Regional geopolitics

[Azad]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Good news! Crude oil is down 4% down to $46.5 a barrel.

http://www.ibtimes.com/opec-meeting-oil-prices-fall-iran-iraq-disagree-production-cuts-2439046

What does aliyev do in his desperation?

"Azerbaijan launches investment offensive as cheap oil looms

Risky business

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, better known as Sofaz, is looking to take on more risk, according to Deputy CEO Israfil Mammadov. The fund aims to soon lift its cap on investment in stocks, including private equity, from 15% to 25% ..."

You can read the rest of their desperate moves.

http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/Azerbaijan-launches-investment-offensive-as-cheap-oil-looms.html

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Turkish general Staff chief arrives in Moscow for cooperation talks
By Zen Adra - 01/11/2016

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkish-general-staff-chief-arrives-moscow-cooperation-talks/

Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Hulusi Akar arrived today in the Russian capital at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov.

"On September 1, Turkey's Chief of the General Staff Army General Hulusi Akar is going to visit Russia upon the invitation of Russia's Chief of the General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov to discuss bilateral military cooperation, exchange views and assess the situation in the region", Turkish General Staff said in a statement.

During the visit Akar will hold talks on military cooperation between the two countries, the situation in Syria and Iraq, as well coordination in the fight against ISIL.

Earlier on September 15, the two general met in Ankara where they agreed on to set up communications channels and a direct hot line between the two countries' militaries in order to maximize cooperation efficiency and improve the level of bilateral contacts.

Sources: Agencies

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Russia hasn’t used warplanes in Syria’s Aleppo for 16 days — defense minister
By News Desk - 01/11/2016

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-hasnt-used-warplanes-syrias-aleppo-16-days-defense-minister/

The beginning of the political process in Syria has been postponed indefinitely because of the actions of the "moderate opposition" in Aleppo, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told a video conference on Tuesday.

He noted that "militants shoot dozens of civilians every day for trying to approach the humanitarian corridors."

"Is that the opposition it is possible to hold negotiations with? To eliminate terrorists in Syria, it is necessary to work together rather than put a spoke into partners’ wheel. The gunmen use this for their own benefit," the minister said. "As a result, the prospects for the beginning of the political process and the Syrian people’s return to peaceful have are postponed indefinitely," he said.

He also said that "over 2,000 so-called moderate opposition members carried out attacks on residential areas, schools and hospitals with the support of 22 tanks, 15 IFVs, multiple launch rocket systems and eight vehicles with suicide bombers."

Shoigu said most of this military hardware had been eliminated.

The minister recalled that eight humanitarian corridors have been opened in Aleppo, and the Russian Center for Reconciliation delivers humanitarian aid to the city on a daily basis.

According to a statement by Syria’s command released on Monday, over 80 civilians died and nearly 300 others were injured in Aleppo’s artillery bombardments between October 29 and October 31 alone, most of them women and children. In addition to that, the command said shells containing chlorine gas had been used by terrorists in the Al-Hamdaniya neighborhood.

No warplanes in Aleppo for 16 days

According to Shoigu, the Russian military have not been using combat aircraft in Syria’s Aleppo for 16 days already upon the orders of President Vladimir Putin.

"We have not been using warplanes in Aleppo for 16 days following the order of the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation," Shoigu said.

Russian and Syrian warplanes halted their airstrikes on Aleppo on October 18.

On October 28, the Russian military asked Putin to permit resumption of airstrikes on eastern Aleppo, citing militant activity. However, the president gave no such permission and the humanitarian pause was extended.
TASS

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Nato-Russia tensions move to Balkans with military drills
BBC


Nato is holding a civil emergency exercise in Montenegro while neighbouring Serbia prepares for joint training with 150 Russian paratroops.
Russia dislikes Montenegro's policy of increasing ties with Nato and the EU.
There have also been arrests in Montenegro and Serbia over a suspected plot to topple outgoing Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
In addition, a large arms cache was found near the family home of Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday.
There are suspicions that the arms were to be used in an assassination attempt against Mr Vucic, a pro-EU reformer, though he himself played down that theory.
In Montenegro, officials have accused Russia of plotting against Mr Djukanovic.


The four-day Nato exercise in Montenegro began on Monday, and involves Nato's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC).
Focused on the Niksic area, the aim is to practise for a major flood or chemical emergency.
There are 680 participants, from 32 Nato and partner countries. Israel, Azerbaijan and Kosovo are among the non-Nato countries involved.


'Slavic Brotherhood 2016'

Russian Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev paid an unexpected visit to Belgrade last week.
The Serbian-Russian military exercise, starting on Wednesday, is called "Slavic Brotherhood 2016". Units from Belarus will also take part.
The Russian military says the drills will take place near Belgrade, until 15 November.
Serbia has, nevertheless, increased ties with Nato over the years, including membership of the alliance's Partnership for Peace programme.


