Turkey detains 34 at Syrian border with explosives, suicide vests
The Turkish military has detained 34 people and seized up to 15 kg of explosives and four suicide vests as they tried to enter Turkey from Syria, Turkish media is reporting the army as saying.
The group consisted of four men, 10 women and 20 children, the Dogan news agency reported, according to Reuters.
Lavrov: If Syria talks fail, there is a threat of a military solution
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has given a lengthy interview to the Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) daily, the second part of which was published this morning.
I have translated below the parts of the interview relating to the Syrian crisis and the IS group. In the next post, I'll take a look at some of the key points Lavrov is making here and what they mean.
MK: The remarkable Russian orientalist Vitaly Naumkin told me the other day that he sees three main scenarios in the development of the situation in Syria: a compromise in the Geneva talks, a military victory by government troops and a great war with direct participation by various foreign countries. Do you agree with this assessment? And if so, which scenario seems most likely to you?
Lavrov: I agree, since all of this is on the surface. If the talks fail or even if they don't start, then, probably the emphasis will be on a military solution. This is what some countries are saying, without beating around the bush; they are governed, as I understand it, but an almost personal hatred for Bashar al-Assad.
The United States and we were willing and actively proposed during the Vienna meeting of the International Syria Support Group to set out in writing, and afterwards in a UN Security Council Resolution, a very simple phrase -- the Syrian crisis does not have a military solution. The United States, Russia and the Europeans were in favor of this phrase. However, several American partners from the region categorically blocked this idea. So this is very real. Now we hear announcements that there are plans to send ground troops.
Saudi Arabia said that for the war against IS it does not exclude the involvement of a force they have created, the so-called Islamic anti-terrorist coalition. Some other countries have started to say that they are prepared to support this idea. During the visit of His Majesty the King of Bahrain Hamad al-Khalifa, information emerged that Bahrain had signed up to this. But when he was in Russia on Feb. 8, His Majesty and his Foreign Minister said this is not so and that there are no such plans.
We are very disturbed by reports that are constantly coming via public and private channels: the Turks are definitely planning or even perhaps have begun to explore parts of Syrian territory on the pretext of creating tent camps there, to concentrate Syrian refugees without allowing them to cross the Turkish border, where they say that camps are already overcrowded.
On the Turkish side, talks continue regarding the creation of a buffer zone on Syrian territory, free of IS. Everyone understands that we are talking about a stretch of the border between two Kurdish enclaves, the joining of the forces of which Turkey considers completely unacceptable if only because this will stop Turkey from supplying militants in Syria and from getting smuggled goods from them.
There is evidence that the leadership of IS continues to have secret contacts with the Turkish government. They are discussing options for action in the current circumstances, when thanks to our air strikes the options for traditional smuggling routes are severely limited.
According to our information, the Turks in NATO have already discussed their ideas of creating in Syria a "zone free from IS." This of course would be a violation of all the principles of international law. This would significantly and qualitatively increase the chances of an escalation.
So of the three options suggested by my good friend Naumkin, of course, we are relying on the first: to reach a compromise in negotiations.
MK: How would Russia react if Turkey goes ahead with its threat and carries out a full scale invasion of Syria?
Lavrov: I don't think this will happen, because the small provocations that I've already talked about -- the constriction of tent camps, the preparation of some sort of engineering structures 100-200 meters inside Syrian territory and a few km wide -- these are not a full scale invasion. I don't think that the U.S.-led coalition, which includes Turkey, will allow such reckless plans to happen.
MK: But if the worst, nightmarish version were to happen, wouldn't a Turkish invasion give rise to a real possibility of direct clashes between our air force and Turkish troops?
Lavrov: Unfortunately, there was already a direct clash on Nov. 24. Still there has been no apology. And not even a hint of remorse. Moreover, we are asked to apologize for violating Turkish air space. Even though everyone knows that how Turks behave towards the sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus over their air space.
We have demonstrated maximum endurance. But we have taken all measures for the future: our bombers are no longer flying without fighter cover. Moreover, on the ground we've deployed S-400s and other air defense systems which will guarantee 100 percent the safety of the air space in which our pilots are operating.
Key points from Russian FM Lavrov's MK interview on Syria
The post below contains a translated excerpt of Russian FM Sergei Lavrov's interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets, in which he made some interesting points on the Syrian crisis and Russia's intervention.
Here are some of Lavrov's key points and what they mean:
1. Lavrov addressed recent announcements by several Arab states -- notably Saudi Arabia and the UAE -- that they are prepared to send ground troops to Syria to "help in the fight against IS."
Lavrov said these announcements were based on a "hatred for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad," something that Russia has accused Arab states and the West of harboring before, saying that this affects their policy on Syria.
But -- as Lavrov knows -- top U.S. intelligence officials have raised concerns about whether the offers of ground troops by Saudi Arabia and the UAE are feasible.
“We appreciate and value the Saudi willingness to engage on the ground,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers Tuesday, adding, “I think that would be a challenge for them if they were to try to take that on.”
