Bharat Rakshak

habal wrote:Err .. dogan had promised to leave post of President if Russian allegations of buying ISIS oil were true ... so here we have

Russia's MoD presenting data on Turkish involvement in ISIS oil laundry. Video with English translations by RT, 20+ mins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMA4B2ZnQ2o

Washington has been implementing a project of independent Kurdistan for quite a while already. Erdogan's new Ottoman Empire does not include this project. However, it is more important for the Americans to have a vassal state of the Kurds that would be at war both with Bashar Assad and the Turks. A month ago, the United States joined the Kurds for an offensive on ISIS militants in Syria's Rakka.After the capture of the city of Tel Abyad, the creation of a new autonomous region in northern Syria was announced. Washington's decision infuriated Ankara. Declaring Tel Abyad an autonomy is a threat to the national security of Turkey, officials with the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. "It appears to me that the US supports the Kurds in a measured out manner so that they do not destroy Daesh (ISIS) completely, - Yuri Nabiyev, President of the Society for Solidarity and Cooperation with the Kurdish people told Pravda.Ru. - If the Americans were helping the Kurds indeed, the latter would have wiped Daesh off the face of earth a long time ago." Noteworthy, the Kurds are not very much happy about the patronage from Washington - they remember America's support of Saddam Hussein in the past. -
It just so happens that there is no Western coalition against the Islamic State. Turkey bombs the Kurds and acts as a member of the anti-ISIL coalition, in which the Kurds also participate and enjoy the support of the USA. Russia can play on contradictions among the "allies." Supporting the Kurds could be Russia's adequate response to Erdogan for the downed Su-24. It would also weaken Erdogan's positions in both Syria and Turkey.In addition to weapons, Russia can give international recognition to the Kurds. The Party of Democratic Union discussed the prospects of its new statehood with Russia, the Financial Times wrote. The US administration does not like such moves, the newspaper says, as there is a risk to jeopardize US efforts in combatting the Islamic State. Of course, if Assad and Kurds unite, US "effort" all no longer needed. In practice, Russia should help the Kurds extend the control zone - seize the land between the towns of Jarablus and Azaz and advance to the west of the Euphrates (in June, the Americans refused to help the Kurds with that). Several days ago, Kurdish forces went on an offensive in the north of Aleppo with the help of the Russian Air Force, reports AFP.Russia's support of the Kurdish resistance does not raise any doubt anymore, as their recent actions were highly effective and therefore very noticeable.Yet, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to achieve even a greater victory, a blogger wrote on Aljazeera.com. "Putin called on the Assad government and the political wing of the YPG to unite. It has not happened yet, at least not officially. However, Syrian Kurdish officials said they were willing to work with those who struggle against the Islamic State and those who struggle for the united, secular and democratic Syria. Such an alliance will change the balance of forces.t goes without saying that Bashar Assad will do his best to give broad autonomy to the Kurds. If the President of Turkey makes a silly mistake and tries to hinder these efforts by military means, a disaster will be in store for him anyway.
"The Kurds have long-standing historical relations with Russia. These relations are warm and friendly, and, to be frank, it seems that Russia is somewhat late with this support," - said Yuri abiyev.Russia needs to recognize the rights of the Kurds to self-determination in the first place. The Syrian Kurds do not intend to pull out from Syria. According to our expert, the creation of "self-governing cantons" in Syria is important not only for the Kurds, but also for all other communities.This objective incidentally coincides with Russia's line of politics in the Syrian conflict - the preservation of statehood. - "

Gyan wrote:It seems like

Turkey + Qatar fighting Russians in Syria eerily similar to Saudis + Pakis fighting Soviets in Afghanistan.

Four Tornados took off from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus shortly after MPs voted to approve bombing.
The strikes targeted the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria, which is under IS control, and were "successful", Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said.

TSJones wrote:there's practically no Christians left in that province. hasn't been for years. just read the book Black Swan by Taleb.

Putin is protecting his client state/Assad and toe hold on the Mediterranean sea.

John Wight
Writer

The Only Moderates Fighting In Syria Are the Soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army
Posted: 01/12/2015 13:39 GMT Updated: 01/12/2015 13:59 GMT


Proof that the British political class hasn't learned anything after Iraq came with David Cameron's ludicrous assertion that there are 70,000 moderate rebels fighting in Syria. It was an outright fabrication to rank with Blair's sexed up dossier on Saddam's WMD, which the then prime minister asserted could be launched against Britain within 45 minutes.

