Arab League readmits Syria as relations with Assad normalise

2023/05/07


By Aidan Lewis and Sarah El Safty

CAIRO (Reuters) -The Arab League readmitted Syria after more than a decade of suspension on Sunday, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.

The decision said Syria could resume its participation in Arab League meetings immediately, while calling for a resolution of the crisis resulting from Syria's civil war, including the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and drug smuggling across the region.

While Arab states including the United Arab Emirates have pushed for Syria and Assad's rehabilitation, others, including Qatar, have remained opposed to full normalisation without a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

Some have been keen to set conditions for Syria's return, with Jordan's foreign minister saying last week that the Arab League's reacceptance of Syria, which remains under Western sanctions, would only be the start of "a very long and difficult and challenging process".

"The reinstatement of Syria does not mean normalisation of relations between Arab countries and Syria," Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a press conference in Cairo on Sunday. "This is a sovereign decision for each country to make."

A Jordanian official said Syria would need to show it was serious about reaching a political solution, since this would be a pre-condition to lobbying for any lifting of Western sanctions, a crucial step for funding reconstruction.

CAPTAGON

Sunday's decision said Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the Arab League's Secretary General would form a ministerial group to liaise with the Syrian government and seek solutions to the crisis through recipocral steps.

Practical measures included continuing efforts to facilitate the delivery of aid in Syria, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters.

Syria's readmission follows a Jordanian initiative laying out a roadmap for ending Syria's conflict that includes addressing the issues of refugees, missing detainees, drug smuggling and Iranian militias in Syria.

Jordan is both a destination and a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf countries for captagon, a highly-addictive amphetamine produced in Syria.

Syria's membership of the Arab League was suspended in 2011 after the crackdown on street protests against Assad that led to the civil war. Several Gulf states including Saudi Arabia began backing rebel groups fighting to oust Assad from power.

Assad later regained control over much of Syria with the help of his main allies Iran and Russia, but the war cost hundreds of thousands of lives and led millions to flee the country. Syria remains splintered with its economy in ruins.

Recently, Arab states have been trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to an Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh to discuss the pace and conditions for normalising ties.

Responding to a question over whether Assad could participate, Aboul Gheit told reporters: "If he wishes, because Syria, starting from this evening, is a full member of the Arab League."

"When the invitation is sent by the host country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and if he wishes to participate, he will participate," he added.

Saudi Arabia long resisted restoring relations with Assad but said after its recent rapprochement with Iran - Syria's key regional ally - that a new approach was needed with Damascus.

Washington, which terms Assad's Syria a "rogue" state, has urged Arab states to get something in return for engaging with Assad.

(Additional reporting by Hatem Maher and Nayera Abdallah in Cairo and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman Editing by Mike Harrison, Frances Kerry and Angus MacSwan)









© Reuters

Arab League Votes to Readmit Syria, Ending a Nearly 12-Year Suspension

The country is poised for a triumphant return this month at the league’s next summit — perhaps represented by President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader accused of committing war crimes against his own people.

Foreign ministers of the Arab League meeting on Sunday in Cairo

.Credit...Khaled Elfiqi/EPA, via Shutterstock

By Vivian Yee

Reporting from Cairo

The New York Times
May 7, 2023

Arab nations agreed on Sunday to allow Syria to rejoin the Arab League, taking a crucial step toward ending the country’s international ostracism more than a decade after it was suspended from the group over its use of ruthless force against its own people.

When Syria’s neighbors and peers ejected it from the 22-member league in November 2011, months after its Arab Spring uprising began, the move was seen as a key condemnation of a government that had bombed, gassed and tortured protesters and others in a conflict that metastasized into a long civil war.

Now, the region is normalizing relations, increasingly convinced that Arab countries are gaining little from isolating Syria, as the United States has urged them to. Refusing to deal with Syria means ignoring the reality that its government has all but won the war, proponents of engagement argue.

That leaves Syria poised for a triumphant return this month in Saudi Arabia at the Arab League’s next summit — perhaps represented by President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader accused of committing war crimes against his own people over the past decade. Syria’s rehabilitation could unlock billions of dollars in reconstruction projects and other investments for its tottering economy, further propping up Mr. al-Assad

The circumstances that led to Syria’s suspension have not changed; if anything, the bloodshed has only grown during the civil war that has consumed the country for the past 12 years, leaving Mr. al-Assad in power at home but a pariah nearly everywhere else.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died since the fighting broke out, and more than 14 million have fled their homes for other parts of Syria, neighboring countries or beyond, according to United Nations estimates.

“Today, Arab states have put their own cynical realpolitik and diplomatic agendas above basic humanity,” said Laila Kiki, the executive director of the Syria Campaign, a nonprofit organization that supports Syrian civil society groups.

“By choosing to restore the Syrian regime’s membership of the Arab League, member states have cruelly betrayed tens of thousands of victims of the regime’s war crimes and granted Assad a green light to continue committing horrific crimes with impunity.”

A photograph released by the Iranian presidential office showing Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, center right, and Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, center left, this month in Damascus, Syria.

Credit.../EPA, via Shutterstock

Revulsion at Mr. al-Assad’s actions, along with pressure from the United States, had left most of Syria’s Arab neighbors reluctant to engage with the government over the past decade. A few had openly supported the opposition fighting to topple Mr. al-Assad, and some remain loath to embrace him.

But the regional calculus has shifted. With the Syrian government in Damascus having retaken most of the country from opposition forces, it has been obvious for years that Mr. al-Assad is here to stay.

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Neighboring countries including Lebanon and Jordan have been eager to work with Syria on sending refugees who fled there back home, while others hope to cooperate on efforts to stop the trade of Captagon, an illegal, addictive drug that the Syrian government has produced and sold as sanctions have bitten and its economy has cratered.

The leading Middle Eastern power brokers, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were also looking for a new approach to dealing with Iran, which wields deep influence in Syria after sending fighters and other aid to help Mr. al-Assad cling to power. Deciding that regional isolation had only driven Syria into the arms of Iran, the Gulf monarchies now hope to peel Mr. al-Assad away from Tehran by engaging with him.

An early sign of where things were heading came when the Emirates normalized relations with Damascus in 2018. But the slow-burn movement to restore diplomatic and economic relations with Mr. al-Assad gathered momentum in recent months, after a major earthquake in February killed more than 8,000 people in northern Syria, opening the door for Arab countries to reach out.

