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Re: Regional geopolitics
Syria army retakes key militant bastion in Latakia
News | 13.01.2016 | 00:02
PressTV - The Syrian army, backed by volunteer forces, has managed to capture full control of the strategic town of Salma in the northwestern province of Latakia, state television reports.
The armed forces and allies on Tuesday also managed to seize hilltops surrounding the town, which was controlled by foreign-backed militants.
The channel added that Syrian government forces are now defusing the mines and explosive devices "left behind by terrorist groups in the buildings, streets, and squares of the town.”
Salma had served as the main stronghold for militant groups in Latakia, which is largely under the control of government forces.
Takfiri terrorists in Latakia, including the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, are largely stationed in the northern and northeastern areas of Jabal Akrad and Jabal Turkman.
Over the past several months, Syrian forces have been engaged in fierce fights to recapture those areas with the support of fighters of Lebanon resistance movement Hezbollah and Russian air raids.
Russia began its airstrikes against Daesh Takfiris and other terrorists in Syria on September 30, 2015 at the request of the Damascus government.
Earlier on Tuesday, Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that armed forces retook the Tartayah village as well as a number of hilltops and areas in Latakia.
The agency added that an army unit and allies established control over Jarjiseh town and the area north of al-Rastan Lake in the southern countryside of Hama Province.
Syrian government troops also inflicted heavy losses on terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo and Dara’a, killing a number of militants.
Syrian forces have been battling militants, particularly the Daesh terrorists, on different fronts throughout Syria since March 2011, when the foreign-sponsored militancy began. Over 250,000 people have been killed over the past few years of turmoil.Hayastan or Bust.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – China is concerned about a growing number of "Chinese-origin" terrorists within Daesh group, which is banned in a range of countries, including Russia and the United States, the newspaper said on Wednesday.
"The real question is whose side will they be on," a defense official was quoted as saying by The Washington Times, which suggested that Beijing will side with the Russian campaign against Daesh instead of joining forces with the US-led anti-Daesh coalition.
Daesh, a radical Sunni group, has ceased vast areas in Iraq and Syria, becoming notorious for various human rights atrocities. The group has also claimed responsibility for a number of major terrorist acts, including the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.
Daesh is known for its successful recruitment of young members from across the world through social networking websites and the spread of online propaganda.
A US-led international coalition has been launching airstrikes against Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq since September 2014, without the permission of Damascus or the United Nations. Russia started carrying out precision airstrikes against Daesh in Syria in September 2015, at the request of Assad.
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Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/2016...#ixzz3xBvd1rheHayastan or Bust.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
Ukraine To Ship Goods To Kazakhstan, Bypassing Russia
January 13, 2016
Ukraine says it will for the first time ship goods to Kazakhstan along a route bypassing Russia, due to the Kremlin’s trade embargo on Kyiv.
Russia this month slapped fresh sanctions on Ukraine in response to its decision to enter a much disputed free-trade and political Association Agreement with the European Union.
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pyvovarskiy said on January 13 that “experimental” deliveries via Georgia and Azerbaijan would be shipped to Kazakhstan on January 15.
"This Silk Road will not only give Ukrainian goods alternative access to markets in which we have historically been very strong, but also create a new [trade] route between Asia and Western Europe," Pyvovarskiy said in televised remarks during a meeting with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
The Dutch international banking corporation ING predicts that Ukraine will become Kazakhstan's third-largest source of imports by 2017.
ING said the energy-rich Central Asian nation primarily imports Ukrainian vehicles and transport equipment.
Pyvovarskiy did not disclose what would be shipped to Kazakhstan via the two Caucasus nations this week
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Re: Regional geopolitics
As I understand Russia has also blocked Turkish lorries crossing into Russian territory on their way to central Asia.
As an alternative the Turks are also using the Azerbaijani route.
Considering that roll-on-roll-off ferries will be involved the concern has to be, how much traffic will the respective ports facilities be able to handle.
.Politics is not about the pursuit of morality nor what's right or wrong
Its about self interest at personal and national level often at odds with the above.
Great politicians pursue the National interest and small politicians personal interestsComment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
back print
Tiger Forces capture another village near the ISIS stronghold of Al-Bab
News | 14.01.2016 | 00:08
almasdarnews.com - On Wednesday morning in the Aleppo Governorate’s eastern countryside, the Syrian Arab Army’s elite special operations division known as the “Tiger Forces” continued their advance inside the Al-Bab Plateau, attacking the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham’s (ISIS) defensive positions at the villages of ‘Ayn Al-Jahesh (“eye of the donkey”) and ‘Ayn Al-Bayda (“eye of the egg”).
The Tiger Forces – in close coordination with the National Defense Forces (NDF), Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra (Desert Hawks Brigade), and Kataebat Al-Ba’ath (Al-Ba’ath Battalions) – imposed full control over of ‘Ayn Al-Bayda after an intense battle with the ISIS terrorists inside this small village in the Al-Bab Plateau of east Aleppo.