We know Cameron's claim is fiction because as far back as 2012 the US Defense Intelligence Agency produced a classified intelligence report which identified that, "The Salafist, the Muslim Brotherhood, and and AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq] are the major forces driving the insurgency in Syria." This was a full two years before ISIS exploded across the region at the beginning of 2014.

...
Attributing the refugee crisis to Assad, or claiming the majority of civilians who've been killed have been killed by his military, comes to us straight from the regime change playbook. We heard the same propaganda in the run up to the war in Iraq in 2003 and also in the run-up to NATO's intervention in Libya in 2011. Both countries are now failed states as a direct consequence of our military intervention.

Making the same catastrophic mistake again would be a crime that history will not forgive.

While crashing into the third Arab country since 9/11 may titillate the Churchillian sensibilities of the British ruling class, it will do little when it comes to defeating ISIS and ending the conflict. Indeed, given the recent incident of a Russian jet being shot down by Turkish F16s the risks involved in throwing British aircraft into the mix are self evident. If the Americans, who've been bombing ISIS (at least so they've been telling us) in Syria for the best part of a year, have failed to make any appreciable difference, what makes David Cameron and his Labour supporters believe Britain's handful of fighter-bombers will or can?

There is a glaring need for the West to coordinate its efforts with the Russians and the Syrians, who are engaged in the very joint air and ground campaign every military expert agrees is the only way to crush ISIS/Daesh. However miltary action is not by itself enough. Confronting the murky relationship that exists between ISIS and Western allies in the region is also now non-negotiable.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia in particular have been at the heart of supporting the medieval fanatacism that recently exploded onto the streets of Paris. In the case of the former, without Turkey's Syrian border being tantamount to a revolving door for ISIS fighters, materiel, and arms to pass through, we wouldn't be where we are now. Nor is it anymore a wild claim to make that Turkey, elements within Turkey, have actively facilitated the trade in stolen Iraqi and Syrian oil that has funded their operations and so-called caliphate. Here we are entitled to ponder the question of whether Turkey's real motive in taking the extraordinary step of shooting down a Russian jet was because Russian airstrikes had begun targeting the huge convoys of trucks transporting this oil towards Turkey's border?

...

Until Britain, the United States, and other Western governments are willing to deal with the role of both Turkey and Saudi Arabia in fomenting this crisis, they are not serious when it comes to defeating ISIS and the wider issue of the perverse ideology that drives it.

As for those 70,000 moderates fighting in Syria, the only place they are to be found is in the ranks of the non sectarian Syrian Arab Army, made up of Alawites, Sunnis, Druze, and Christians fighting for their homes, their people, and their country.

TSJones wrote:there's practically no Christians left in that province. hasn't been for years. just read the book Black Swan by Taleb.

Putin is protecting his client state/Assad and toe hold on the Mediterranean sea.

Singha wrote:^ the druze also are a ancient people in that region.
Syria 500,000[5]-800,000[6]
Lebanon 220,000[7]
Israel 140,000[8]
Jordan 32,000[9]

S300 I would imagine is more of a worry for israel which has periodically been crossing over golan heights. also every Maus newly arrived like UK/France were aiming to ride roughshod over regime held territory to bomb targets of their choice.

Success of the Syrian Army in Daraa is Attributed to the People of Sweida 0
BY LEITH FADEL ON NOVEMBER 30, 2015 OPINION


In July, the Islamist rebels of the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) “Liwaa Al-Yarmouk” and the Syrian Al-Qaeda group “Jabhat Al-Nusra” launched a large-scale offensive to capture the strategic Tha’lah Military Airport that is located just 15km from the provincial capital of the Al-Sweida Governorate.

The Free Syrian Army’s objective was to get the predominately Durzi population to turn on the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and help them seize Sweida City with their blessing; however, they underestimated the resiliency and bravery of the Syrian Druzs.

Jabal Al-‘Arab (Sweida) is home to some of Syria’s most prominent warriors: from the famous leader of the Syrian Rebellion of 1925 – Sultan Basha Al-‘Atrash – to the present-day commander of the Syrian Arab Army’s 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard – Major General Issam Zahreddine; this province has blessed Syria with some of its best fighters.

Disregarding Syrian history, the Islamist rebels foolishly chose to press into Al-Sweida after the Durzi Sheikhs reaffirmed their loyalty to the Syrian Arab Army; this proved to be a fatal mistake that would later penalize the Free Syrian Army.

