Regional geopolitics

[Haykakan]

Re: Regional geopolitics

It seems more and more that Turkey is walking into a trap. I hope we get to see it snap shut soon..

[Haykakan]

Re: Regional geopolitics

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad warned the Turkish government to immediately withdraw its military forces from Syria.

"Turkey should immediately retreat from the Syrian territories, and as long as Turkey continues occupation of the Syrian lands, the regional situation will not improve," Mikdad told al-Mayadeen news channel on Sunday.

He referred to Turkey's protest at the death and injury of a number of its military men in Syria's al-Bab city, and said, "The Turks should protest at themselves since the incident has happened inside the Syrian territories."

The Turkish military announced in a statement that three of its soldiers have been killed and 10 more wounded in Syria by an air strike allegedly launched by Syrian government forces.

A statement from the Turkish armed forces on its website said that the attack occurred at 3:30am local time [00:30 GMT] on Thursday.

"In the air strike assessed to have been by Syrian regime forces, three of our heroic soldiers were killed and 10 soldiers wounded, one seriously," it said in the statement.

It did not say where the attack occurred, but Turkish news media said the location was near the northern Syrian city of al-Bab.

In response, the Syrian army denied any such attack, stressing that no Syrian or Russian fighter jet has attacked Turkish army positions in Northwestern Aleppo.

"No Syrian or Russian aircraft bombed the Turkish army (positions) near (the town of) al-Bab on November 23rd - all reports claiming otherwise are lies," massdar news quoted the official as saying.

"Turkey is planning something in East Aleppo and using this alleged attack as a ploy to escalate the situation," he added.

In relevant remarks on Saturday, a senior member of the Syrian Parliament warned Ankara of the dire consequences of Turkish military interference in Northern Syria, warning that Damascus and Baghdad will give a crushing response to such invasions.

Mohammad Jalal Midou warned Turkey of the negative impacts of its continued military interferences in Northern Syria, and added, "Ankara should know that Syria and Iraq have not thus far disclosed their winning card in battlefields against the Turkish military invasion and when the card is played Ankara's situation will be totally changed."

"The plan of the UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura to grant autonomy to the Eastern regions of Aleppo was dismissed and now we should wait for another envoy who would step in to comply with the policies and aspirations of the new US administration," he further added.

"Donald Trump's administration will have major differences with Barak Obama's," the legislator added.

http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950907000402

[gokorik]

Re: Regional geopolitics

The northen sector of rebel held east Aleppo is collapsing. The Syrian Army is advancing swiftly with some cordinated movement by the YPG(kurds). In the last two days about 10% of the rebel held area has been captured. Aleppo will soon be under full goverment controll.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

New Putin move to win a military base in Libya
Debka

Libyan Gen Khalifa Hafter arrived in Moscow Sunday, Nov. 26, with a request for Russian arms and military support for his army. He was welcomed in Moscow, which saw an opening for Russia to gain its first military base in North Africa. According to DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources, President Vladimir Putin began to envision a second Mediterranean base on the coast of Benghazi, twin to Hmeimim in Syria’s Latakia. This one would accommodate Russian naval as well as air units and be located 700km from Europe.
The US-born Hafter, a general in the army of the late Muammar Qaddafi, carries the title of supreme commander of the Libyan army. However, Libya is today riddled with hundreds of militias vying for control. Haftar heads a powerful group that was once backed by the United States. But since refusing to recognize the government established by the UN in Tripoli, he relies mainly on the support of Egypt and some of the Gulf emirates for his eastern Libyan Benghazi stronghold.
Egypt and the UAE provide Hafter’s army with air support from Egyptian bases in the Western Desert. It was their leaders who urged him to accept the Russian invitation to Moscow and bid for military assistance.
This was Hafter’s second trip to Moscow. He was there in June and met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and National Security Adviser Nikolai Patrushev. Then, the Kremlin was wary of extending military aid to the maverick Libyan general. US, Italian and British special forces were at the time pressing a major offensive to drive ISIS out of the key Libyan port of Sirte. However, this offensive has still not achieved its goal.

Donald Trump’s election as US president is already causing seismic rumbles in the region. Putin is now offering Hafter’s army jet fighters attack helicopters, armored vehicles and assorted missiles as well as air support for fighting the Islamic State.
It is too soon to say whether the Russian leader’s Libya initiative betokens an invitation to the new US president to work together in the Middle East, or he is cashing in on an uncertain transition period between the presidencies to build up a stack of chips ready to face Trump as a rival power.
At all events, Russian planes in Hmeimim are capable of covering the 1,500km distance to Libya, while the Russian carrier Admiral Kusnetzev is anchored not far away, off Syria’s Mediterranean shore. Both are therefore available for operations in support of the Libyan general.
This would be the first time a Russian aircraft carrier went into action in this part of the Mediterranean.
The battles ongoing along the Mediterranean coast his week among the various militias, including Hafter’s army, are in fact a tug-o’-war for control of Libya’s oil fields. Libya’s oil riches are certainly not absent from Putin’s calculations. Moscow’s assistance in helping his Libyan visitor gain the upper hand in this struggle could augur the first Russian stake in the Libyan oil industry.