Syrians in Atarib protesting a lack of international aid in February, after the earthquake.

Credit...Emily Garthwaite for The New York Times

Soon, planeloads of aid from Syria’s Arab brethren were landing in quake-affected areas, and Egypt dispatched its foreign minister to meet with Mr. al-Assad in Damascus. By mid-April, Tunisia had re-established diplomatic relations with Syria and Saudi Arabia had welcomed Syria’s foreign minister to Jeddah to discuss restoring ties.

After years of deep freeze, the Saudi-Syrian relationship has moved quickly in recent months as Saudi Arabia, wielding its regional clout, pushed other Arab countries toward normalization, as well. It appeared to be the main player fast-tracking Syria’s rehabilitation ahead of the Arab League summit in Jeddah on May 19, though Oman and the U.A.E. had been advocating the same for years, diplomats said.

The Arab rush to welcome Damascus back into the fold happened despite public objections from the United States, which imposed strong sanctions on Syria after its civil war began and has shown no inclination to lift them, still hoping to isolate Syria over its government’s brutality. But American efforts at easing Mr. al-Assad out and replacing him with an inclusive, democratic government have gone nowhere, leaving American officials on the sidelines.

On Twitter on Friday, two days before the Arab League meeting, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken reiterated that the United States continued to oppose normalization with Syria. A peaceful political transition that would eventually replace Mr. al-Assad through elections was “the only viable solution to ending the conflict,” he said.

Realizing they cannot stop Arab allies from restoring ties, U.S. officials have urged them to try to exact a price from Mr. al-Assad in exchange, whether it is guaranteeing the safe return of Syrian refugees, cracking down on the Captagon trade or reducing Iran’s military presence in Syria. The Arab League’s assistant secretary general, Hossam Zaki, said on Sunday that the league had formed a committee to discuss such conditions.

But renewed membership in the group, at least, was a done deal.

A poster of Mr. al-Assad on a destroyed shopping mall in Homs, Syria, in 2014.

Credit...Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times

“Having Syria out of the league wasn’t useful, either to Syria or to the Arabs,” Bassam Abu Abdallah, a Damascus-based political analyst, said on Sunday, describing the decision as “very positive.”

American efforts to drive Mr. al-Assad from power had failed, he said, adding, “The U.S. political elite should abandon the mentality of regime change.”

Many of the countries in the Arab League have not yet formally re-established diplomatic relations with Syria and could still put further conditions on doing so. They include Egypt, a traditional Arab heavyweight that remains more hesitant about embracing Mr. al-Assad than its Gulf allies.

But readmitting Syria to the Arab League is a powerful statement, setting the stage for individual members to restore ties.

Even if some members were steaming ahead on their own, “normalization isn’t complete until they come to this building,” Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the Arab League’s secretary general, said in a recent interview.

Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, and Vivian Nereim from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Vivian Yee is the Cairo bureau chief, covering politics, society and culture in the Middle East and North Africa. She was previously based in Beirut, Lebanon, and in New York, where she wrote about New York City, New York politics and immigration. @VivianHYee

Over a decade later, Syria, Saudi Arabia move toward restoring relations

AP | , Beirut
Apr 13, 202

The announcement followed a visit by Syria's top diplomat to the kingdom, the first since Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012.

Syria and Saudi Arabia are moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries for the first time in more than a decade, the countries said on Thursday in a joint statement.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah meets with Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Faisal Mekdad in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 12, 2023. (Reuters)

The announcement followed a visit by Syria's top diplomat to the kingdom, the first since Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012.

Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syrian President Bashar Assad's brutal crackdown on protesters and later civilians, in an uprising turned civil war that began in 2011.

The breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League.

However, in recent years, as Assad has consolidated control over most of the country, Syria's neighbors have begun to take steps toward rapprochement.

Read Here: In first in decade, Saudi plane carrying quake aid lands in Syria

The overtures have picked up pace since the massive February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, regional rivals that had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.
A delegation headed by Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad, at the invitation of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks about bilateral relations between the two countries, state media from the two countries reported.

Saudi state media reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad was received by the kingdom's Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji.

The meeting focused on the steps needed to reach a “comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would ... achieve national reconciliation, and contribute to the return of Syria to its Arab fold," the two countries said in a joint statement.

Saudi Arabia is hosting the next Arab League summit in May, where a restoration of Syria's membership is widely expected to be on the table.

Also Read: Disruptive Saudi prince's political approach marks ‘sea change’ with Iran deal

The two sides also discussed “the importance of enhancing security and combating terrorism in all its forms, and enhancing cooperation in combating drug smuggling and trafficking,” the statement said.

Syria is a primary producer of the amphetamine-based drug Captagon, which is largely smuggled into Gulf markets for sale.

The talks also focused on “the need to support ... the Syrian state to extend its control over its territories to end the presence of armed militias and external interference in the Syrian internal affairs,” as well as on facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and the return of Syrian refugees.

The visit to Saudi Arabia came after Syria announced on Wednesday that it will reopen its embassy in Tunisia, which cut off relations in 2012.

Tunisian President Kais Saied announced earlier this month that he had directed the country's foreign ministry to appoint a new ambassador to Syria.

His move was reciprocated by the Syrian government, a joint statement from the two countries' foreign ministries said Wednesday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

Syria, Saudi Arabia move toward restoring embassies, flights

By ABBY SEWELL

yesterday

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji, right, meets with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, upon his arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Syria will reopen its embassy in Tunisia, state media reported Wednesday, as Syria's top diplomat visited Saudi Arabia seeking to restore ties that have been severed for more than a decade. 

(SANA via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria and Saudi Arabia said Thursday they were moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights between the two countries for the first time in more than a decade.

The joint statement followed a visit by Syria’s top diplomat to the kingdom, the first since Saudi Arabia cut off diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012.

Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in a 2011 uprising that descended into civil war. The breakdown in relations culminated with Syria being ousted from the Arab League.

However, in recent years, as Assad consolidated control over most of the country, Syria’s neighbors have begun to take steps toward rapprochement. The overtures picked up pace since the massive Feb. 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the Chinese-brokered reestablishment of ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which had backed opposing sides in the Syrian conflict.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad, at the invitation of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks about bilateral relations, state media in the two countries reported. Saudi state media said Mikdad was received by the kingdom’s Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji.

