حدود السيطرة المكانية.
تختلف دراسة اللغة عن دراسة أي مواد دراسية أخرى فموضوع اللغة ينضوي على الاطلاع على ثقافة جديدة1 ، مما يشجع الفكر على بدء عملية المقارنة التي تفتح الباب لاستحضار أسئلة لم تكن مألوفة في ظل التعود الذي غالباً ما يتسبب في تعطيل الفكر النقدي. وهذا ينطبق على مجتمعات اللجوء ككل لكنني أعتقد أن أثره أعمق عند المرأة اللاجئة مما هو عند الرجل بحكم اختلاف مستوى القوة الاجتماعية لكليهما. فللرجل مكانة اجتماعية ودور في بلده الأصلي يُشعره أصلاً بالتفوق على المرأة من حيث تراتبية القوى في المجتمع، بينما نجد أن المرأة لا تمتلك هذا الحس بالتفوق الاجتماعي مما يجعلها ترى ما تكتشفه في سياق تعلم اللغة الجديدة بعينٍ مختلفةٍ عن عين الرجل. فاللجوء في دول العالم المتقدم يخفف من تراتبية تلك القوى ليجد اللاجئ نفسه في أغلب الأحيان، سواء أكان رجلاً أم امرأة، في أدنى درجات سلم القوى. فعندما يتناول تعليم اللغة مثلاً مواضيع إبداء الرأي والتعبير عن الذات، نجد المرأة مهتمة ومتحمسة أكثر من الرجل في المشاركة مما يساعدها على التعلم بشكل أسرع وذلك لأنها تمارس، من خلال هذا السياق الجديد في استعمال اللغة، قوة لم تعهدها من قبل. بينما لا نجد ذات الدافع عند الرجل الذي اعتاد أن يمارس هذه القدرة التعبيرية بلغته الأم مما يولد عنده حنيناً لتلك اللغة التي كانت تعبر عن مكنوناته ويمارس من خلالها سلطته بكل سهولة. فعالم استخدام اللغة للتعبير عن الذات عالم جديد على المرأة اللاجئة لم تعهده من قبل، فهو يشعرها بأنها فاعلة وقادرة على التعبير عن رأيها وذاتها وهذا ما يجعلها، في رأيي، مجدة أكثر في تعلم اللغة كون دوافع تعلم اللغة عندها ترتبط باكتشاف الذات.
يرى الباحث غارندر أنّ رؤية الشخص لذاته وكيفية تعريفه للنجاح يؤثر على قدرته على التعلم، أي أنّ الموروث الثقافي يؤثر على تعلم اللغة الثانية2. فتعلم اللغة يتمحور حول هوية المتعلم وكيف يرى نفسه. فغالباً ما كانت المرأة ترى نفسها كما يراها مجتمعها. ففي سورية مثلاً يجب أن تدرس المرأة بشكل عام في مجالاتٍ محددةٍ وتعمل في مجالاتٍ أكثر تحديداً، حتى أن الموضوعات التي تتحدث فيها تختلف عما يتحدث به الرجل وذلك يتبع بالضرورة للدور الذي حدده لها المجتمع سلفاً. لقد خلق اللجوء هويات مختلفة، فاختل ميزان القوى القديم الذي حرم المرأة من شغلِ مركزٍ مساويٍ للرجل، وهذا ما أثر على طريقة تعلم اللغة عند المرأة التي بدأت بتشكيل هوية جديدة لذاتها. في دراسة عن النساء المهاجرات وتعلم اللغة، وجدت الباحثة بوني نورت بيرس أن النساء عندما يتعلمن لغة ثانية يخلقن لأنفسهن هوية اجتماعية جديدة. فعندما يتحدثن باللغة الثانية، فإنهن لا يقمن فقط بتبادل المعلومات مع المتحدثين المستهدفين، ولكن يقمن باستمرار بتنظيم وإعادة تنظيم إحساسهن بذاتهن وارتباطهن بالمجتمع3 . يتم إنتاج الهوية الاجتماعية وإعادة إنتاجها في التفاعل الاجتماعي اليومي، فالدوافع الذاتية والثقة بالنفس والانفتاح على الآخر ليست صفات شخصية ثابتة، ولكنها متغيرة وفقا للعلاقات الاجتماعية وتوازن القوى في المجتمع.