Nato's bombing of Serbia and Montenegro in 1999 and its intervention in Kosovo left a legacy of bitterness among Serb nationalists. Russia has forged close ties with some of them, reviving centuries-old pan-Slavic patriotism.
Nato's action resulted in the ousting of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The nationalist leader died in 2006 while on trial in The Hague for war crimes.
Since splitting from Serbia in 2006 Montenegro has forged close ties with the EU and Nato. It is expected to join Nato early next year, but EU membership is not likely before 2020.
Montenegro, with a population of some 630,000, has in recent years seen an influx of Russian money, homebuyers and tourists.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

From Debka

The pro-Iranian Iraqi Shiite drive to capture Tel Afar, 55 km from Mosul in western Iraq, was designed less to complete the encirclement of the Islamists in Mosul - in support of the US-led coalition - and more to forge a link in the land bridge Tehran aspires to build to give its Revolutionary Guards free passage to Hizballah and the Shiite groups fighting for Bashar Assad in Syria. This is reported by DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources.
The Iraqi Shiite battle for Afar is led by Iran’s Al Qods chief, Gen. Qassem Soliemani from the front lines.
US and Iraqi commanders of Operation Inherent for expelling ISIS from Mosul welcomed the Iran-led Iraqi Shiites’ initiative to take Tal Afar in order to sever ISIS’ supply lines from Syria to Mosul.
But Iran’s overriding motive in initiating this operation was laid bare by Ahmad al-Asadi, spokesman of the pro-Iranian Iraqi Hashid Shaabi Shiite groups, when he spoke to reporters Saturday, Oct. 29 in Baghdad.
After “clearing” these “terrorist gangs,” from 14,000 sq. km of Iraq including Tal Afar and the regions bordering on Syria, he said, “We are fully ready to cross the border into Syria and fight alongside President Bashar al-Assad.
According to our sources, this plan was not coordinated directly with the US-Iraqi command of the Mosul operation, but with the Russian military command center in the Syrian province of Latakia.
It is important enough for the Russian command to have just established a new center for military and intelligence interchanges. It is staffed by Russian, Turkish, Syrian, Iraqi Shiite and Iranian officers. This mechanism has been put in charge of coordinating Shiite military operations both in Syria and Iraq.
It was decided that when US military assistance or air support is deemed necessary, requests will be piped through the bureau of Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and passed on to the US-Iraqi command of Operation Inherent.
Russian, Iranian and Turkish officers have thus effectively hitched on to the decision-making process for the Mosul offensive alongside American officers.
The irony of this arrangement is that, the US armed the Iraqi army, and indirectly the Shiite militias, for this offensive with top-notch Abrams M1 tanks, M1-198 Howitzers and M88 Recovery vehicles for tanks. All this s valuable hardware looks like ending up away another battlefield away from Mosul in Syria, and under a different command, Russia..

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-army-halts-jihadist-momentum-west-aleppo/

Syrian Army halts jihadist momentum in west Aleppo
By Leith Fadel - 01/11/2016

ALEPPO, SYRIA (11:30 P.M.) - The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), alongside Hezbollah, continued their military operations to halt the jihadist advance in the western Aleppo suburbs on Tuesday, marking another violent day of clashes between the opposing parties.

Led by the Tiger Forces (Qawat Al-Nimr) and Desert Hawks Brigade (Liwaa Suqour Al-Sahra), the Syrian Arab Army and Hezbollah beat back another jihadist assault in the Minyan and Al-Assad suburbs, leaving several members of Jaysh Al-Fateh (Army of Conquest) dead in the process.

According to local battlefield correspondents, the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah established a large presence in the Al-Assad Suburb after repelling the jihadist advance on Tuesday; this marked the first time since they lost this strategic area that they have reached its center.

Meanwhile, at the 1070 Al-Hamdaniyah Housing Project, Hezbollah forestalled the jihadist advance and reestablished a presence in the northwestern corner of this residential area in southwest Aleppo.

Intense clashes are still ongoing at this moment; however, it is the Syrian Arab Army and their allies attacking in the western suburbs.

[Vrej1915]

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Re: Regional geopolitics

Russian experts come to Aleppo to collect evidence of chemical weapons use
By News Desk - 03/11/2016

Syrian Army Killed Takfiri Militants in Daraa in Syria
(TASS) A group of military experts from the Scientific Center of Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense of the Russian Armed Forces have arrived in Aleppo to collect samples in the areas where militants used chemical weapons, Russian Defense Ministry’s official spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday.

"Experts from the Russian Defense Ministry are equipped will all necessary technical means to perform express analysis, collection and delivery of samples to the Russian Federation. Toxic chemicals and products of their disintegration found in Aleppo will be analyzed at the laboratory of chemical-analytical control at the Scientific Center of the Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense that is accredited by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)," Konashenkov said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, militants repeatedly used chemical weapons in their attempts to break through the external defense circle of the Syrian army around Aleppo at any cost. On October 30, two Syrian servicemen died and 37 civilians were injured in the chemical weapons attack in Aleppo’s south-west.

Konashenkov said Russian Aerospace Defense Forces and Syrian Air Force have been observing moratorium on any actions in Aleppo for the last 18 days. At the same time, the US-led coalition’s aircraft, including US B-52H strategic bombers, performed 23 sorties yesterday and delivered 14 airstrikes at settlements near the Iraqi city of Mosul.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

No Russian air presence in Aleppo despite massive jihadist attack
By Leith Fadel - 03/11/2016

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/no-russian-air-presence-aleppo-despite-massive-jihadist-attack/

ALEPPO, SYRIA (12:50 P.M.) - The jihadist rebels of Jaysh Al-Fateh (Army of Conquest) launched another massive attack on the western suburbs of Aleppo today, targeting the imperative New Aleppo District that is under the Syrian Arab Army's (SAA) control.

Unlike the previous battles in Aleppo, the Russian Air Force is not present over the skies of the provincial capital, leaving the protection of the western suburbs to the Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah.

In addition to the Russian Air Force's absence, the Syrian Arab Air Force is has also been grounded, per orders from the Syrian High Command and their Russian military advisors.

So far, the jihadist rebels of Jaysh Al-Fateh have managed to capture a number of points from the Syrian Armed Forces in the New Aleppo District, while also advancing on the Al-Assad Military Academy.