[Azad]

Re: Regional geopolitics

New Putin move to win a military base in Libya .... Moscow’s assistance in helping his Libyan visitor gain the upper hand in this struggle could augur the first Russian stake in the Libyan oil industry.

Libya is a hole with no value for a Russian base. They should help them with the oil industry and sell them all the arms they want in return form the oil gains, if any will be left.
The two places Russia should have bases in the Med. will be Syria and Egypt.

[Haykakan]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Libya is a hole with no value for a Russian base. They should help them with the oil industry and sell them all the arms they want in return form the oil gains, if any will be left.
The two places Russia should have bases in the Med. will be Syria and Egypt.

I disagree. Libya has several points of interest for Russia. If you look at the map you will realize that placing its anti aircraft systems there it will maximize the amount of area covered vs placing them in Egypt. The oil in Libya may not be as valuable as it once was but is still an asset. Lastly taking over what used to be a USA colony has political and psychological effects. This all assuming that the base will become reality.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Turkey entered Syria to end Assad’s reign: Erdogan
By Leith Fadel - 29/11/2016

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (4:15 P.M.) - Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stated on Tuesday that his army entered Syria in order to end the reign of Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, and bring justice to Syrians.

“Why did we enter? We do not have an eye on Syrian soil. The issue is to provide lands to their real owners. That is to say we are there for the establishment of justice. We entered there to end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror. [We didn’t enter] for any other reason,” Erdogan stated.

Erdogan alleges nearly 1 million people have died in Syria, despite the fact no monitoring or humanitarian group has put the death toll this high.

“In my estimation, nearly 1 million people have died in Syria. These deaths are still continuing without exception for children, women and men. Where is the United Nations? What is it doing? Is it in Iraq? No. We preached patience but could not endure in the end and had to enter Syria together with the Free Syrian Army [FSA],” Erdoğan said at the first Inter-Parliamentary Jerusalem Platform Symposium in Istanbul.

The Turkish Army illegally entered Syria in October 2016, claiming that they were focused on defeating the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham" (ISIS) in northern Aleppo; this did not prove to be the case, as they have repeatedly attacked the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near the border.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Saudi king to visit Kuwait as hopes rise on oilfield
By News Desk - 29/11/2016

The king will travel to Kuwait on December 8 after a Gulf summit in Bahrain and stay for three days, Al-Jarida newspaper reported on Tuesday.

His visit comes as the state-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC) readies for a long hoped-for resumption of production from the offshore Khafji field, jointly run with Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations.

In an internal memo seen by AFP, KGOC asked staff to make the necessary preparations.

It ordered implementation of a Startup Readiness Plan to put "facilities in operational ready state within least possible period in order to achieve the resumption of Khafji crude oil production."

Output from the Khafji field was halted in October 2014.

Saudi Arabia cited environmental concerns but the move came amid a slump in prices that put pressure on producers around the world.

The halt to the field's production of 300,000 barrels per day -- shared equally between the two countries -- hit Kuwait far harder than Saudi Arabia.

The emirate lacks the spare production capacity its giant neighbor enjoys.

Saudi Arabia halted output from a second shared field in the former neutral zone between the two countries a few months later.

The Wafra field, which had been pumping 200,000 bpd, was run jointly with Saudi Arabian Chevron.

In response, Kuwait stopped granting visas to the firm's expatriate staff.

Kuwaiti authorities were unhappy they had not been consulted about Riyadh's 2009 decision to renew Saudi Arabian Chevron's operating licence for 30 years, industry sources said at the time.

[Vrej1915]

Re: Regional geopolitics

Syrian Army captures first village from Turkish-backed rebels on the outskirts of al-Bab
By Chris Tomson - 29/11/2016

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is on the verge of direct military conflict with the Turkish Armed Forces in Aleppo province after Syrian government troops seized a village from Turkish supported rebel forces on Monday evening.

Pushing eastwards from a batch of recently captured villages on the outskirts of Aleppo city, the SAA's Republican Guard and the newly formed 'Syrian National Resistance' (SNR) were able to wrestle control of Azraq village, thus advancing the SAA's forward units to positions just five kilometers from al-Bab city.

The SNR is formed out of the 'Kafr Saghir Martyrs Brigade', a predominately Kurdish pro-government unit which spearheaded the capture of Aleppo Infantry School exactly one month ago. Notably, the SNR is a key player in improving regional relations between the SAA and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

In fact, the SDF provided fire support for the SAA's capture of Azraq.

Meanwhile, Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions seized yet another village from ISIS on the eastern outskirts of al-Bab; namely Zurzur. The FSA and SDF are also clashing with each other nearby although neither side could yield any sustainable gains.

With the SAA and FSA gradually advancing towards al-Bab, ISIS fighters are bracing themselves for the coming assault. Turkish tanks have shelled the city heavily over the past few weeks.