* يعاد نشر هذا المقال في صالون سوريا ضمن تعاون مع شبكة الصحفيات السوريات
1Peirce, B. N. (1993). Language learning, social identity, and immigrant women
2Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: E. Arnold
3Peirce, B. N. (1995 .(Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | مارس 12, 2019 | Syria in a Week, غير مصنف
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Statue!
11 March 2019
Hundreds of Syrians in the southern city of Daraa protested on Sunday at the erection of a new statue of the late President Hafez al-Assad, nearly eight years after the original was toppled at the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
Demonstrators and witnesses said residents walked through the war-ravaged old quarter of the city calling for Assad’s overthrow, as security forces closed off the area to stop residents from other parts of the city joining the demonstration.
The government had given schools and government employees a day off on Sunday to attend a pro-government rally to inaugurate the new bronze statue of late president Hafez al-Assad, erected on the site of the previous statue felled by protesters. A witness said that the rally broke up after gunfire from near the square caused panic among attendees. A group of youths protesting in Daraa’s old quarter carried a placard reading: “It will fall. Your statue is from the past; it is not welcome here.”
The Syrian authorities have reinstalled several large statues of the elder Assad after military victories that have seen his son regain most of the territory once held by opposition forces.
Holding War Criminals Accountable
8 March 2019
International investigators are moving ever closer to finding justice for victims of atrocities in Syria’s eight-year war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, the head of a UN war crimes body said.
Former French judge Catherine Marchi-Uhel,head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), said that her office had received fifteen requests from national judicial or prosecution authorities for cooperation on Syria-related cases in five countries, and amassed a million records in all. The IIIM was set up in 2016 to probe and help prosecute the most serious crimes committed in Syria. “We are progressing I have no doubt, we are going in the right direction,” said Marchi-Uhel.
During the war, large numbers have died in air strikes and bombardment of cities. The United Nations has documented repeated chemical weapons attacks on civilians, and countless have faced torture, summary execution, and disappearance.
Marchi-Uhel is building on evidence gathered by the separate UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, a body of independent experts headed by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro since 2011. “My mandate is to investigate the most serious crimes from all sides and do preparatory work for those most responsible for those crimes to face justice,” she said.
“I don’t sign off on any indictment. With the team we have stopped when we consider a case is ready (for prosecution) … These things take a long time. It is not a bad sign; it means authorities are working seriously.”
Lawyers representing twenty-eight Syrian refugees in Jordan this week asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Syria, arguing the court has jurisdiction because Jordan is a signatory. Also, nine torture survivors submitted a criminal complaint in Sweden on 19 February against Syrian officials, invoking universal jurisdiction.
The Black Enclave
5 – 11 March 2019
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an attack on the Islamic State’s final enclave in eastern Syria on Sunday, aiming at wiping out the last shred of its territorial rule that once spanned a third of Syria and Iraq. Although al-Baghoz is the last residential area controlled by the group, ISIS still constitutes a major security threat through its activities in other remote area and ability to launch guerrilla attacks. The SDF paused their advance towards the surrounded pocket more than once to allow for the exit of civilians, including the wives and children of the group’s fighters. The SDF said that more than four thousand jihadists surrendered last month and tens of thousands of civilians were evacuated.
The United Nations said on Friday that more than sixty-two thousand people displaced by fighting around the ISIS enclave have flooded al-Hol camp, with five thousand and two hundred people arriving between 5-7 March and thousands more expected.
The weather is cold and rainy and there is a shortage of tents and supplies. Dozens of children have died on the way to the camp. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) on Friday said al-Hol was at “breaking point”. Those arriving in al-Hol are in “extremely poor health” with malnutrition, diarrhea, and skin diseases.
