Category Archives: Russia

Government, Middle East, Russia, Syria, United Nations, United States

Aleppo and the silence of the West…

SYRIA

Intro: There have already been unconfirmed but credible reports of civilians being executed on an industrial scale. There can be no doubt about the appalling and inhumane conditions that exist in the ruins of the city

IMAGES from Aleppo have revealed the truly post-apocalyptic nature of its horror. Hundreds if not thousands of its buildings have been reduced to empty shells or confined to mere rubble on the ground. It is hard to believe that Aleppo was once Syria’s largest city, with a population of 2.3million. It was also the country’s industrial and financial centre.

Four years of brutal and savage fighting in eastern Aleppo have left thousands dead, millions more displaced, hospitals destroyed and food supplies completely wiped out.

Thinking more esoterically about these pictures will realise that within that destruction there are tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children, who are trapped. They are not getting out.

The ceasefire that had begun to see them helped and transported out of this war-torn place has broken down. Inevitably, there is some confusion around exactly what has happened. There are reports that the rebels were attempting to take heavy weapons and captives out with them, actions which are contrary to the agreement. There is also a suspicion that the militias backing the government of Bashar al-Assad are not sticking to the ceasefire agreement either, or that they are simply unaware of what the agreement is. The militias include a cocktail of fighters from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Pakistan.

Syria’s government and its proxy ally, Iran, had insisted the evacuation from eastern Aleppo could only happen with the simultaneous evacuation of two other towns, Foua and Kefraya, which have also been heavily besieged by rebels since September 2015. It is possible that condition has not been met.

Workers on the ground from the World Health Organisation said that the Russian military had halted the evacuation, but had not said why they had done so.

More troubling, still, is the official statement from Russia – which backs and supports the Syrian government – which said the operation to remove fighters and families from the area is ‘complete’. The Russian defence ministry said all militants and their families have left and all women and children have also been removed from the districts, making a total of around 9,500 evacuees.

But by any reasonable estimate there are many more people still in need of evacuation. In the past few days, the United Nations estimated there were 100,000 people trapped in the small number of eastern Aleppo districts not under the control of government forces.

As of now, the best estimate is that there are at least 50,000 still trapped. There have already been unconfirmed but credible reports of civilians being executed on an industrial scale. There can be no doubt about the appalling and inhumane conditions that exist in the ruins of the city.

We are in danger of standing by and letting this tragedy and humanitarian disaster deepen. Russia’s direct involvement and the victories of Assad over the forces backed by the UK and the US seems to have left us feeling powerless to intervene or by doing anything that will help to relieve the terrible toll that we can see happening.

It must surely now be time to bring all diplomatic and international pressure to bear to halt the killing and by bringing relief. Governments should be urged to do that.

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Britain, Government, Politics, Russia, Syria, United Nations, United States

Among the rubble seize the chance of peace in Aleppo

SYRIA

aleppo-rubble

Rubble from destroyed buildings blocks a street in Aleppo. The scene is all too common across the country.

Intro: As Aleppo has been subjected to Russian bombardment over the past two weeks, the city has been left in a condition that can only be described as inhumane and beyond belief

RUSSIA has said that forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad are in possession and are controlling a third of the city of Aleppo.

What in fact they are in possession of is a lot of rubble from the devastation that the fighting has caused. The city is almost destroyed and is horrendous for the inhabitants that remain in this besieged city. In Aleppo, very little is left.

The situation has undoubtedly been made far worse since Putin’s forces have stepped in, with their military fighter jets and bombers and their boots on the ground. Russian intervention in Syria has been decisive, hard though it may be for the West to accept. The near annihilation and stomach wrenching images being beamed back from Aleppo is a very clear signal that we have been backing the losing side. That backing was only ever partial and delicately targeted to specific anti-Assad militant groups. There is no political appetite in the West – or in the UK – to increase our military resources that would inevitably lead to a face-off with Russia and Assad’s well equipped forces. We must now accept that the Syrian tyrant has won.

The best we can now do is to persuade the groups who we do back to call a ceasefire and try to end this brutal and destructive war. It has been raging now for more than five years.

As Aleppo has been subjected to Russian bombardment over the past two weeks, the city has been left in a condition that can only be described as inhumane and beyond belief. Hospitals have been flattened, babies have been taken out of their incubators as doctors desperately try to protect them, and aid agencies have been blocked in their task of reaching those most in need with medical and food stocks. About 250,000 people have been left without vital supplies; more than 450,000 people are believed to have died in the conflict to date.

As much as the West may detest the idea of Assad still being in power, we need to convince people to negotiate so that Syria can be rebuilt. This is essential not only for the besieged people of the country, who have had their lives disrupted for so long, but for the whole of Europe and other countries in the Middle East, many of which are struggling to cope with a huge influx of refugees.

This is all we can now hope for.

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European Union, NATO, Russia, Turkey, United States

Russia and Turkey’s rapprochement

RUSSIA/TURKEY

Intro: For Russia, this is an opportunity to drive a hard wedge between Turkey, NATO and the EU

The unfolding diplomatic rapprochement between Russia and Turkey is likely to become a significant challenge for the European Union and NATO. For centuries now, these two countries have remained implacably opposed to each other. Efforts just a decade ago to forge a strategic partnership were curtailed by the civil war that has been raging in Syria. With Moscow clearly propping up Bashar al-Assad, Ankara either stayed out or implicitly supported his enemies. In more recent times, relations hit another low point last November when Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber near the Syrian border for violating Turkey’s airspace. Russia imposed sanctions and the damage to relations between the two countries seemed irreparable.

But even before events last month in which an attempted military coup failed, President Erdogan had decided he could no longer afford a cold war of attrition and stalemate with Moscow and began making overtures with the Kremlin. The putsch appears to have expedited matters: yesterday Mr Erdogan met with Vladimir Putin to agree the normalising of relations. This will send shock waves through the EU at a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

For Russia, this is an opportunity to drive a hard wedge between Turkey, NATO and the EU and will help to abate Russian anger over the jet incident. President Putin must recognise in Mr Erdogan a leader cut from the same cloth – a democratically elected nationalist who has been behaving more like a despot.

Mr Erdogan’s ruthless purge of opponents after the thwarted coup has alarmed EU leaders who had encouraged Ankara to believe it could join the European Union at some future point and had pledged to introduce visa-free access for Turkish travellers to the Schengen area. No date, however, has ever been set or given for either and several EU countries have made it abundantly clear they would veto Turkey’s accession citing its human rights record, loss of press freedom and other economic shortcomings. Angela Merkel of Germany has been desperate to keep both options open in order to stop Turkey reneging on a deal to keep Syrian refugees from crossing into Europe.

But Mr Erdogan seems to have been cooling towards Europe, none of whose leaders have been to Ankara since the failed coup. Turkey’s leader is seeking alliances elsewhere. Improving relations between Russia and Turkey will have significant implications both for policy on Syria and for NATO itself. The US nuclear base at Incirlik is a key part of western defences, but, if Turkey were to leave its loss would be a serious blow to the organisation.

These developments will be concerning for European leaders. But for the Russian president this is a chance to cause fresh consternation in the capitals of Europe and in Washington. Mr Putin seems certain to grab a gift horse that couldn’t have come at a better time for his own interests.

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