Syrian Conflict News Updates

[TomSea]

Russia Sends Chechen Military Police Reinforcements to Syria
By Reuters

Around 300 more Russian military police have arrived in Syria, the defense ministry said on Friday, under an accord between Ankara and Moscow which halted Turkey's military incursion into northeast Syria.

The deal, reached on Tuesday by Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, requires that Russian military police and Syrian border guards remove all Kurdish YPG militia from within 30 kilometer (19 miles) of the Turkish border by next Tuesday.

The military police, from the southern Russian region of Chechnya, will patrol and help with the withdrawal of Kurdish forces and their weapons to 30 kilometer of the Syrian-Turkish border, Interfax news agency reported the ministry as saying.

Video and more at link:  https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/10/25/russia-sends-chechen-military-police-reinforcements-to-syria-a67904

[TomSea]

In rebuke of Erdogan, Armenian genocide resolution could soon pass House
Alexander Nazaryan   National Correspondent
,Yahoo News•October 24, 2019

WASHINGTON — For years a resolution condemning the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by Turkish nationalists during World War I has failed to gain traction in either chamber of Congress. Though lawmakers have long promised a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, they have been hampered by Turkey’s role as a critical ally whose significance has only increased with the rise of violent extremism across the Middle East.

As soon as next week, Democrats in the House of Representatives could ratify a measure recognizing the Armenian genocide, moving it out of committee and to the chamber floor, where it is likely to pass. The House Rules Committee is set to announce Thursday that it is going to take up the resolution next week, a final formal process before it can receive a vote.


Rep. Adam Schiff and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a 1917 photo depicting a scene from the Armenian genocide. (Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: Culture Club/Getty Images/AP)

“I’m proud that the Rules Committee will be considering this resolution next week,” that committee’s chairman, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told Yahoo News, noting that his Worcester-area district has the oldest Armenian diaspora community in the United States. “Not acknowledging the genocide is a stain on our human rights record and sends the exact wrong message to human rights abusers around the world,” he added.

Video and more at: https://news.yahoo.com/in-rebuke-of-erdogan-armenian-genocide-resolution-could-soon-pass-house-141938175.html

Who could vote against this? It's in the House now but we know the Senators' names a little better. Who could vote against this? 49 States have passed bills recognizing the Armenian genocide. It seems like it would be poison not to recognize it.

A lead sponsor of the bill is Schiff, LA area has many Armenians.

[TomSea]

Pentagon readying plan to contain Islamic State, safeguard oil in Syria: U.S. senator

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military leaders are preparing a plan that could keep Islamic State fighters from regaining a foothold in Syria, while preventing Syrian oil from falling into the hands of Iran or the militant group, a Republican senator said on Thursday.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-usa-plan/pentagon-readying-plan-to-contain-islamic-state-safeguard-oil-in-syria-u-s-senator-idUSKBN1X32IC

[TomSea]

Northern Press Association of Syria:

North-Press Agency publishes the details of "Security Mechanism" Guaranteed by the U.S. to protect northern Syria: "Details of Ras al-Ain Secret Meeting"


2019-10-24 15:59:11
North-Press Agency
Sherwan Yousef - Simav Hassan
 
North-Press Agency has obtained video footages from a meeting of a delegation of the US-led Global Coalition against ISIS on last August 22, 2019 with the Military and Civil Council of Ras al-Ain (Sere Kaniye), northern Syria to discuss the planned "security mechanism", which was about to be established on the bordering line between Syria and Turkey, in the area between the cities of Tal Abyad (Tal-Abyad) and Ras al-Ain, which was intended to inform the responsible parties in the two cities about the mechanism to be established in the area linking between them, and the mechanism of translating the plans which were aimed to protect the civilians from any Turkish invasion in order to pave the way for reaching a political solution for the implementation of the UN Resolution 2254 on Syria.
 
The meeting was attended by the border security official in the US forces and the Global Coalition against ISIS, Iskander Deeb "Alex", a representative of the U.S. State Department "George", the official of the US special forces and one of the negotiators for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Turkey, "General Carl".
 
A day after the meeting, the U.S. Central Command, and via its "Twitter" account had announced that "Within 24 hours on the phone call between the U.S. Secretary of Defense and his Turkish counterpart about the security in northern Syria, the SDF dismantled its fortifications". According to the statement, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) thus proved its commitment to support the implementation of the "security mechanism", to start the first phase of the agreement after that. 


Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

Read more at: North-Press Agency publishes the details of "Security Mechanism" Guaranteed by the U.S. to protect northern Syria: "Details of Ras al-Ain Secret Meeting" 

Ilham Ahmed: Washington suggested not to negotiate with Syrian government, but we won't wait for any suggestions


2019-10-25 14:54:53
Washington – North-Press Agency
Hadeel Oueiss
Following Washington's decision to send 500 troops to Syria to continue fighting the Islamic State group (ISIS) and to protect oil, Foreign Policy magazine interviewed Ilham Ahmed, the chief executive of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), under the title "Trump wants U.S. troops in Syria to protect oil, but the Kurds may not welcome them".