Safe Zone on Cold Fire
6-8 March 2019
Turkey cannot accept control of a planned safe zone in northern Syria being given to anyone else, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. If the United States could not take back the weapons it had given to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, it should give them to Turkey.
Fawza Youssef, a senior Kurdish politician, said that the Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria want a multinational force to deploy at the Turkish border and reject the creation of a large “safe zone” that Turkey hopes to control. The Kurdish-led authorities have proposed their idea in talks with US officials while stressing the need for continued joint efforts against ISIS, which is on the brink of losing its last enclave in eastern Syria.
The Kurdish-led authorities were left scrambling for a strategy to protect their region from Turkey in December when President Donald Trump abruptly declared his intention to withdraw all US forces.
Since then, the US has partially reversed that decision and will keep two hundred troops in Syria to join what is expected to be a total commitment of about eight hundred to one thousand five hundred troops from European allies to set up and observe a safe zone in the northeast.
In a related context, General Joseph Votel, Commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Thursday that he was under no pressure to withdraw forces from Syria by any specific date, after President Donald Trump ordered the drawdown of most US troops from Syria. “What is driving the withdrawal of course is our mission, which is the defeat of ISIS, and so that is our principal focus, and that is making sure that we protect our forces, that we don’t withdraw in a manner that increases the risk to our forces,” Votel said.
“There is not pressure on me to meet a specific date at this particular time,” Votel added.
Slow Naturalization
4 March 2019
Adel Jubeir, the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said on Monday it was too early to restore diplomatic ties with Syria or reinstate Damascus to the Arab League without progress on a political process to end the eight-year-old war. “This (reopening the embassy) is related to progress on the political process, so it is still early,” Jubeir told a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said he discussed Syria and Libya with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who is visiting Doha, the first stop in a Gulf tour. A political solution in Syria is the only option for the war-torn country, Al Thani said.
The Arab League suspended Syria’s participation seven years ago, and recently said that Syria’s restoration requires consensus of member states.
Return Guarantor!
9 March 2019
UNHCR Commissioner Filippo Grandi said the United Nations refugee agency should have a bigger presence inside Syria to observe and help refugees returning from abroad and from displacement within the war-torn country. After almost eight years of fighting, President Bashar al-Assad now controls most of Syria and the front lines appear stable for now between government territory and two big enclaves in the north and east still outside Damascus’s control.
“It is important that in areas of return, organizations like UNHCR are present and can observe the return, can have access to the returnees, and can help them address some of the problems they face,” Grandi said in Beirut, as the Syrian conflict approaches its eighth anniversary next week. “Without that presence, there is an element of confidence that is missing in the return of the people,” he added. Grandi also said that UNHCR was working with the Syrian government and its Russian ally on these matters.
Britain’s foreign office minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt said on Saturday the Syrian government had not so far done enough to make Syria a safe place for returnees. “It is clear (Assad) does not want to see many of his refugees return,” Burt told the BBC. “It is essential there will be no reconstruction support from UK and EU until there is a political settlement that goes some way to meeting the needs of those people,” he added.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | فبراير 27, 2019 | Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Evacuation from “Hell”
25 February 2019
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are expecting the evacuation of more civilians from the last ISIS pocket in east Syria, as the exit of thousands of people in recent days is adding another burden on the Kurds and aid organizations.
The completion of the evacuation should set the countdown for the SDF to resolve the battle, either through the surrender of the jihadists or by launching the final offensive, in a prelude to declaring the end of a “caliphate” that has caused terror for years.
The head of the SDF’s media office Mustafa Bali expects that there are “around five thousand people inside,” according to the latest update based on information gathered from evacuees recently.
During its battles with ISIS, the SDF arrested hundreds of foreign fighters (non-Syrian and non-Iraqi) from various nationalities, including British, French, and German. The SDF has repeatedly demanded the concerned countries to take back their citizens and assume responsibility for them.