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The meeting focused on the steps needed to reach a “comprehensive political settlement of the Syrian crisis that would ... achieve national reconciliation, and contribute to the return of Syria to its Arab fold,” the joint statement said.

Saudi Arabia is hosting the next Arab League summit in May, when Syria’s membership is widely expected to be on the table. Some members, mainly Qatar, have opposed Damascus’ return to the organization.

Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, reiterated his country’s longstanding position in an interview with state TV late Thursday.

“There were reasons for suspending Syria’s membership in the Arab League and for participating in boycotts of the Syrian regime at that time, and those reasons still exist as far as we are concerned,” he said. “Our decision, as an individual state, has been to not take any steps (toward normalization) without political progress or a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”

But Anna Jacobs, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said she believes “prospects are high that Syria will be readmitted to the Arab League soon,” noting that even Qatar has softened its rhetoric.

“Even if several countries have expressed their opposition to normalization with Assad, it’s not likely that they would go against Riyadh and block Syria’s re-entry,” she said.

The Syrian and Saudi officials also discussed “enhancing security” and ″cooperation in combating drug smuggling and trafficking,” according to the statement. Syria is a primary producer of the amphetamine-based drug Captagon, which is largely smuggled into Gulf Arab markets for sale.

Syria may be hoping the rapprochement with a regional heavyweight will help end its political isolation, improve its flagging economy and potentially bring in reconstruction dollars. Meanwhile, incentives for Saudi Arabia to make a deal are less clear.

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute, said Saudi Arabia — and specifically Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — may be looking for a way to rehabilitate the kingdom’s image. That image was tarnished by the kingdom’s involvement in the war in Yemen and by the 2018 slaying of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, believed by the United States and others to have been at the prince’s orders.

Brokering an Arab consensus on Syria, would feed into Prince Mohammed’s “desire to portray himself as a regional statesman” and “underline the Saudi ability to lead the region,” Ulrichsen said.

Jacobs said the kingdom’s rapprochement with Syria may be part of its strategy on Iran, which is “two-pronged and focused on both containment and diplomacy,” as opposed to the Trump administration’s maximum pressure approach.

As for Syria, Ulrichsen pointed out that U.S. sanctions on Damascus would still stand as an obstacle to any major investments in the Arab country, even with Syria normalizing ties with Saudi Arabia and its readmission to the Arab League.

Mikdad’s visit to Saudi Arabia came after Syria announced on Wednesday that it will reopen its embassy in Tunisia, which cut off relations in 2012. Tunisian President Kais Saied said earlier this month that he had directed the foreign ministry to appoint a new ambassador to Syria.

His move was reciprocated by the Syrian government, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.

Turkey Urges US End Working With Kurds Amid Airstrikes on Syria

FASCIST TURKIYE'S WAR ON KURDISTAN

Selcan Hacaoglu and Firat Kozok
Fri, October 6, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Turkey called on the US to stop working with Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, vowing to maintain its cross-border offensives against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria after the US shot down a Turkish drone in the region.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken “with strong expressions that the US, as an ally, should stop working with the terrorist organization YPG in northern Syria, ” according to a readout statement from Turkey’s Foreign Ministry.

Turkey has since 2015 urged Washington to stop arming and training Kurdish YPG militants, allied with the US forces against Islamic State in Syria, that Turkey sees as terrorists. Turkey conducted retaliatory airstrikes against YPG militants in northern Syria on Thursday, during which an American F-16 jet shot down a Turkish drone that flew to within half a kilometer of US forces in Syria, a rare instance of two NATO allies coming into conflict and which led the lira to weaken.

“Turkey’s counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria will continue with determination,” Fidan said during the call with Blinken on Friday, referring to Turkish airstrikes in reprisal for a suicide-bomb attack in Ankara over the weekend which Turkish intelligence said was carried out by Kurdish militants from Syria.

Turkey views the YPG, thought to have tens of thousands of fighters, as a security threat due to its ties to the PKK — a separatist group that’s based in Iraq and deemed a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.

Fidan and Blinken agreed that an existing de-escalation mechanism between Turkish and US forces in Iraq and Syria should be effectively operated “in a way that would not hinder” Turkey’s fight against terrorism, the readout said, referring to downing of the Turkish drone. The US, for its part, has warned Turkey against unilateral airstrikes that could threaten American personnel.

Turkey Terror Attack Spells Trouble for NATO: Mideast Briefing

The unmanned aircraft was operated by Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency, which was conducting cross-border operations in retaliation for a suicide-bomb in the Turkish capital on Sunday. The attack, which injured two security officers, was claimed by Kurdish militant group PKK and organized from Syria, according to Turkish intelligence.

Earlier on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the armed drone belonged to Turkey. In a written statement, it said the drone “was lost over differences in technical assessments... with third parties.”

US Defense Department spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said there was no sign the drone planned to strike American troops. Nonetheless, Turkey’s operations have stoked fresh tensions with Washington, which supports Kurdish forces who it says have played a major role in the US-led effort to defeat the Islamic State.

Ties between the two NATO allies have recently come under more strain, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delaying Sweden’s entry to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Fidan and Blinken also discussed Sweden’s membership bid, the Turkish readout said without elaborating.

“Aerial operations were aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat emanating from northern Syria,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said.

US Shoots Down Turkish Drone That Approached Troops in Syria

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged de-escalation in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, while acknowledging Turkey’s “legitimate security concerns,” the Pentagon said in a statement. He affirmed a commitment to close coordination with Ankara to prevent any risk to US forces in Syria.

Kurdish groups retain control over a large swathe of territory in Syria, which has been mired in a civil war since 2011.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Damascus-based government has largely consolidated its rule elsewhere in the country with the help of Russia and Iran. On Thursday, rebel forces hit a military academy in the Assad-controlled city of Homs, killing over 100 people, according to UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syria’s state-media put the number of dead at 80.

Read: All About the YPG, the Syrian Kurds Vexing Turkey: QuickTake

Turkey’s broader conflict with Kurdish militants has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

Turkey’s last major incursion into Syria took place in late 2019, with the stated aim of pushing armed groups away from the border. It later halted its operations following cease-fire agreements with the US and Russia.

Thursday’s air campaign also came as Turkey continues to insist on the full cooperation of Stockholm in cracking down on supporters of Kurdish militants within Sweden before approving its bid to join NATO.

