by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Damscus : A Syrian-Russian joint coordination committee has demanded the US forces to withdraw from Syria, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
The Joint Coordination Committee for Return of Syrian Refugees said in a statement that the US must withdraw its forces, which are illegally present on Syrian soil, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Syrian government in coordination with the Russian side will organise humanitarian convoys as of the beginning of March to help return the displaced Syrians in the Rukban camp in southeastern Syria to their areas, said the statement.
The US forces in the al-Tanf area are preventing aid convoys from reaching the camp, which is controlled by the rebels near the Syrian-Jordanian border, it said.
The humanitarian convoys would reach the area in coordination with the UN, the statement added.
The Syrian and Russian sides opened two humanitarian corridors near al-Tanf for the evacuation of people from al-Rukban on February 19.
The statement charged that the US forces in al-Tanf were preventing the people from leaving the camp.
The Rukban camp is home to 50,000 displaced Syrians, who are suffering from the harsh humanitarian situation because of the cold weather and lack of supplies.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Ankara : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that talks were underway at lower levels with Syria, ruling out any contact at higher levels with Damascus.
“Talks at lower levels must continue with Syria even if not between leaders,” Erdogan said during a live-broadcast interview with Turkish broadcaster TRT, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
Turkey broke all contacts with the Syrian government at the start of the civil war in 2011 and sought to oust President Bashar al-Assad by offering support to some rebel groups.
During their last meeting in Moscow on January 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin encouraged Erdogan to establish some form of contact with the Syrian leadership, invoking a Turkish-Syrian security pact signed in 1998 that could be reactivated to address the security concerns of the two neighbours.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : The Donald Trump-led US administration announced that it has started returning US troops home from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) without revealing any detailed timetable.
“We have started returning US home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign,” said White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders in a statement on Wednesday, claiming that America has “defeated the territorial caliphate”.
Pentagon later echoed the White House claim, saying that the US military has already begun the process of bringing the US forces back while emphasizing the continuity of the campaign, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The Coalition has liberated the IS-held territory, but the campaign against IS is not over,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a tweet.
All US State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours, informed sources said.
An official also revealed that the time-frame for the troops withdrawal from the war-torn Arab country is expected to be between 60 and 100 days.
However, a senior Trump administration official, during a background briefing held on Wednesday afternoon, did not directly answer reporters’ questions on how the administration intends to withdraw the troops or whether there will a deadline for that.
Sanders’ statement came about one hour after US President Donald Trump hinted in a tweet about imminent US troop withdrawal from Syria.
“We have defeated the IS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning.
Earlier on Wednesday, the US media cited anonymous officials as saying that the US is planning a “rapid” and “full” withdrawal of troops from Syria.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 US soldiers deployed in Syria.
Trump has long voiced his desire to bring the US troops back home when possible, while senior administration officials including Defence Secretary James Mattis have advocated for a longer-term military deployment in Syria to secure a victory against the IS.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s claim about victory against the IS has been questioned.
“I strongly disagree. It has morphed into other forms of extremism and the threat is very much alive,” tweeted British Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood, following Trump’s claim on the social media.
Senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned “devastating consequences” for US troops quitting Syria.
“An American withdrawal at this time would be a big win for IS, Iran, Bashar al Assad of Syria, and Russia,” the lawmaker from the state of South Carolina said in a statement on Wednesday.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Social Round-up, World
Beijing / Jakarta / Paris / Kuala Lumpur: Saturday’s four-nation Istanbul summit on Syria between Turkey, Russia, Germany, and France garnered major coverage by the international media.
Chinese news agency Xinhua on Sunday reported Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s remarks that the summit would succeed in “adopting a sincere and constructive approach,” under the heading “Turkey hosts 4-way summit to seek political solution to Syrian issue.”
China Central Television stressed the leaders’ call to establish a lasting cease-fire and assemble a committee to draw up a new Syrian constitution, underlining French President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on the need to abide by to the Sept. 17 agreement between Turkey and Russia to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syria.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK also stressed the issue of forming a constitutional committee in Syria by the end of the year to “lay the groundwork for democratic elections.”
Indonesian daily Tempo underlined the importance of the Idlib deal as well as Turkey’s proximity to the Syrian conflict and the difficulty in slowing or stopping a new migration wave should clashes resume.
Likewise, French media stressed the call to uphold a lasting and stable cease-fire in Idlib and gather a constitutional committee by year’s-end.
Le Monde reported the decision to underscore the need to “ensure humanitarian organizations’ rapid, safe and unhindered access throughout Syria.”
State broadcaster France Info reported on the reaffirmed commitment to the “safe and voluntary return of refugees to Syria” and to fight terrorism throughout the country.
Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in a joint statement on Saturday called for a constitutional committee on Syria for free and fair elections in the war-torn nation.
The leaders “expressed their support for an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that is facilitated by the United Nations,” according to the statement.
Reporting by Fuat Kabakci, Mahmut Atanur, Omer Aydin and Omer Faruk Yildiz :Writing by Ahmet Salih Alacacı
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
S-300 missile systems
Moscow : Russia has delivered to Syria S-300 air defence systems to improve safety of its military personnel deployed in the country, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said.
“We have completed the delivery of S-300 systems. This includes 49 pieces of equipment: lighting locators, basic detection systems, control vehicles and four launchers,” Shoigu said on Tuesday during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the Russian Security Council, according to a Kremlin transcript.
The delivery was completed on Monday, which was part of measures aimed at strengthening air defence systems in Syria and the protection of Russian military personnel, the minister said, Xinhua reported.
In addition, the electronic warfare system in Syria was significantly strengthened and the delivery of equipment of the unified control system has also begun.
The Defence Ministry has started training the selected personnel and specialists to use the S-300 systems, which will last for three months, Shoigu said.
On September 17, a Russian Il-20 surveillance plane was mistakenly downed by Syria’s S-200 system when it was preparing to land at the Russian Hmeymim air base at a time when four Israeli jets were conducting an airstrike in the vicinity.
Last week, Shoigu said that Moscow will strengthen Syria’s air defence by providing it with modern S-300 missile systems and identification friend-or-foe (IFF) devices within two weeks.
—IANS