Ending the battle in Deir Azzor does not mean the end of the group’s danger, due to its ability to mobilize sleeper cells in liberated areas and disperse in the vast Syrian desert.
Iraqi ISIS Fighters Back in their Home Country
24 February 2019
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have handed to Iraq two hundred and eighty Iraqi and foreign detainees in recent days, Iraq’s military said in a statement on Sunday.
An Iraqi military colonel confirmed to Reuters that one hundred and thirty people were transferred on Sunday, adding to the one hundred and fifty transferred on Thursday. They included the first known transfers of non-Iraqi detainees to Iraq, but it was unclear if they will remain in Iraqi custody.
There are meant to be more such handovers under an agreement to transfer a group of some five hundred detainees held by the SDF in Syria, Iraqi military sources said.
The Iraqi military has said only Iraqi nationals were handed over by the SDF.
Around eight hundred foreign fighters who joined ISIS, including many Iraqis, are being held in Syria by the SDF, the group has said. More than two thousand family members are also in camps, with dozens more arriving each day.
Sixteen Workers, One Cylinder
24 February 2019
A gas cylinder explosion inside a warehouse in al-Hol camp in north-east Syria injured sixteen workers, most of them suffered from second degree burns, the International Rescue Committee told the AFP on Sunday.
The camp, which is overseen by the SDF and located in Hasaka governorate, holds more than forty-five thousand people, including five thousand people evacuated since Wednesday from the last pocket under ISIS control in eastern Syria.
The fire destroyed more than two hundred family tents stored inside the warehouse before it was extinguished.
Funeral for Refugees in Canada
23 February 2019
Hundreds of people attended the funeral on Saturday of seven Syrian refugee children killed in a house fire earlier this week in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax.
The Bahro family had moved to Canada in 2017, after being sponsored by a Halifax refugee society, and a widely watched YouTube video showed them being welcomed at an airport with flowers and balloons. The children ranged in age from fifteen years old to four months.
The fire also left their father in critical condition in hospital and their mother was released from hospital.
The cause of the fire remains unknown to authorities, who say the investigation could take months to complete.
Russian Train, Syrian Weapons
23 February 2019
A Russian train carrying various weapons captured by the Russian army from Syrian militants left Moscow on Saturday on a tour to parade Russia’s military gains in Syria.
The train headed from Moscow to Crimea before making its way to the Russian far east and then back to Moscow, visiting 60 cities along the 28,500-kilometer-long journey.
On Saturday, Muscovites were invited to see the nine-trailer train, which carries tanks and other military vehicles captured from Syrian rebels and jihadists, in addition to drones and various other weapons.
“The aim is to show a maximum amount of people in our country the success of the Russian army in the fight with international terrorism,” said Russian Colonel Dmitry Serobaba.
Aleksey, a 31-year-old railway worker, brought his toddler son to see the train. He brought his son “so that he can see that we have a strong army” and said “I am really proud that they are winning in this far away region.”
On Friday, President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian war veterans and serving soldiers on their role in Syria. “By freeing Syrian lands from bandits and saving peaceful civilians, our soldiers are acting boldly, decisively and effectively,” he said at a Kremlin ceremony.
Russia deployed in Syria in September of 2015 upon a request from Syrian authorities. The Russian intervention changed the course of the eight-year conflict and left more than three hundred and sixty thousand dead.
Staying in Light of Withdrawal
22 February 2019
US administration officials said that the United States will not withdraw all its troops from Syria, contrary to what was previously declared, and will leave about four hundred troops instead of the two hundred previously announced.
The White House spokeswoman Sara Sanders said on Sunday that only two hundred troops would remain in Syria as a “peacekeeping group.”
US President Donald Trump, in December, ordered a withdrawal of the two thousand American troops in Syria, saying they had defeated Islamic State militants there.
Syria’s Kurds praised the decision to leave US troops in the area, describing it as a “positive decision.”
The acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan met his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar at the Pentagon on Friday.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staffs Joseph Dunford said that the war against ISIS, in which numerous international parties take part, would continue. The resources for this war will be proportional with the magnitude of the threats.
Trump had declared in December victory over ISIS in Syria, although there are still thousands of the groups fighters defending their last stronghold.
Return After Absence
21 February 2019
Ayman Alloush, the Chargé d’affaires of the Syrian embassy in Amman, Jordan, handed over his country’s approval to participate in the conference of the Union of the Arab Parliaments, scheduled to be held next month.
Alloush said he met with the Nassar al-Qaisi, Deputy Speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives, and handed him a letter from the Chairman of the Syrian People’s Assembly Hammoudeh Sabbagh.
The letter mentioned “participation with pleasure and gratitude in the conference, as Syria is the first country to receive an invitation to participate in the conference,” Alloush added.
Syria’s problem is with some Arab government and not with the people, Allsoush said, adding that the invitation from Jordan is not only from the people, as it carries a political message that Damascus appreciates.
Regarding his country’s participation in the Arab summit if it receives an invitation, Alloush said: “We hope that we do not go there just to take photographs. We hope Arab governments can take decisions that serve the region and its peoples.”
“Syria does not look backward, but forward as President Bashar al-Assad wants,” he added.
The Speaker of the Jordanian House of Representatives Atif al-Tarawneh said recently that he invited the Chairman of the Syrian People’s Assembly Hammoudeh Sabbagh to attend the conference for the Union of Arab Parliaments, which will be held in Amman in March under the slogan “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Palestine.”
Syria’s membership in the Arab league was suspended with the onset of the conflict in the country in 2011. It is still outside the league, and Arab countries are divided on its return to the organization.
Withdrawal of the Passport
21 February 2019
Britain stripped a teenager who travelled to Syria to join ISIS of her citizenship on security grounds, triggering a row over the ramifications of leaving a 19-year-old mother with a jihadist fighter’s child to fend for herself in a war zone.
The fate of Shamima Begum, who was found in a detention camp in Syria last week, has illustrated the ethical, legal and security conundrum that governments face when dealing with the families of militants who swore to destroy the West.
With ISIS depleted and Kurdish-led militia poised to seize the group’s last holdout in eastern Syria, Western capitals are trying to work out what to do with battle-hardened foreign jihadist fighters, and their wives and children.
Begum, who gave birth to a son at the weekend, prompted a public backlash in Britain by appearing unrepentant about seeing severed heads and even claiming the 2017 Manchester suicide attack, which killed twenty-two people, was justified.
She had pleaded to be repatriated back to her family in London and said that she was not a threat.
But ITV News published a February 19 letter from the interior ministry to her mother that said Home Secretary Sajid Javid had taken the decision to deprive Begum of her British citizenship. “In light of the circumstances of your daughter… the order removing her British citizenship has subsequently been made,” the letter said.
Against “Autonomy”
19 February 2019
Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on Tuesday flatly rejected the idea of giving Syrian Kurds a measure of autonomy, saying such a move would open the door to the partition of the country.
The Kurdish-led authority that runs much of north and east Syria has presented a road map for a deal with Assad in recent meetings with his key ally Russia.
The Kurds want to safeguard their autonomous region inside a decentralized state when US troops currently backing them pull out. They also hope a deal with Damascus would dissuade neighboring Turkey from attacking them.
But when asked on Tuesday if Damascus was willing to do a deal that would hand the Kurds some measure of autonomy, Bouthaina Shaaban flatly rejected the suggestion.
“Autonomy means the partition of Syria. We have no way to partition Syria,” she told Reuters on the sidelines of a Middle East conference in Moscow organized by the Valdai Discussion Club.
“Syria is a country that is a melting pot for all people and all people are equal in front of the Syrian law and in front of the Syrian constitution,” she added, calling the Kurds “a precious and very important part of the Syrian people”.