"We hear an intention for U.S. troops to stay, but we don't know how they will do it. What we want is to lead our lives and protect our human dignity", Ms. Ahmed said in an interview with Foreign Policy. 

She explained that, “the U.S. has always tried to urge the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) not to communicate with the Syrian government, because this step may cause the withdrawal of the United States from the region, but the SDF has now begun to search for other options, and it won't wait for any suggestions or recommendations from any other country". 

Read more at: Ilham Ahmed: Washington suggested not to negotiate with Syrian government, but we won't wait for any suggestions 

[sneakypete]

To Send Tanks to Syria and a possible planned visit by General Mazloum?? All of these developments and it should not have a different thread?

 

@TomSea

I think so since it is an escalation that might have major consequences.

[sneakypete]

The military police, from the southern Russian region of Chechnya,.....

@TomSea

Well,no one can say they are inexperienced!

[Chosen Daughter]

 
Turkish and Kurdish Forces Said to Clash in Syria

Vivian Yee and Helene Cooper 7 hrs ago

Excerpt:

With American troops on the way out and their former allies falling back, the skirmishes on Thursday underscored that the future of northeastern Syria was largely in the hands of Turkey, the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad and Mr. Assad’s patron, Russia.

Under an agreement on Tuesday between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Turkish, Russian and Syrian government troops will now share control of the swath of Syria vacated by the Americans and Kurdish-led forces.

The power shift was evident in other ways. Mr. Erdogan demanded Thursday that the United States hand over Mazlum Kobani, the Kurdish commander whose forces helped the United States drive the Islamic State out of Syria. Mr. Erdogan said he was “a terrorist” wanted for prosecution by Turkey.

“We have an extradition treaty with America,” Mr. Erdogan said in an interview with TRT Haber, the state news channel. “America should deliver this guy to us.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/turkish-and-kurdish-forces-said-to-clash-in-syria/ar-AAJjH66?ocid=spartanntp

On Wednesday, Trump hinted he would invite SDF Commander Mazlum Kobane to Washington after a phone call with the Kurdish general, writing “look forward to seeing you soon” in a tweet after announcing that US troops would stay in Syria.

Ilhem Ahmed, the head of the SDF’s political wing, told Al-Monitor that Trump administration officials told her that Kobane would be invited to the US. Just minutes later, Graham and five other senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking to expedite the Kurdish general’s US visa.


Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/10/trump-administration-scramble-salvage-us-troops-syria.html#ixzz63OFa4R8J

[txradioguy]

But the ceasefire...

[Chosen Daughter]

But the ceasefire...

And now it looks like Erdogan thinks he owns Trump.  Using him to do their bidding against the Kurds.

[txradioguy]

And now it looks like Erdogan thinks he owns Trump.  Using him to do their bidding against the Kurds.

And to think this all could have been avoided.

[Chosen Daughter]

And to think this all could have been avoided.

It doesn't make sense.

[Chosen Daughter]

World
ISIS is staging attacks in symbolically important places to send a message: We're back

Business Insider•October 24, 2019

REUTERS
ISIS fighters in Iraq attacked a security checkpoint at Allas oil field this week, formerly a major source of income for the group, killing two members of the Iraqi security forces and injuring three more.

The group has also reported attacks in Raqqa, Syria, the former capital of its caliphate, potentially trying to destabilize the security there and eliminate political alternatives to the group.

The attacks come in the midst of a chaotic Turkish invasion into northeastern Syria, during which a US official confirmed that more than 100 ISIS fighters had escaped, and the US has no idea where they are...……

https://www.yahoo.com/news/isis-staging-attacks-symbolically-important-152658525.html

[berdie]

I had just reconciled myself to the screwy way the withdrawal was done and now we are back???  This is crazy.

[TomSea]

What Was the Point of the Syria ‘Withdrawal’?
Kathy Gilsinan

The political benefits were practically nil. The president has long promised to bring American troops home and reduce the country’s military commitments abroad, but this month’s decision, and the sudden way it was announced, drew condemnation from some of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, including Senator Lindsey Graham. “Pray for our Kurdish allies who have been shamelessly abandoned by the Trump administration,” Graham tweeted soon after Trump first made the announcement (though the senator has since declared himself “increasingly optimistic”). U.S. officials who had spent months trying to maintain an uneasy peace between Turkey and the Kurds, and who had emphasized the importance of the U.S. presence in Syria to keep the pressure on a down-but-not-out ISIS, were suddenly left explaining to furious lawmakers why the president seemed to have rejected the logic of their efforts.