 Bloomberg Businessweek


Talks after US fighter jet shoots down armed Turkish drone in Syria

Thomas Mackintosh - BBC News
Fri, October 6, 2023

File photo of a US-made F-16 fighter jet plane


The top US and Turkish diplomats have spoken by phone after US forces in Syria shot down an armed Turkish drone.

Washington said the drone came too close to its ground forces in Syria, but Ankara merely said it was lost during operations.

During the call between the Nato allies, Hakan Fidan told the US Turkey would keep targeting Kurdish groups.

The US works with Kurdish YPG forces in Syria, but Turkey views them as separatists and terrorists.

Mr Fidan told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Turkey's "counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria will continue with determination".

Meanwhile a US State Department spokesperson said Mr Blinken highlighted the need for Washington and Ankara to "coordinate and deconflict" their activities.

On Thursday US military officials said a US F-16 fighter jet shot down the armed Turkish drone which was operating near American troops in Syria after giving several warnings.

Pentagon spokesperson Brig Gen Patrick Ryder told reporters that American forces had observed several drones carrying out airstrikes near Al Hasakah in north-eastern Syria at 07:30 local time (04:30 GMT).

Some of the strikes were approximately 1km away from US troops, prompting them to take shelter in bunkers, Ryder said.

Four hours later, the F-16 downed the drone after commanders assessed there was a potential threat, he said.

"It's regrettable when you have two NATO allies and there's an incident like this," he told reporters.

It marked the first such incident between the two Nato allies.

There are about 900 US troops operating in Syria as a part of the mission against the Islamic State jihadist group (IS).

Turkey has been launching air strikes against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq after a suicide blast hit its interior ministry in Ankara.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said the interior ministry bombing had been carried out by a group linked to them.

The PKK is considered a terror group in Turkey, the EU, UK and US.

Turkey views the PKK and the YPG as the same group. However the US has been working with the YPG, which is part of the group of US-backed forces known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that has fought against IS in Syria.

Shortly after the phone call between Mr Blinken and Mr Fidan, Turkey said it had launched renewed attacks on Kurdish target in northern Syria.

The Turkish defence ministry said it had hit 15 Kurdish targets "with the maximum amount" of ammunition and they included "headquarters and shelters".

Who are the Kurds?

The PKK launched an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.

In the 1990s, the PKK rolled back on its demands for an independent state, calling instead for more autonomy for the Kurds. More than 40,000 people have died in the conflict.

Fighting flared up again after a two-year-old ceasefire ended in July 2015.
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Turkey steps up strikes on militants as conflict escalates in Syria

Updated Fri, October 6, 2023 

Smoke rises from Qamishli

By Daren Butler, Tuvan Gumrukcu and kilo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish security forces attacked Kurdish militants in northern Syria and eastern Turkey, and Ankara said it will continue to destroy their capabilities across the region as conflict escalated on Friday nearly a week after a bomb attack in Ankara.

After U.S. forces shot down a Turkish drone in northern Syria on Thursday, Turkey confirmed the incident but assigned no blame, indicating it may want to contain any tensions with its NATO ally.

The military "neutralised" 26 Kurdish militants in northern Syria overnight in retaliation for a rocket attack on a Turkish base, the defence ministry said. Turkey typically uses the term "neutralise" to mean kill.

The rocket attack on the base, by the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, killed one Turkish police officer and wounded seven officers and soldiers in northwest Syria's Dabiq area on Thursday evening, Ankara said.

Turkey also conducted air strikes and destroyed 30 militant targets elsewhere in northern Syria on Thursday night, including an oil well, a storage facility and shelters, the defence ministry said.

On Friday, the ministry said Turkey's military had conducted another round of air strikes in northern Syria and destroyed 15 other militant targets where it said militants were believed to be. It did not say where in northern Syria the strikes, carried out at 1900 GMT, had hit.

"As has been done in Iraq, all the capabilities and revenue sources developed by the terrorist organisation in Syria will continue to be destroyed in a systematic way," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

In Turkey, two Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants were "neutralised" in eastern Agri province in a clash with commandos during an operation with combat drone and attack helicopter support, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a statement.

He said counter-terror police detained 75 people suspected of links to the PKK in an operation across 11 provinces.

The PKK previously claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombing in Ankara that left the two attackers dead and wounded two police officers. Turkey said the attackers came from Syria but the Syrian SDF forces denied this.

TURKISH-U.S. TENSIONS

Turkey lists the YPG as a terrorist organisation and says it is indistinguishable from the PKK, which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

The United States and European Union deem the PKK as terrorists, but not the YPG.

The YPG is also at the heart of the SDF forces in the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants. U.S. support for them has long caused tension with Turkey.

The SDF said Turkish attacks had killed eight people since the Ankara bombing.

Underscoring the tension, the Pentagon said the United States had on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of NATO ally Turkey.

A Pentagon spokesman said Turkish drones were seen carrying out air strikes in Hasakah, northeast Syria, and one drone that came within less than half a kilometre (0.3 miles) from U.S. troops, was deemed a threat and shot down by F-16 aircraft.

The Turkish foreign ministry statement said one of Turkey's drones was lost during operations against Kurdish militants in northeast Syria due to "different technical evaluations" with third parties on the ground.

Without citing a specific country, it said it was working with the relevant parties on the ground to improve the functioning of non-conflict mechanisms on the ground.

Later on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss the downing of the drone, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.

"During the call, Minister Fidan conveyed to his counterpart Blinken in strong terms that, as an ally, the United States must stop working together with the YPG terrorist organisation in the north of Syria," the source said.

Fidan also told Blinken that Turkey's military operations in Syria would continue, the source said. The two ministers agreed to work on non-conflict mechanisms between the allies in Syria and Iraq in a way "that will not pose an obstacle to our counter-terrorism battle" after the drone was downed, the source added.

A State Department spokesperson said Blinken highlighted the need for Washington and Ankara to "coordinate and deconflict" their activities on the call.

Ankara, which has said all PKK and YPG targets in Syria and Iraq ARE now "legitimate targets" for its forces, said on Thursday a ground operation into Syria was one option it could consider.

Turkey has mounted several previous incursions into northern Syria against the YPG.