Lavrov is more concerned -- at least in this interview -- with Turkey, not least because of the ongoing spat between Russia and Turkey following the Nov. 24 downing of a Russian bomber near the Syrian border.
The Russian Foreign Minister accuses Ankara of using the refugee crisis as part of plans for a possible invasion of Syria or to control territory near the Turkey-Syria border -- which Russia fears will allow Turkey to continue to supply rebels with weapons, money and manpower. Lavrov expresses concerns about Turkish plans for a buffer zone -- or, worse for Russia -- a no-fly zone along the Turkish border, which Turkey has called an "IS-free zone."
Russia has previously accused Turkey of planning an invasion of Syria -- although Lavrov says in his MK interview that he does not believe that the U.S.-led coalition will allow Turkey to do so.
2. Lavrov used the interview to issue a reminder about Russia's air defense systems in Latakia.
Lavrov noted that Russia has deployed serious air defense systems including the S-400 anti aircraft systems in the Hmeymim air base in Latakia province.
3. Lavrov seemed to half admit that Russia violated Turkish air space on Nov. 24.
In a curious semi-admission, Lavrov noted that Russia had been asked to apologize for violating Turkish air space on Nov. 24, when Turkey shot down a Russian bomber.
Russia's position has been that its Su-24 jet remained in Syrian air space. But Lavrov did not repeat that here -- instead he resorted to some rather clumsy what-aboutism and accused Turkey of not caring about the air space of Cyprus and Greece.
Over 500 dead since Aleppo offensive began: activists
More than 500 people, including civilians, have been killed since a major government offensive began in Aleppo province in northern Syria this month, activists say.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of sources for information, says that the death toll of 506 included 23 children.
The government offensive is backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias.
Rebels in Idlib threaten death sentence for anyone smuggling food to Shi'ite villages
Rebel 'judicial' authorities in Idlib province have issued a statement saying that anyone caught smuggling food or other provisions to the two Shi'ite towns of Kafriya and Fua, will be punished by "execution in the public square," according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Kafraya and Fua are besieged by a rebel coalition dominated by Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front, who have threatened to massacre the mainly Shi'ite civilians who live there.
The statement shows how rebels are using sieges of Shi'ite villages as leverage to try to force the government to break its own blockades on rebel-held towns and villages. The statement, as reported by SOHR, also shows the sectarian language used by this particular group of rebels.
A recent deal between the government and rebels to allow emergency food aid into the besieged rebel-held town of Madaya was contingent on aid agencies being allowed to simultaneously deliver aid to the rebel-besieged Shi'ite villages of Kafraya and Fua.
According to SOHR, the rebel statement said that the ruling had been made in order that the rebel siege on Kafraya and Fua is not weakened. If people of Fua and Kafriya get any help, they could endure and resist the siege of the "mujahedin," the statement reasoned.
The rebels explained that if their siege on the Shi'ite villages is weakened, it would in turn weaken the position of militants who seek to “exploit the siege of Rawafid [Shi'ites]” as a lever to help to break the government sieges on Madaya and other areas.
By sieging Shi'ite villages, the rebels reasoned that they will be able to put pressure on the “Nusayri criminal regime” -- a derogatory term used to describe Alawites, the sect to which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs -- and force them to lift the siege from “our people."The statement came after government troops, backed by Russian air strikes and Iranian-backed militias broke a years'-long rebel siege on two Shi'ite villages in Aleppo province, Nubl and Zahraa.
Russia 'isn't trying to cover up for or maintain the Assad government': FM spox
Russia is not trying to cover up the mistakes of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
"We never idealized the current political system in Syria, we have regularly criticized what officials in Damascus are doing and that includes regarding human rights and regarding compliance with democratic principles.
Russia's Foreign Ministry had frequently said that democratic reforms were needed in Syria, Zakharova said.
"We are not engaged in maintaining the regime in Syria. We believe that the internal situation in Syria is a matter for the Syrians themselves," she said.
Syria is domestic security issue for Turkey: Erdogan
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has commented on the crisis in Syria, describing the situation as a "domestic security issue" for Turkey.
Erdogan also criticized the United States for its policy on supporting the Syrian Kurds.
Russia says Syrian refugees fleeing IS terrorists, not Russian air strikes
Russia's Defense Ministry has said that Syrian refugees are fleeing Islamic State terrorists and not Russian air strikes, RIA Novosti is reporting.
Thousands of Syrians are fleeing fighting in Aleppo where a government offensive, backed by Russian air strikes, is threatening to encircle the city.
Some Syrians fleeing Aleppo seeking refuge in Kurdish region
Some of the civilians fleeing the fighting in Aleppo province are seeking refuge in the Kurdish region to the north.
The families said they had no choice to leave Aleppo, as the fighting and bombings are fierce.
"A rocket fell to the ground and hit my sister and her husband," a woman told VOA. "Her husband died and one of her hands and legs broke. She has a son and daughter."