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Please guys, stay on topic.
This thread is about the situation in Iraq and Syria. |
"World powers agree Syria ceasefire, says John Kerry"
World powers meeting on Syria have agreed to implement a nationwide "cessation of hostilities", US Secretary of State John Kerry has said.
But he said the ceasefire would not apply to the fight with jihadist groups Islamic State (IS) and al-Nusra Front.
He also said the powers had agreed to accelerate and expand the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The announcement comes as the Syrian army, backed by Russian air strikes, advances in Aleppo province.
A UN task force will be set up to ensure humanitarian access is granted to all sides, Mr Kerry said.
Mr Kerry admitted the ceasefire plan was "ambitious" and said the real test would be whether the parties on the ground honoured the commitments.
He made the announcement alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.
Mr Lavrov said there were "reasons to hope we have done a great job today".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35556783?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_breaking&ns_source=twitter&ns_linkname=news_central
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well snap, russians closed their oil route; of course they'll be pissed.
Edit: i'm also starting to believe that until they restore the corridor, Turkey won't get its $3bill for "refugees".
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On February 13 2016 20:32 xM(Z wrote:
well snap, russians closed their oil route; of course they'll be pissed.
Edit: i'm also starting to believe that until they restore the corridor, Turkey won't get its $3bill for "refugees".
Saudi's can't even handle sheep herders in Yemen let alone a battle hardened standing army. It's insane how incompetent their military is when you look at all their spending. They have Houthis literally occupying towns in Saudi Arabia but they are sending troops and hardware to Turkey. Interesting how they are talking about fighting ISIS yet they are only sending F-15's.
Not to mention Saudi's going into Syria would turn it into a full fledged sectarian conflict.
edit: Anyway the more nervous Turkey and Saudi Arabia become, you know its getting darker for various terrorist groups in Syria. I think if the Syrian army pulls off this push to Tabka airbase (which is looking likely in the next few days), Raqqah will be in danger and Erdogan will have to do something. Depends on how crazy and irrational he has become.
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If I was a betting man I would wager that Saudi special forces are already inside Syria.
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well, tit for tat:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-3445391/Russia-sends-brand-new-cruise-missile-ship-Syria-report.html Russia has dispatched a new ship armed with cruise missiles to the Mediterranean, the navy announced Saturday, as reports said it is bound for Syria.
The Zelyony Dol, a patrol ship armed with Kalibr cruise missiles that only joined the Black Sea fleet in December, departed for the Mediterranean, the Black Sea fleet said in a statement.
RIA-Novosti news agency further quoted a security source in Crimea -- where the Black Sea fleet is based -- saying that the ship is bound for Syria and may take part in Russia's campaign to support the Syrian army.
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Turkish military also hit targets of regime in northwest Syria: state media"
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Saudi Arabia moves troops to Turkey as 'base for Syria invasion'
Saudi Arabia is sending troops and fighter jets to Turkey's Incirlik military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria. The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed the deployment in a statement to the Yeni Safak newspaper on Saturday, days before a temporary ceasefire is due to come into force.
"Saudi Arabia declared its determination against Daesh — the Arabic term for Islamic State (ISIS) — by saying that they were ready to send both jets and troops," he said. "At every coalition meeting we have always emphasised the need for an extensive result-oriented strategy in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group," he added.
SOURCE
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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-02/14/c_135097570.htm
DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has allowed 350 armed rebels to enter, through its borders, into the northern province of Aleppo to take part in defending a key Syrian border town from the Syrian military offensive, a monitor group reported on Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkish authorities allowed 350 Syria rebels with light and heavy arms to move from Syria's northwestern province of Idlib through the Turkish borders, namely the Atamah military crossing, into Syria's northern province of Aleppo to take part in defending the strategic border town of Tal Rifat from the approaching Syrian military forces.
The UK-based watchdog group said Turkey allowed the rebels to move through its territories and further supervised their movement from the countryside of Idlib to the northern countryside of Aleppo.
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Here we go... Kuwaiti, Egyptian troops and armaments spotted moving to Saudi airbase up to 150,000 coalition Soldiers for maneuvers.