(Reporting by Daren Butler, Tuvan Gumrukcu, and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, Nick Macfie, Andrew Heavens and Sandra Maler)
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Turkish warplanes hit Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria after US downed Turkish armed drone

SUZAN FRASER
Updated Fri, October 6, 2023 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 31, 2023. Fidan warned on Wednesday Oct. 4, 2023 that Kurdish militants behind a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital face robust retaliation against their group’s positions in Syria and Iraq. 

(Maxim Shemetov/ Pool Photo via AP, File) 


ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish warplanes have carried out airstrikes on sites believed to be used by a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria, after the U.S. military shot down an armed Turkish drone that came within 500 meters (yards) of American troops, officials said Friday.

A Turkish defense ministry statement said the Turkish jets targeted some 30 sites in the Tal Rifat, Jazeera and Derik regions, destroying caves, bunkers, shelters and warehouses.

Ankara said the locations were used by Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, a designated terrorist group behind a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey — as well as its allies from a Kurdish militia in Syria, known as People’s Defense Units, or YPG.

The YPG is part of Syrian Kurdish-led forces — known as the Syrian Democratic Forces — backed by the United States. The Syrian Kurdish fighters have been close U.S. allies in the war against the militants from the Islamic State group.

Turkey has been carrying out strikes on Kurdish targets in Iraq and Syria following a suicide bombing outside the Interior Ministry building in Ankara, the Turkish capital, early on Sunday.

The PKK claimed the attack in which one attacker blew himself up and another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police. Two police officers were wounded.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the two assailants had arrived from Syria, where they had been trained. He said PKK and YPG positions in Iraq and Syria have now become legitimate targets.

Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria said the Turkish bombing killed 15 people, including eight civilians. Several others were wounded.

The U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria have denied any connection to the Ankara attack and accused Turkey of using the attack as a pretext for a new military incursion.

In Washington, the Pentagon said Thursday that a Turkish drone bombed targets near the U.S. troops in Syria, forcing them to go to bunkers for safety. Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said the decision to shoot down the drone of a NATO ally “was made out of due diligence and the inherent right of self-defense to take appropriate action to protect U.S. forces.” There was no indication that Turkey was intentionally targeting U.S. forces, he said.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Friday blamed the downing of the drone on differing evaluations of what it called a “deconflicting mechanism” operated between the sides. Necessary measures were being taken to ensure a “more effective operation” of the mechanism, the ministry said without elaborating.

“The incident did in no way affect the execution of the ongoing operation and the strikes against targets that were identified,” the ministry said.

Both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the new Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. CQ Brown, spoke with their Turkish counterparts quickly after the incident to emphasize the value they place on their relationship with Turkey — but also the need to avoid any similar incidents in the future and ensure the safety of U.S. personnel.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Fidan held a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during which he reiterated Turkey’s belief that as an ally, the U.S. should stop working with the Kurdish militia, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The minister also told his American counterpart that Turkey’s counter-terrorism operations in Iraq and Syria would continue “with determination,” the news agency said.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria conducting missions alongside Syrian Kurdish forces to counter IS militants.

The downing of the Turkish drone occurred as a drone attack killed at least 89 people in the Syrian government-controlled city of Homs on Thursday. In that attack, explosive-laden drones were detonated during a military graduation ceremony attended by young officers and their families. An additional 277 people were injured, according to Syria’s health ministry.

Syria’s military blamed insurgents “backed by known international forces,” without naming any particular group, and threatened to respond with “full force.”

The Turkish defense ministry said Thursday’s aerial operation in Syria was aimed at securing Turkey’s borders from threats from the PKK and YPG.

Separately, the ministry said Turkey had retaliated to an attack on a Turkish base in the Dabik region in northern Syria late on Thursday, “neutralizing” 26 attackers.

Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency said Friday that Turkish intelligence agents killed a PKK militant in an operation in Iraq’s Sinjar region. The agency identified him as Ilyas Biro Eli and said he was responsible for an alleged assassination unit.

“We will continue to fight terrorism wherever it emanates from. We will extinguish it at its sources, be it in northern Iraq or northern Syria,” wrote Fahrettin Altun, Turkey's presidential communications director.

The PKK has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terror organization by Turkey's Western allies, including the U.S. Tens of thousands of people have died since the start of the conflict in 1984.

The U.S., however, regards the YPG as a key partner in the fight against the IS and does not believe the group presents a threat to Turkey.

___

Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

Turkey bombs northeast Syria, hits energy sites: Kurds
AFP
Fri, October 6, 2023 

Smoke billows from the Babasi oil facility in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province following a Turkish strike (Delil souleiman)

Turkey resumed strikes against Kurdish-held northeast Syria on Friday, targeting energy infrastructure as the death toll climbed to 15 over two days, officials in the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration said.

Since Thursday, Turkey has carried out drone strikes against military sites and civilian facilities in the area following a weekend bombing in Ankara.

The toll in northeast Syria has risen to 15 dead including eight civilians, a statement from the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said.

SDF spokesman Farhad Shami said that "since Thursday morning, we have counted more than 50 air strikes", adding that Friday's raids also targeted a gas plant near the Turkish border.

Akram Sulaiman, a local energy official, called the plant a "strategic facility" involved in feeding power to factories and hospitals in the area.

He said strikes Thursday also caused malfunctions at a power station serving neighbourhoods in Hasakeh city and its surroundings, and at another powering half the city of Qamishli further north.

Strikes also caused an outage at a station powering the nearby border city of Amuda, he added.

On Thursday, Turkish drones also targeted oil facilities and three Kurdish security forces sites, according to the Kurdish authorities.

Thick black smoke billowed from two oil sites targeted overnight, AFP correspondents said on Friday.

The bombardment comes after an attack in Ankara on Sunday wounded two security officers and was claimed by a branch of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara and its Western allies view as a terrorist organisation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had warned of reprisals against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, saying the assailants "came from Syria and were trained there".

The US-backed SDF, which spearheaded the fight in Syria against IS, denied the Ankara assailants had passed through the area.

Turkey views the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that dominate the SDF as an offshoot of PKK.

Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said US F-16 warplanes over Syria shot down a Turkish drone on Thursday, deeming it "a potential threat" after it approached "less than a half kilometre from US forces" near Hasakeh.