Her comments come after Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad expressed optimism last month over dialogue with Kurdish groups, and suggest the Kurds will face an uphill struggle to wring concessions from Damascus, which has said it wants to retake every inch of territory lost during eight years of war.
Shaaban sat next to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister at the conference and lavishly praised Moscow for its Syria intervention.
She was scathing about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his idea of carving out “a safe zone” in northeast Syria however.
بواسطة Syria in a Week Editors | يناير 29, 2019 | Reports, Syria in a Week
The following is a selection by our editors of significant weekly developments in Syria. Depending on events, each issue will include anywhere from four to eight briefs. This series is produced in both Arabic and English in partnership between Salon Syria and Jadaliyya. Suggestions and blurbs may be sent to info@salonsyria.com.
Iranian-Israeli War
21, 23, 26 January 2019
The leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that the “axis of resistance” could respond to Israeli strikes on Iran and Hezbollah in Syria by striking Tel Aviv. In an interview with al-Mayadeen TV, Nasrallah said that they were deliberating a response to escalating Israeli airstrikes.
Russia said on Wednesday that Israel should stop carrying out “arbitrary air strikes” on Syria days after the Israeli air force targeted “Iranian forces.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that such strikes added to tensions in the region, something she said “was not in the long-term interests of any country there, including Israel.”
“We should never allow Syria, which has suffered years of armed conflict, to be turned into an arena where geopolitical scores are settled,” TASS news agency cited her as saying. Her comments follow Israeli strikes in Syria on Monday.
The Russian news agency said that Israeli airstrikes targeted an airport in southeastern Damascus, killing four Syrian soldiers and wounding six.
Syrian official news media reported a military source saying that the country faced “an intensive attack through consecutive waves of guided missiles.”
Damascus did not mention the scale of destruction or number of casualties resulting from the strikes. However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that eleven people were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that air strike primarily targeted Iranian forces, and also targeted Syrians providing them with aid.
Safe Zone Maneuvers
24, 25 January 2019
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his country expects allies to help set up a “safe zone” in Syria on the border with Turkey within a few months, otherwise Turkey will set it up unilaterally.
US President Donald Trump decided in December to withdraw all two thousand US troops from Syria, and Erdogan subsequently said they had discussed Turkey setting up a twenty-mile-deep safe zone in Syria along the border.
The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Turkey has the capacity to create a “safe zone” in Syria on its own but will not exclude the United States, Russia, or others if they want to cooperate. Speaking after Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Moscow on Wednesday, Cavusoglu said Ankara and Moscow were “on the same page” regarding a Syrian political solution aside from the issue of whether President Bashar al-Assad should stay in office. Cavusoglu said Turkey was in indirect contact with the Syrian government.
Damascus Recognizes Adana Deal
27 January 2019
In a foreign ministry statement, Syria said on Saturday that it is ready to revive a landmark security deal with Turkey, that normalized ties for two decades before the 2011 conflict, if Ankara pulls its troops out of the country and stops backing opposition fighters. Syria said it was committed to the 1998 Adana accord, which forced Damascus to stop harboring the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“Syria remains committed to this accord and all the agreements relating to fighting terror in all its forms by the two countries,” said the foreign ministry statement. Damascus, however, said reviving the Adana deal, which Russian President Vladimir Putin raised during his summit meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week, depended on Ankara ending its backing of opposition fighters and pulling its troops out of northwestern Syria.
Car Bombs Inside Cities
22, 24 January 2019
Official Syrian media said a car bomb exploded in Damascus on Thursday causing damages but no casualties. This is the third of such a blast in a city under government control this week. The official news agency SANA said that the explosion hit al-Adawi neighborhood, north of the central Old City district. A witness said the blast occurred near a hospital.
Official media reported that a car bomb exploded in Lattakia killing one person and wounding fourteen on Tuesday.
On Sunday, a bomb exploded near a highway at the edge of Damascus. The authorities arrested the attacker.