More at: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/10/what-was-the-point-syria-withdrawal/600829/

Again, in firefox, one can click the page icon in the url box and read the "reader" version, full article.

[TomSea]

This didn't get covered this past week but anyway, apparently Retired General Jack Keane will be on Fox this afternoon:

Eric Shawn
@EricShawnTV
I anchor at 2 pm and 4 to 6 pm @FoxNews
 with @ArthelNeville
: A packed day!
@gen_jackkeane
 @susanferrechio
 @dcexaminer

https://twitter.com/EricShawnTV/status/1188147942932320256

Keane's twitter btw:   https://twitter.com/gen_jackkeane

Also, according to stories, General Keane has advised the President some, check this out:

Sen. Lindsey Graham and a Fox News contributor threw a Hail Mary to keep US troops in Syria
[Business Insider]

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters


    Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and retired US Army Gen. Jack Keane reportedly tried convincing President Donald Trump to walk back his decision to completely withdraw US forces in Syria.

    The duo attempted to persuade him to keep a contingency force in the country to help defend oil fields from Iranian interests, NBC News reported.

    Graham has been outspoken in keeping US troops in Syria, claiming the abrupt withdrawal would abandon Kurdish allies and lead to a resurgence of ISIS.

More: https://news.yahoo.com/sen-lindsey-graham-fox-news-184540095.html

In days, surely, we will take this off the top of the page:

US Forces Leave Iraq Towards Oil Fields in Syria
BasNews 26/10/2019 - 20:01 Published in Middle East
US Forces Leave Iraq Towards Oil Fields in Syria

ERBIL - A convoy of the US forces were photographed on Saturday as crossing the Iraqi border towards the oil fields in neighboring Syria.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/middle-east/556538

[TomSea]

Turkey’s Erdoğan files criminal complaint against French Le Point magazine
By   TM -   October 25, 2019


Lawyers for Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan have filed a criminal complaint against French magazine Le Point journalists for allegedly insulting him, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The lawyers filed the complaint against the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Etienne Gernelle and journalist Romain Gubert in a Turkish court.

In its cover page headline, Le Point called Erdoğan “The Eradicator” in a reference to Turkey’s military offensive against Syrian Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria. The front page also read, “Ethnic cleansing, Erdoğan’s method.”

Read more at: https://www.turkishminute.com/2019/10/25/turkeys-erdogan-files-criminal-complaint-against-french-le-point-magazine/

[TomSea]

Erdogan should be prosecuted over Syrian offensive: ex-U.N. investigator del Ponte

ZURICH (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan should be investigated and indicted for war crimes over his country’s military offensive in Syria, former prosecutor and U.N. investigator Carla del Ponte said in an interview published on Saturday.

Del Ponte, a former member of the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said Turkey’s intervention had broken international law and had reignited the conflict in Syria.

Ankara says its incursion - launched after U.S. troops withdrew from the Syrian-Turkish border area - solely targeted the Kurdish YPG militia, which it regards as terrorists linked to Kurdish insurgents operating in southeast Turkey.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-delponte-idUSKBN1X508S

[TomSea]

Though, it sounds harsh, the whole of the Kurd dilemma in Syria is not just on the US's shoulders:

Opinion: Europe has also betrayed the Syrians
US President Trump is not the only one who has failed Syria. Others, including his predecessor Barack Obama and the European Union have as well, says DW's Rainer Sollich.
https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-europe-has-also-betrayed-the-syrians/a-51002134

Well, it certainly is an anti-Trump article opening up, so I will leave it at that.

Russia slams US move on Syrian oil fields as 'banditry'
The US push to claim Syrian oil fields is "banditry," the Russian Defense Ministry has said. A US military convoy was heading towards oil fields at Syria's Deir el-Zour, where Washington already maintains a small force.

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the US has no right to seize oil fields currently controlled by Kurdish forces in the eastern Syrian area of Deir el-Zour.

The condemnation came amid reports that a US military convoy of a dozen vehicles was moving south towards the site.

An unnamed US military official confirmed to AFP news agency that the Pentagon began reinforcing its presence in Deir el-Zour, which boasts rich oil fields

Read more at: https://www.dw.com/en/russia-slams-us-move-on-syrian-oil-fields-as-banditry/a-51002187

[Formerly Once-Ler]

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-approves-special-ops-raid-targeting-isis-leader-baghdadi-1467982
Trump Approves Special Ops Raid Targeting ISIS Leader Baghdadi, Military Says He's Dead

The senior Pentagon official told Newsweek that the compound in which Baghdadi was located was then taken out with an airstrike in order to prevent the site from becoming a shrine to the leader. Turkey, a NATO ally backing local insurgents, was not notified prior to the operation, the official said.

https://twitter.com/MazloumAbdi/status/1188366280908333057
Mazloum Abdî @MazloumAbdi
The official account of SDF General Commander

Successful& historical operation due to a joint intelligence work with the United States of America.
3:06 AM · Oct 27, 2019·Twitter for Android

Turkey Warns U.S. Against Hosting Syrian Kurdish Military Commander
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/25/773188370/turkey-warns-u-s-against-hosting-syrian-kurdish-military-commander


October 25, 2019 4:43 PM ET

Turkey is demanding that U.S. officials call off plans to meet with Mazloum Abdi, the Kurdish commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces which fought alongside American troops to dislodge Islamic State insurgents from northeastern Syria.

