05-17-2019, 07:49 PM
** 17-May-2019 World View: Turkey desperate to halt Syria-Russia assault on Idlib
The violence in Syria is increasing to levels not seen in almost a
year, as Russia and the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad
have increased their bombing of civilians in Idlib province.
All the worst signs are back. According to the United Nations, in the
last three weeks Syria and Russia have destroyed 17 schools and 20
hospitals and medical facilities. More than 180,000 newly displaced
people have fled their homes and moved to camps, but al-Assad has been
targeting these IDP camps -- if you want to commit mass slaughter and
genocide, it's easier if you can kill them all together in camps.
More than 80,000 people are sitting under trees or in open fields with
no protection from sun and rain.
There haven't yet been reports of al-Assad once again using chemical
weapons -- chlorine and Sarin gas -- but presumably that's coming
soon. There are three million people in Idlib, mostly refugees from
al-Assad's violence in other parts of Syria, and al-Assad has declared
them all to be terrorists, with the intention of killing them all.
Turkey is desperate to get al-Assad to stop this. Idlib is on the
border with Turkey, and Turkey is already hosting 3.5 million refugees
that fled from al-Assad's violence in the past. Even though Turkey
has closed the border, Al-Assad's assault on Idlib could cause a
million or more to push across the border into Turkey anyway.
As I wrote last week, Turkey begged Russia to end the airstrikes, and
Russia's defense minister Sergei Lavrov said that the airstrikes had
ended on May 10. But anything that comes out of Lavrov's mouth is
total garbage with no relation to the truth, and indeed the airstrikes
have continued.
Since then Turkey has once again begged the Russians to end the
airstrikes. On Monday, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke
on the phone with Russia's president Vladimir Putin, and Putin very
sweetly and kindly offered to form a committee to discuss the matter.
Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt ÇavuSoglu says that the airstrikes
are preventing work on the UN's project on drafting a new Syrian
constitution:
This is so laughably ridiculous and pathetic, even by the very low
standards of typical international politics. Bashar al-Assad is a
Shia/Alawite genocidal psychopath and war criminal who is
exterminating the Alawite's historic enemies, the Arab Sunnis, and has
no intention of stopping until he's through with Idlib. Anyone who
believes that al-Assad would agree to have a UN committee draft a new
constitution for Syria belongs in a mental institution.
--- Sources:
-- Risk grows of ‘catastrophic humanitarian fallout’ in Syria’s Idlib,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038681
(United Nations)
-- Turkey steps up efforts to stop all-out assault on Syria’s Idlib
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina...omacy.html
(Al Monitor)
-- Turkey, Russia agree to form joint committee for Syria’s Idlib
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-...lib-143455
(Hurriyet, Turkey)
The violence in Syria is increasing to levels not seen in almost a
year, as Russia and the regime of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad
have increased their bombing of civilians in Idlib province.
All the worst signs are back. According to the United Nations, in the
last three weeks Syria and Russia have destroyed 17 schools and 20
hospitals and medical facilities. More than 180,000 newly displaced
people have fled their homes and moved to camps, but al-Assad has been
targeting these IDP camps -- if you want to commit mass slaughter and
genocide, it's easier if you can kill them all together in camps.
More than 80,000 people are sitting under trees or in open fields with
no protection from sun and rain.
There haven't yet been reports of al-Assad once again using chemical
weapons -- chlorine and Sarin gas -- but presumably that's coming
soon. There are three million people in Idlib, mostly refugees from
al-Assad's violence in other parts of Syria, and al-Assad has declared
them all to be terrorists, with the intention of killing them all.
Turkey is desperate to get al-Assad to stop this. Idlib is on the
border with Turkey, and Turkey is already hosting 3.5 million refugees
that fled from al-Assad's violence in the past. Even though Turkey
has closed the border, Al-Assad's assault on Idlib could cause a
million or more to push across the border into Turkey anyway.
As I wrote last week, Turkey begged Russia to end the airstrikes, and
Russia's defense minister Sergei Lavrov said that the airstrikes had
ended on May 10. But anything that comes out of Lavrov's mouth is
total garbage with no relation to the truth, and indeed the airstrikes
have continued.
Since then Turkey has once again begged the Russians to end the
airstrikes. On Monday, Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke
on the phone with Russia's president Vladimir Putin, and Putin very
sweetly and kindly offered to form a committee to discuss the matter.
Turkey's foreign minister Mevlüt ÇavuSoglu says that the airstrikes
are preventing work on the UN's project on drafting a new Syrian
constitution:
Quote: "This aggressive attitude of the regime needs to
change. The attacks must stop. While we made progress in the
establishment of the Constitutional Commission, the regime’s
aggression on the ground can ruin everything."
This is so laughably ridiculous and pathetic, even by the very low
standards of typical international politics. Bashar al-Assad is a
Shia/Alawite genocidal psychopath and war criminal who is
exterminating the Alawite's historic enemies, the Arab Sunnis, and has
no intention of stopping until he's through with Idlib. Anyone who
believes that al-Assad would agree to have a UN committee draft a new
constitution for Syria belongs in a mental institution.
--- Sources:
-- Risk grows of ‘catastrophic humanitarian fallout’ in Syria’s Idlib,
https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1038681
(United Nations)
-- Turkey steps up efforts to stop all-out assault on Syria’s Idlib
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina...omacy.html
(Al Monitor)
-- Turkey, Russia agree to form joint committee for Syria’s Idlib
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-...lib-143455
(Hurriyet, Turkey)