For three weeks, the Islamist rebels tried to enter the Tha’lah Military Airport; unfortunately for them, each attempt failed to achieve their military objective.

Finally, they decided to withdraw from Tal Sheikh Hussein on the Dara’a-Sweida border and seek refuge in the nearby Battalion 52 base and the village of Al-Hirak.

However, what left the Islamist rebels most perturbed was the absence of the Syrian Arab Army during the battle of Tha’lah Military Airbase – where did the 4,500 soldiers from the SAA go?

The answer was simple: Dara’a.

The people of Sweida relieved the army and took up arms to defend their province; this allowed for the Syrian Arab Army’s Central Command to redeploy their soldiers to the Dara’a Governorate in order to combat the large-scale offensive at the provincial capital.

The FSA’s Southern Front Brigades (54 factions) repeatedly tried to capture Dara’a City from every flank; however, the result was heavy casualties and a massive withdrawal.

Now, the Syrian Arab Army’s 5th Armored Division is striking back with multiple offensives inside the Dara’a Governorate.

In a matter of weeks, the SAA’s 5th Division reached the strategic city of Sheikh Miskeen and cleared the entire Al-Manishiyah District of Dara’a City, all the while, the Islamist rebels struggle to maintain their positions.

The Syrian Arab Army can attribute their success in Dara’a to the brave civilians of Al-Sweida, who took up arms to defend their land against the Islamist rebels that threatened their beloved province.

JE Menon wrote:

TSJones wrote:there's practically no Christians left in that province. hasn't been for years. just read the book Black Swan by Taleb.

Putin is protecting his client state/Assad and toe hold on the Mediterranean sea.

Question: what do you think would be the US response to a Turkish-Syrian rapprochment in the months, perhaps weeks ahead? By Syrian, I mean the Assad regime.

Russia received $465 million in aid in 2013 as well.

The US and its all - lies coalition of airborne raiders had one year of open skies and all they did was return fully loaded.

Ald_A ‏@Ald_Aba 41m41 minutes ago
#SAA MRLS Grad in action this morning in Al-Ghab plain..

Britain’s counter-terror database ‘crashes twice a week’ – report
Published time: 3 Dec, 2015 12:44

© Luke MacGregor / Reuters

A counter-terror database designed to prevent criminals and extremists from sneaking into Britain breaks down twice a week and could cost £275 million to mend, a report has warned.
In 2003, the Labour Party launched a project to develop a computer program that counts every person traveling to and from Britain.

It has already cost £830 million (US$1,240 million) and further maintenance could cost another £275 million, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) claims.

However, auditors were unable to provide accurate figures as the Home Office accounts have already been destroyed.

The database, named “warning index,” suffers two high-priority incidents a week on average, the report found.

The frequent breakdowns could raise the likelihood of terrorists sneaking through the border unnoticed.

A replacement project, called “e-borders,” is also failing to track 17 million people traveling to Britain every year, the report found.

It gathers 86 percent of the annual 118 million in-bound travelers. It was initially scheduled to be covering 95 percent by the end of 2010.

The NAO said the overall cost of the project could spiral to at least £1 billion.

‘Devastating’
Commons’ Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz called the findings “devastating,” branding the project a “£1 billion waste of money.”

“Ministers and senior officials at the Home Office under successive governments have resisted telling Parliament of the true extent of taxpayer-funded mistakes in undertaking this program,” he told the Telegraph.

“This has been a £1 billion waste of money.

“The real concern is the warnings index, which with two priority incidents a week is still clearly unfit for purpose.

“A failure to properly cover millions of people entering the country without having passenger information in advance gives a green light to people who wish to come to the UK for illegal or dangerous activity.”

The report said a high turnover of staff on the program has caused issues. It also said the Home Office is “weak” at gathering data.

The Home Office admitted it should have been “even more critical in highlighting probable failure.”

“The prevailing culture inhibited conveying bad news,” its spokesperson told the NAO.

Commenting on the report, NAO chief Sir Amyas Morse said some “valuable capabilities” have been added to border defenses since the e-borders program was introduced.

“The e-borders program … was due to have been completed in 2011,” he said.

“Since we are now in 2015, with the Home Office still not having delivered the original vision after expenditure of £830 million, I cannot view e-borders as having delivered value for money.