"Our allies' dialogue with a terrorist wanted with a red notice is unacceptable," Turkish foreign minister Mevut Cavusoglu told Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency Friday.

Turkish officials label Abdi, whose given name is Ferhat Abdi Åžahin, a terrorist and link him to a separatist insurgency in Turkey known as the PKK, or Kurdish Workers Party. The U.S. State Department lists the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization.

more at link

[TomSea]

Germany did say they could send troops under Nato or by themselves:

World
NATO welcomes German proposal for international safe zone in Syria
| October 26-2019

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that he welcomed a German proposal for further international involvement in a Turkish-Russian safe zone in northern Syria.

Earlier in the week, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer suggested the creation of an “internationally-controlled security zone” in northern Syria following Turkey’s military operation against Syrian Kurdish forces.

Kramp-Karrenbauer said the move would “stabilize the region” and help civilians return to their homes voluntarily.

Read more at: https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/93d4e994-d111-468f-9627-dc59ab645cf3?fbclid=IwAR3EGUs7Da7ouhM3xvn6EB00DrU6JamVkeF_TaERS_eWItadfAR6YuvAF3A

Not sure where this one came from:

U.S. says talks progressing with Saudi on possible nuclear program

DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Saturday that conversations with Saudi Arabia on a nuclear program are going forward.

The world’s top oil exporter had said it wanted to use nuclear power to diversify its energy mix. It wants to go ahead with a full-cycle nuclear program, including the production and enrichment of uranium for atomic fuel.

In order for U.S. companies to compete for Saudi Arabia’s project, Riyadh would normally need to sign an accord on the peaceful use of nuclear technology with Washington.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uae-us-energy-idUSKBN1X509E?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5db499074c15b8000148e97f&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2_rJgWdls4M6P3OuSUMVOBBzj7fVkgi1xHYo9pQYurj-VUnasiOxs_GAg

Pretty unsure about this and, to Iraq, they've killed protesters like crazy, we have troops there. I wonder how long this will go on? You wouldn't or at least, haven't seen them do this in Lebanon but so it is said, Iran is behind the repression in both countries.

https://apnews.com/9623b6f35b5c473ea6aad8115e6ff2d0

[sneakypete]

U.S. says talks progressing with Saudi on possible nuclear program

The only nuclear plan I ever want to hear about that involves Saudi Arabia is a plan to nuke the bastards.

[TomSea]

Trump wants to make a deal with Exxon or others to tap Syrian oil: 'We should be able to take some'
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/27/trump-wants-to-make-a-deal-with-exxon-or-others-to-tap-syrian-oil.html

[mystery-ak]

Syrian Kurds say they are withdrawing from area near Turkish border
By Justine Coleman - 10/27/19 01:25 PM EDT

Syrian Kurds announced on Sunday that their forces are leaving the Turkish border area, Reuters reported.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) made this announcement after Turkey and Russia came to an agreement last week under which Syrian guards and Russia military police would patrol a 19-mile zone along Syria’s border with Turkey. The countries gave the SDF until Tuesday to retreat, Reuters noted.


“The SDF is redeploying to new positions away from the Turkish-Syrian border across northeast Syria in accordance with the terms of the (Erdogan-Putin) agreement in order to stop the bloodshed and to protect the inhabitants of the region from Turkish attacks,” the SDF said in a statement, according to the news service.

more
https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/467647-syrian-kurds-say-they-are-withdrawing-from-area

[Right_in_Virginia]

[TomSea]

Kurdistan 24 English
@K24English
·
5h
EXCLUSIVE: Russian forces accompany the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as they withdraw from areas in northeastern #Syria near the Turkish border. #TwitterKurds

https://twitter.com/K24English/status/1188430857633255424

Also, another ISIS leader apparently killed in another incident. We've gotten a lot of 'leaders' of al Qaeda and ISIS and other groups, but rarely the very top dogs in all of this.

Rojava Defense Units
@DefenseUnits
ISIS spox. Abu Hassan al-Muhajir killed in another joint US-SDF raid in Turkish-controlled Jarablus.

https://twitter.com/DefenseUnits/status/1188505101213806593

Now, I'm curious if ISIS is going to try to strike back, they are always attacking anything, it's hardly like this would let us in for some special trouble.