According to a military source near the Kuweires Military Airport in east Aleppo, the Tiger Forces and their allies killed a confirmed 19 enemy combatants from ISIS, while also destroying 4 armored vehicles that were either mounted with anti-aircraft machine guns or doshkas.
The village of ‘Ayn Al-Bayda is situated directly east of ‘Ayishah, which was captured by the Tiger Forces during a large military operation to officially enter the Al-Bab Plateau on Monday morning; it is also located along the road that leads to the ISIS stronghold of Menbeij in northeast Aleppo.
Currently, the Tiger Forces and their allies are attempting to advance at ‘Ayn Al-Jahesh, where ISIS is reluctant to yield any ground to the pro-government forces.Hayastan or Bust.Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
In the west's (USA/euro) propaganda campaign , one of the loudest proclaimed offenses of Assad is the use of barrel bombs and chemical bombs.
For perspectives sake ... During the Viet Nam war, the USA dropped 338,000 tons of napalm on the Vietnamese people's.
Forgot to look up agent orange, so add that onto 338,000 tons (TONS).Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
Napalm = 338,000 tons + agent orange = 65,000 tons , but to be clear and not misleading , the total of napalm and agent orange is relatively small to the total amount (tonnage) of free fall bombs (dumb bombs) the USA dropped on the Vietnamese people.Originally posted by Artashes View Post
The USA indiscriminately dropped more bombs (dumb bombs) on Hanoi than were used in all of WW2.
The contrived indignation of the west at large is a geopoliticle smokescreen and not a genuine concern for the Syrian people's. It's the USA/euro concern for the USA/euro agenda that's important to them.
They don't care about the Syrian , only themselves.
?leaders of the free world? Where are we being lead? And free from what?
Everyone is free to tell lies (freedom of speech).Comment
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Re: Regional geopolitics
It's official. Georgia and Gazprom are going out. Georgian Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze, the former soccer star/pin-up staple, keeps getting spotted meeting Gazprom officials and he is running out of excuses for an entanglement that, some claim, threatens to upset the region's energy status quo, and possibly, its geopolitical layout.
Georgians mostly learn via foreign media about Kaladze’s trysts with the Russian gas monopolist in Milan, Brussels or Geneva. Each time the news breaks, the minister steps forth with claims that it was just some routine business meeting. Nothing to worry about.
But his line of reasoning has become sharply contradictory, stoking fears that Georgia is being seduced back into a dependency on Russian energy, which, in turn, critics say, could hamstring Georgia’s Western integration plans.
In his latest clarification, Kaladze said that his talks with Gazprom are about revising the terms for the transit of Russian gas through Georgia to Armenia. Instead of taking 10 percent of the gas (some 200 million cubic meters) as a transit fee, Tbilisi wants to get paid in cash, Kaladze said on January 11. The deal, if reached, will last for a year, the minister said, which, to his mind, means that the doomsday scenarios “painted by the so-called experts are nothing but delirious and wrong."
Earlier on, though, Kaladze had offered a diametrically different explanation for his tête-à-têtes with Gazprom, saying that Georgia actually wants to get more Russian gas to meet local, especially corporate, demand for fuel. Still before, Kaladze said that the sessions were about routine seasonal adjustments in the pipeline-infrastructure.
Kaladze’s many explanations also include a need to diversify away from over-dependence on neighboring Azerbaijan for gas supplies -- a claim that has led to some acrimonious commentary from its longtime energy steady.
Or maybe the coquetry with Gazprom is all about reversing the flow of a Gazprom-operated pipeline in Armenia to import gas from Iran? That’s what Iranian officials say. And there was a time when Kaladze, too, liked the idea.
But, then again, his ministry ardently denied making any specific plans with Iran, even though Iranian gas export officials specified the volumes (between 8 to 15 million cubic meters annually) that Tbilisi supposedly wanted to buy from Tehran.
Whether Georgia starts getting more gas from Russia or Iran, it will rely on Gazprom-operated transit infrastructure. Such an outcome has put many Georgians on alert, as Gazprom is interpreted as the Russian for foreign- policy pressure. Concerns are growing that Moscow could end up in a position where it could hinder Georgia’s much-cherished plans for Euro-Atlantic integration.
Some within Georgia's political opposition link this prospect to billionaire former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, seen as Georgia's real ruler, who, they allege, still holds shares in the Russian energy giant. The claim could not be immediately verified.
Kaladze, meanwhile, remains defiant about the drama over his rendez-vous. “I am sorry that the meetings with Gazprom cannot be carried live on TV,” he sniped on January 12.
He did meet, though, with a group of those "delirious" energy and political wonks to offer some details about the talks. Or perhaps it was to come up with yet another, brand new explanation.General Antranik (1865-1927): “I am not a nationalist. I recognize only one nation, the nation of the oppressed.”Comment
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