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visuals
![[image loading]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbLcPYSW8AAIm3D.jpg)
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{CC}StealthBlue, your last quoted tweet kinda sucks. Northern Storm looks to be Northern Thunder and it's a military exercise that will take place in Saudi Arabia.
http://www.sigmalive.com/en/news/international/141518/saudi-arabia-to-host-largest-military-exercise-in-the-region Soldiers from 20 countries will be gathering in Saudi Arabia for massive military exercises that are to go on for 18 days, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. It comes as Riyadh has openly warned Syrian President Assad that he will be toppled.
The so-called “Northern Thunder” exercise will take place in the north of the country and will include air, sea and land forces. SPA said that it will show that Riyadh and its allies “stand united in confronting all challenges and preserving peace and stability in the region.”
Among the participants will be Arab and African countries. The US and other Western powers have not been invited.
... still ...While Riyadh says this necessary to “intensify” its operations against Islamic State in Syria, the move has sparked concern that the Saudis are getting ready for a full-scale ground invasion into the war-torn Syria, where they are backing anti-government rebels battling Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In a recent interview with American media, the Saudi Foreign Minister flatly stated that Assad will be toppled if he does not leave during a political transition.
“Bashar al-Assad will leave – have no doubt about it. He will either leave by a political process or he will be removed by force,” Adel al-Jubeir told CNN.
more on - http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/21-countries-in-thunder-of-the-north-drill-in-saudi-arabia-1.1670564 “There will be 21 Arab and Muslim countries taking part in huge drills,” Assiri told London-based newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat. “It will serve to boost fighting capabilities, exchange information, benefit from experiences and expertise and enhance coordination between the participating countries. There will be joint military command centres,” he said.
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On February 15 2016 06:04 xM(Z wrote:http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-02/14/c_135097570.htmShow nested quote +DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkey has allowed 350 armed rebels to enter, through its borders, into the northern province of Aleppo to take part in defending a key Syrian border town from the Syrian military offensive, a monitor group reported on Sunday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Turkish authorities allowed 350 Syria rebels with light and heavy arms to move from Syria's northwestern province of Idlib through the Turkish borders, namely the Atamah military crossing, into Syria's northern province of Aleppo to take part in defending the strategic border town of Tal Rifat from the approaching Syrian military forces.
The UK-based watchdog group said Turkey allowed the rebels to move through its territories and further supervised their movement from the countryside of Idlib to the northern countryside of Aleppo.
I dont get it, isnt that kurdish area ? or did they actually dodge all the kurdish area, to go trough the green area in the town of tal rifat ?
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Turkish Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz denied a report that some Turkish soldiers had entered Syria at the weekend and said Ankara was not considering sending troops into its neighbor, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Monday.
Syria's government had said Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen who entered Syria on Saturday with 12 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, in an operation to supply insurgents fighting Damascus.
"It is not true ... There is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria," Yilmaz told a Turkish parliamentary commission when asked about the allegation by the Syrian foreign ministry, made in a letter to the U.N. Security Council.
Turkey's army shelled Kurdish YPG militia targets in northern Syria over the weekend, after the group seized an air base north of Aleppo, further complicating the conflict on NATO-member Turkey's southern border.
Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist organization and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 31-year-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey. Washington, which does not see the YPG as terrorists, backs the group in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutolgu has demanded that the YPG withdraw from areas it has captured from Syrian rebels.
U.S. President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing "moderate" rebels in Syria in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to efforts to end the war.
Yilmaz also denied reports that Saudi Arabian aircraft had arrived at Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State militants, but said a decision had been reached for Saudi to send four F-16 jets.
A Turkish soldier was killed on Sunday evening after Turkey's security forces clashed with a group at the Syrian border that was trying to enter Turkey illegally, the armed forces said in a statement.
The Turkish military, which regularly detains people crossing back and forth across the Syrian border, said in its statement on Monday the clash occurred in the Yayladagi area of Hatay province at 7:15 p.m.
www.reuters.com
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the green(N and S of Aleppo) is all rebels Nusra, Quaeda, Ahrar ash-Sham @co; the western side with no colors is Turkey so from Idlib you go west through Turkey then around the kurds into Azaz and Tal Rifaat.
so yea they dodged the kurds.
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On February 15 2016 07:13 iPlaY.NettleS wrote:
WW3 is close.
Nah, Turkey can't call on article 5 if they invade another country. I still don't think Erdogan is stupid enough to go for it.
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EPT