Since 2016, Turkey has carried out successive ground operations to expel Kurdish forces from border areas of northern Syria, and has made threats of a new incursion.

rh/srk/lg/it

Turkish airstrikes kill at least 11 in northern Syria, Kurdish security forces say

Jomana Karadsheh, Hamdi Alkhshali and Gul Tuysuz, CNN
Thu, October 5, 2023

Reuters


Turkish airstrikes killed at least 11 people in multiple Kurdish-controlled locations in northeastern Syria, the Kurdish Internal Security Force said Thursday, the latest response from Ankara’s forces following a bomb attack in Turkey’s capital claimed by Kurdish militants.

In a post on its official website, the Kurdish Internal Security Force, known as Asayish, said the locations targeted by Turkey included the vicinity of a camp for displaced people and several villages.

“Eleven people were martyred, including five civilians and six members of the Internal Security Forces,” Asayish said.

Eight civilians and two members of the Kurdish security forces were wounded, it added.

In a statement Friday, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said it destroyed 30 targets and “neutralized” multiple Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants during the operation in northern Syria, citing its self-defense rights from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to justify the strikes.

The strikes come after a bombing in Ankara over the weekend claimed by the PKK, which has waged a nearly four-decade long insurgency and is classified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

At least one civilian was killed in the attack Sunday when militants hijacked a car, and two police officers were injured in the bombing outside Turkey’s Interior Ministry building.

Later Sunday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said its warplanes had destroyed 20 PKK targets in northern Iraq in response to the attack.

According to Ankara, the PKK trains separatist fighters and launches attacks against Turkey from its bases in northern Iraq and Syria, where a PKK-affiliated Kurdish group controls large swaths of territory.

“In the investigation following the latest incident, it was determined by security forces and intelligence that the terrorists came from Syria and were trained there,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference on Wednesday.

Fidan warned that all facilities belonging to the PKK and related People’s Protection Units (YPG) groups in Iraq and Syria would be “legitimate targets” of the Turkish Armed Forces.

“The response of our armed forces to the terror attack will be very clear and they will once again regret having carried out this attack,” Fidan said.

Kurds, who do not have an official homeland or country, are the biggest minority in Turkey, making up between 15% and 20% of the population, according to Minority Rights Group International.

Portions of Kurdistan – a non-governmental region and one of the largest stateless nations in the world – are recognized by Iran, where the province of Kordestan lies; and Iraq, site of the northern autonomous region known as Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or Iraqi Kurdistan.

In recent years, Turkey has carried out a steady stream of operations against the PKK domestically as well as cross-border operations into Syria.

In November 2022, Ankara blamed the PKK for a bomb attack in Istanbul that killed six and injured dozens.

Terror attacks in Turkey were tragically common in the mid to late 2010s, when the insecurity from war-torn Syria crept north above the two countries’ shared border.

CNN’s Hande Atay Alam contributed reporting.

U.S. shoots down Turkish drone as Turkey conducts strikes in Syria

Patrick Hilsman
Thu, October 5, 2023 

Turkey accuses the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (pictured in 2022), who fought against ISIS militants in Syria with American support, of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey. File Photo by Ahmed Mardnli/EPA-EFE


Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The U.S. military shot down a Turkish drone over the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces-controlled zone in northeaster Syria's Al-Hasaka province Thursday, according to multiple news reports citing unnamed officials.

The incident came as Turkish forces targeted civil installations and oil facilities in Hasaka along with multiple other sites Thursday, according to local authorities.

"The Turkish State is committing a war crime by targeting the infrastructure and civil services facilities, including four power stations, three oil fields, and factories. The most heavily impacted by these aggressions are primarily innocent civilians," Syrian Democratic Forces spokesperson Farhad Shami posted to X Thursday.

"The Turkish UAV attacks resulted in a total of nine martyrs, comprising three civilians and six members of the Internal Secuity Forces who were guarding the targeted civic facilities. The Turkish State is publicly practicing state terrorism," Shami continued.

The strikes follow an attack in the Kurdish city of Ankara Sunday, which was claimed by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) militant group, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, and has been engaged in a conflict with the Turkish state for decades, demanding autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish population.

On Sunday, the Turkish military conducted airstrikes in Iraq against targets the Turkish Minster of Defense said were linked to the PKK.

The Saudi Arabian state-backed outlet Al-Monitor reports that the drone was brought down on Thursday was shot down by an American F-16.

Turkey accuses the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who fought against ISIS militants in Syria with American support, of being linked to the PKK.

Several hundred U.S. troops are based in Northeastern Syria, operating in coordination with the SDF, in continued military operations against ISIS.

On Wednesday, Turkish officials called PKK and SDF-linked installations "legitimate targets."

CBS reports that U.S. forces issued multiple warnings to the Turkish military, before opening fire on the UAV.

Late Thursday, the Pentagon said U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler in the wake of the incident.

Austin urged a de-escalation in northern Syria and stressed the importance of maintaining strict adherence to "de-confliction protocols and communication" through established military channels, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

Both leaders reiterated a "shared commitment to defeating ISIS," Ryder said in a statement, adding that Austin acknowledged Turkey's legitimate security concerns.


US fighter jet downs a drone belonging to NATO ally Turkey over Syria, officials say

Natasha Bertrand and Oren Liebermann, CNN
Thu, October 5, 2023 

Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

A US F-16 fighter jet shot down an armed Turkish drone in northeast Syria that was operating near US military personnel and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, officials familiar with the incident told CNN.

The US assessed the armed drone posed a potential threat and issued more than a dozen warnings before shooting it down, the officials said. It is unclear how the warnings were issued. US forces exercised their right to self-defense in shooting down the drone, officials said.

There were no reports of US casualties, an official said.

Several drones made repeated approaches toward US troop positions in Hasakah, Syria, the officials said. Turkish airstrikes targeted several Kurdish-controlled areas in northeastern Syria on Thursday, killing at least eight people, including six security forces, and wounded three civilians, according to a statement by Kurdish Internal Security Force, Asayish.

The incidents put the US in a precarious position. Turkey is a NATO ally and a critical partner for the US in the region, as well as playing a key role in the Ukraine conflict. At the same time, the SDF partners with the US in the campaign to defeat ISIS.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said the drone didn’t belong to the Turkish armed forces, Reuters reported. CNN is reaching out to the Turkish government.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Turkish counterpart following the downing of the drone.