On the other hand, witnesses said that at least three civilians were killed and scores injured from a string of bombs hidden in motorbikes in Syrian towns controlled by Turkey-backed opposition. They said a woman, a child, and a young man were killed and at least eight others injured when a motorbike exploded near a public park in the heart of the city of al-Bab, north of Aleppo. A police source in the town said they had staged a controlled detonation of another motorbike in the town of al-Rai, north of al-Bab, and arrested a suspect.
In a similar incident, three people were injured in the nearby towns of Qabasin and al-Ghandura by blasts also caused by explosives planted in motorcycles parked in public places.
On Wednesday, explosive devices detonated in Afrin, a mainly Kurdish area, which Turkey and its Syrian allies took control of after the Olive Branch operation.
Stability in Idlib!
Reuters
23 January 2019
An agreement with Turkey on Syria’s Idlib governorate has not been fully implemented, raising concerns in Moscow and Damascus, Interfax news agency quoted a Kremlin spokesman as saying on Sunday.
After talks with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that they discussed measures that could be taken to maintain stability in the Syrian governorate of Idlib.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier on Wednesday that the situation in this governorate, where Moscow and Ankara have tried to create a de-escalation zone, was rapidly deteriorating and that it was almost under the full control of Nusra militants.
“Unfortunately there are many problems there and we see them,” said Putin, standing alongside Erdogan, adding that he had agreed to host a summit soon where Russia, Turkey and Iran would discuss the situation in Syria. He did not name a date for the summit, but said he and Erdogan had agreed on its provisional timing.
ISIS Enclave
21, 24 January 2019
Residents and opposition fighters said on Wednesday that US-backed, Kurdish-led forces are on the verge of eliminating ISIS’s last remaining enclave in Syria near the border with Iraq after a four-month-long devastating bombing campaign that has left hundreds of civilian casualties.
The capture of the village of Baghous comes after a string of other villages fell in recent days to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF has now only a seven-kilometer stretch that separates them from full control of the entire east of the Euphrates River region, former residents and insurgents from the area say.
In a related context, local residents said a suicide bomber drove his car into a checkpoint in northeastern Syria on Monday, injuring several soldiers of Kurdish-led forces during a joint convoy with US allies.
Damascus is Tightening the Noose on Europeans
24 January 2019
The European Commission said on Thursday that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad had suspended special visas for European Union diplomats to Damascus.
“The Bashar al-Assad regime has suspended multiply entry visas,” a spokeswoman told a regular Commission briefing. “We are continuing as the EU.. to do whatever we can to avoid it having an impact on the important work we are doing on the ground.”
Arabs Agree on Refugees
20, 21 January 2019
Arab states at an economic summit on Sunday in Beirut called on world powers to step up efforts to enable Syrian refugees to return home. Lebanese officials have called for refugees to go home after the Syrian government reclaimed most of the country with Russian and Iranian help.
“Regarding the intense Syrian displacement and refuge crisis, in addition to the continuation and aggravation of the chronic Palestinian refugee crisis… we call on the international community to take its responsibility to curb the misery and place all efforts to find radical and effective solutions,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said, reading a statement which the summit agreed upon.
The statement asked for “a doubling of efforts to strengthen favorable conditions for the displaced and refugees to return in line with the relevant international law and respect for the sovereignty and laws of the host country.”
A key point of contention has been whether to bring Syria back into the Arab League, more than seven years after its membership was suspended.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for safe refugee returns and said in his speech, “Lebanon calls on the international community from this forum to exert all possible efforts and provide favorable conditions for the safe return of Syrian refugees to their country, especially to accessible stable areas or low-tension areas without tying this to a political solution. The refugees should be provided with incentives to return so that they can participate in the reconstruction and stability of their country.”
The United Nations says it is still too early to ensure safe returns for Syrian refugees. Human rights groups cautioned against forced return to Syria, where a peaceful settlement is still far from being reached.