“The Secretary reaffirmed that the United States remains in Syria exclusively in support of the campaign to defeat ISIS,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Thursday afternoon. “The Secretary also acknowledged Turkey’s legitimate security concerns and underscored the importance of close coordination between the United States and Turkey to prevent any risk to US forces or the global coalition to defeat ISIS mission.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown also spoke with his Turkish counterpart following the incident, and discussed “the need to follow common deconfliction protocols to ensure the safety of our personnel in Syria following today’s incident,” according to a readout of their call.

Ryder said the unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV was “conducting airstrikes,” some of which were inside “a declared US restricted operating zone” near US forces. Those forces were relocated to bunkers, Ryder said.

“US commanders assessed that the UAV, which was now less than a half kilometer from US forces, to be a potential threat, and US F-16 fighters subsequently shut down the UAV in self-defense at approximately 1140 local time,” Ryder said. “It’s important to point out that no US forces were injured during the incident.”

He said there were “no initial indications that Turkey was intentionally targeting US forces.” Ryder added that it was a “regrettable incident” but described Austin’s phone call as a “very productive discussion.”

US forces operate closely alongside the Kurds in northern Syria as part of the anti-ISIS coalition there. Turkey considers the Kurdish forces to be a terrorist organization and regularly targets them inside Iraq and Syria.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday that Turkey considers all Kurdish militia facilities and infrastructure in Syria and Iraq as “legitimate targets” after the Kurdistan Workers Party carried out a suicide attack in Ankara on Sunday.

Fidan added that “third parties” should stay away from the Kurds.

“I advise third parties to stay away from PKK and YPG facilities and individuals,” he said. “Our armed forces’ response to this terrorist attack will be extremely clear and they will once again regret committing such an action.”

Last November, a Turkish drone strike in northeast Syria endangered US troops and personnel, according to the US military. That prompted a call between the top US general and his Turkish counterpart.

The strike targeted a base near Hasakah, Syria, used by US and coalition forces in the ongoing campaign to defeat ISIS. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said two of their fighters were killed in the attack. The strike earned a stern rebuke from the Pentagon, which said it “directly threatened the safety of US personnel.”

CNN’s Haley Britzky and Michael Conte contributed to this report.

Sanctions imposed by US and allies hamper relief and rescue work in earthquake-devastated Syria

Over 5,000 people have been reported dead so far and thousands more injured in Turkey and Syria in a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Monday

February 07, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent demanded Western countries to lift sanctions on Syria to help with rescue and relief work, February 7, 2023. (Photo: SANA)

The head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, demanded on Tuesday, February 7, that Western countries, specifically the US and its allies, lift their siege and sanctions on Syria so that rescue and relief work can proceed unimpeded, after the country was devastated by a powerful earthquake on Monday.

“We need heavy equipment, ambulances and fire fighting vehicles to continue to rescue and remove the rubble, and this entails lifting sanctions on Syria as soon as possible,” Hboubati said at a press conference on Tuesday, as reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

A powerful earthquake registering a magnitude of 7.8 struck Turkey and Syria on Monday. Over 5,000 people have been reported dead so far. In Syria alone the death toll was 1,602 on Monday. These numbers are only expected to rise as a large number of people are suspected to be still buried under the debris of houses that collapsed in the earthquake and its aftershocks.

Kahramanmaraş, a city in Turkey, was reported to be the epicenter of the earthquake, and the nearby city of Gaziantep—home to millions of Syrian refugees—was reportedly hit the hardest. Relief and rescue operations in Turkey have been affected by bad weather as several of the affected areas have received heavy rain and snowfall on Monday and Tuesday.

Syria’s northern provinces such as Idlib, Latakia, Hama, and Aleppo have also been badly affected by the earthquake. Some of the affected areas in Idlib and Aleppo are under rebel control and densely populated by refugees from other parts of the country.

Though several countries including the US and its allies have extended their support to Turkey in its relief and rescue work, they have refused to extend similar assistance to Syria. The US State Department made it clear on Monday that it was only willing to support some work carried out in Syria by NGOs, but that it would have no dealings with the Bashar al-Assad government. “It would be quite ironic—if not even counterproductive—for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

On Monday, the Syrian government had issued an appeal to the international community asking for help. Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad is quoted in Al-Mayadeen as having said that his government was willing “to provide all the required facilities to international organizations so they can give Syrians humanitarian aid.”

Sanctions hamper relief and rescue work

Claiming that “Current US sanctions severely restrict aid assistance to millions of Syrians,” the American Arab anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) asked the US government on Monday to lift its sanctions. While it said that the NGOs working on the ground were doing a commendable job, it also said that the “lifting of the sanctions will open the doors for additional and supplemental aid that will provide immediate relief to those in need.”

The US Congress had adopted the so-called Caesar Act in 2020, according to which any group or company doing business with the Syrian government faces sanctions. The act extends the scope of the previously existing sanctions on Syria, imposed by the US and its European allies since the beginning of the war in the country in 2011.

The impact of sanctions on Syria’s health and other social sectors and its overall economic recovery have been criticized by the UN on several occasions in the past. The UN has also demanded that all unilateral punitive measures against Syria be lifted.

Meanwhile, countries such as China, Iran, Russia, Cuba, Algeria, and the UAE, among others, have expressed their willingness to provide necessary support to Syria, and have sent relief materials already.

Al-Mayadeen has however reported that the delivery of international aid, as well as the speed of relief and rescue work in Syria, continue to be impeded as the Damascus international airport is not fully operational at the moment. The airport was hit by an Israeli missile on January 2 and repair work is not yet complete.

Cuba, Venezuela and China are rushing aid to earthquake-hit Syria. US can’t even fully withdraw sanctions

The US Treasury has issued a 180-day waiver on certain sanctions imposed on Syria to allow for earthquake relief. However, the US and its allies have yet to offer meaningful assistance to Syria even as Venezuela, China, Palestine, and others have dispatched aid and specialists

February 10, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch

Syrian Red Crescent members conducting a rescue operation. (Photo:@SYRedCrescent/Twitter)

On Thursday, February 9, the United States Treasury Department announced a temporary waiver of certain sanctions imposed on Syria to facilitate relief and recovery efforts in the earthquake-hit country. The move follows growing international outrage and public appeals, including by the Syrian government and countries such as Venezuela and China, to remove the brutal and illegal sanctions that the US has imposed on Damascus.
At least 21,719 people have died—as of February 10—after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on February 6 devastated large parts of southern and central Turkey as well as northern and western Syria. Over 79,000 people have been injured and over 3.7 million have been displaced since then, with rescue operations still underway in search of survivors in the midst of aftershocks. 

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a “blanket” Syria General License (GL) 23, “which authorizes for 180 days all transactions related to earthquake relief that would be otherwise prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations (SySR).”

Addressing a joint press conference at the United Nations headquarters on February 7, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Bassam al-Sabbagh explained how sanctions were impeding humanitarian relief and access: “Lots of cargo planes refuse to land at Syrian airports because of the American and European sanctions. So, even those countries who want to send humanitarian assistance, they cannot use the airplane cargo because of the sanctions.”

The head of the Syrian Red Crescent, Khaled Hboubati, stated during a press conference on Tuesday that “There is no fuel even to send [aid and rescue] convoys, and this is because of the blockade and sanctions.” 

Meanwhile, in its statement on February 9, the US government reiterated that its sanctions do not target “legitimate humanitarian assistance”—a claim proven false in other countries that have also been targeted by US sanctions. The risk of obstruction of humanitarian aid is also heightened due to possible overcompliance, and particularly in the case of Syria due to the “unfettered emergency powers” and “extraterritorial reach” granted under the US’s Caesar Act. 

The US claims that GSL 23 “expands upon” the “broad humanitarian authorizations already in effect under the SySR for NGOs, international organizations (IOs) and the US government.” 

However, over the past week, people on social media platforms have reported that US-based fundraising company GoFundMe was suspending accounts that were attempting to raise money for Syria.

Countries dispatch aid to Syria and Turkey

While the US and its allies rushed to mobilize and dispatch rescue teams and supplies to Turkey, they have dragged their feet to provide even the bare minimum aid for Syria by refusing to meaningfully lift sanctions to allow aid to reach the country. Despite this, there are countries around the world that have been providing critical on-ground assistance to both Syria and Turkey. 

On Thursday, 25 specialists part of the Simon Bolivar Humanitarian Task Force arrived from Venezuela to Damascus accompanied by 12 tonnes of medicine, drinking water, and food. A day prior, the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had dispatched 52 specialists to Turkey and Syria to assist with relief efforts. 

A team of Cuban doctors from the Henry Reeve International Brigade has also arrived in Turkey. On Wednesday, Syria’s ambassador to Cuba Ghassan Obeid confirmed that 27 doctors from Cuba will also arrive in Syria soon to assist affected populations and local authorities. 

China announced that it will be providing the first tranche of $5.9 million in emergency aid to Turkey. Beijing also dispatched an 82-member rescue team that arrived in Turkey’s Adana airport on Tuesday, bringing with them 20 tonnes of medical aid and rescue supplies. 

On Thursday, China’s ambassador to Syria Shi Hongwei told CGTN that the first Chinese rescue team had arrived in Damascus, accompanied by an initial batch of medical supplies. A spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry had announced on Wednesday that China will offer USD 4.4 million in emergency aid to Syria. 

A team of 73 rescuers, including members of the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Civil Defense, headed by the Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA), left for Jordan from the Occupied West Bank on Thursday, from where they will be divided into two teams—one headed to southern Turkey and another headed to northwest Syria. 

Russia had dispatched four aircrafts on Monday with over 100 emergency response specialists, including medics to assist in search and rescue operations in Turkey and Syria. Algeria also sent over 100 tonnes of medical supplies, food, and tents, as well as a Civil Protection team that arrived in Aleppo earlier this week. India has also dispatched aid supplies to Syria, along with dispatching rescue teams to Turkey. 

Countries including Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Pakistan, and Tunisia have also provided emergency assistance and supplies, even as various other countries have expressed messages of solidarity. 

The UN has stressed that sanctions should not prevent the delivery of assistance to the Syrian people. According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), 14 humanitarian aid trucks had crossed into northwestern Syria on Friday, bound for rebel-held Idlib. 

From Iran, the sixth plane carrying humanitarian aid, including infant formula and food, was reported to have landed in Syria early on Friday. The Iranian army and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have also dispatched equipment for a 50-bed mobile hospital along with 70 relief and medical staff to Turkey. 

The first Iranian plane had landed in Damascus on Tuesday, carrying 45 tonnes of food and medical supplies. Iran has also sent planes carrying aid to Latakia and Aleppo—where IRGC commander Brigadier General Esmail Qaani arrived late on February 8 to supervise aid delivery. 

Meanwhile, Israel has already threatened a military attack, with an unnamed military official citing “information” that “indicated” that Iran might “take advantage” of the situation and send weapons along with humanitarian aid to Syria. 

Israel has continued to carry out illegal and unilateral acts of aggression against Syria, including airstrikes that have killed numerous civilians and caused damage to critical infrastructure. According to Al Mayadeen, the airport in Damascus, which has been repeatedly targeted in such attacks, is reportedly still undergoing repairs after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in January. 

Sanctions on Syria 

The urgent need for the removal of illegal sanctions on Syria is not limited to the immediate earthquake recovery efforts. The fact is that Western sanctions had already precipitated an economic and infrastructural collapse in Syria well before the earthquake hit this week. 

In November 2022, following a visit to the country, UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan described the impact of the “outrageous” and “long-lasting” unilateral sanctions that were “suffocating” millions of Syrians. Douhan stated that 90% of Syria’s population was living below the poverty line, and access to food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, transportation, and healthcare were limited. She added that more than half of the country’s vital infrastructure had either been completely destroyed or was severely damaged. 

At the same time, unilateral sanctions on key sectors including oil, gas, electricity, and trade had “quashed” the national income and undermined efforts towards economic recovery and reconstruction. 

“Maintaining unilateral sanctions amid the current catastrophic and still-deteriorating situation in Syria may amount to crimes against humanity against all Syrians,” Douhan had warned.

Threats to public health and food security have been heightened due to the unavailability of equipment and spare parts to fix water distribution and irrigation systems. There are acute disruptions in access to electricity, which have also impacted the functioning of medical equipment in hospitals.  

As the US boasts of its “commitment to support the people of Syria through their ongoing earthquake crisis,”  the question arises: what does a 180-day waiver on earthquake relief transactions actually achieve in the face of this level of destruction? 

As Syria looks towards long-term reconstruction and recovery, any commitments of support or assistance are rendered meaningless in the absence of the total lifting of the illegal and inhumane sanctions that continue to choke the country.