“Some valuable capabilities have been added to our border defenses during the life of this project, though their efficiency is impaired by a failure to replace old IT systems.”

‘100 people a week flagged up for anti-terror checks’
On Tuesday, it emerged that more than one hundred people are flagged to counter-terror units at Britain’s borders every week, according to figures.

British police estimate around 800 people have made the journey to Syria to fight alongside Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and around half have returned to the UK.

Foreign press and diplomats invited to hear Moscow denounce ‘Turkish elites’ for stealing 200,000 tonnes of oil a day and channelling funds to Isis

Russia's top military officials hold a press conference on the fight against terrorism in Syria at the National Defence Control Centre of the Russian Federation in Moscow

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s deputy defence minister, accused Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, of being personally involved in the ‘criminal business’ of buying oil from Isis. Photograph: Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty

Alec Luhn in Moscow
Wednesday 2 December 2015

Although Turkey may have replaced the US as Russia’s rhetorical enemy No 1, the animations playing on the giant screens in Moscow’s new “war room” complex hadn’t yet been updated: they still featured the glowing red outline of North America under laser-like lines that seemed to suggest crosshairs.

But an unexpected defence ministry briefing on Wednesday – the first such event for foreign media in recent memory – left no doubt who was in Russia’s sights. Sitting beneath the main screen, which now showed satellite images of the Turkish-Syrian border, the deputy defence minister, Anatoly Antonov, accused Turkey of buying oil from Islamic State (Isis), and claimed the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was personally involved in this “criminal business”.

“A unified team of bandits and Turkish elites operates in the region to steal oil from their neighbours [Iraq and Syria],” Antonov said. “This oil reaches Turkish territory in huge, industrial amounts through living oil pipelines of thousands of tanker trucks.” The trade provided terrorists with $2bn (£1.3bn) in revenues each year.

Later, Erdoğan responded by saying: “Nobody has the right to slander Turkey by saying Turkey is buying Daesh [Isis] oil.”

Turks in Russia hit by Putin's 'serious consequences' after downing of warplane

Besides the oil-buying accusations, Wednesday’s briefing also showcased the national defence control centre, a new facility in the defence ministry compound across the Moskva river from Gorky Park that has been compared to a villain’s lair from a spy thriller.

Although it officially opened in December 2014 as part of a multibillion-rouble revamp of the military, the control centre made its major debut last month, when state television showed the president, Vladimir Putin, being informed about the progress of the Russian-Syrian military campaign against “terrorists” in Syria. The briefing room used was clearly meant to impress with three tiers of seating, at least 100 uniformed men seated behind computers and huge screens of maps and graphics.

A main command hub during wartime, the control centre also includes a room with concentric circles of chairs for more intimate – but still grandiose – meetings, as well as command stations and an auditorium for press conferences. Access is via a guarded gate where men in body armour check each vehicle, or a helicopter pad on the riverfront.

Turkey has been receiving negative coverage on state television since it shot down a Russian military jet that Ankara said had violated its airspace, a charge Russia has denied. Dozens of foreign military attaches also attended what some said was the first such briefing in months, although those of the US and Britain were not noticeable.

Asked whether the briefing was connected to the recent tensions with Turkey, a defence ministry spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, would only say it had been called because there was interest in the topic and had been planned several days in advance. But much of the satellite imagery dated from as far back as August, even though it had not previously been presented.

The main ‘war room’, which has been likened to a villain’s lair from a spy thriller. Photograph: Sputnik/Reuters

Antonov and other officials said at least 8,500 tankers transport up to 200,000 tonnes of oil a day from Isis-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq to Turkey, where it is sold for local use or transported on.

But the only indication of Erdoğan’s participation in the trade was Antonov’s claim that the Turkish president’s son was the head of a large energy company. He appeared to be referring to the president’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, who previously ran the energy firm Çalık Holding and was appointed energy minister in November.

Sergei Rudskoi, the deputy chief of staff, said Russian airstrikes had reduced Isis’s oil income from $3m to $1.5m a day, complaining that Moscow had not “observed strikes on columns of tanker trucks from the coalition” led by the US.

A German military attache who declined to provide his name said the findings of Isis oil flowing to Turkey were “not really new” but admitted he had not seen such evidence “in this form”.

“We have no chance to check it at this time, but we will check,” he said.

Since October this year, heavy clashes have broken out between the US-backed People’s Protection Units (YPG) & Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the one side and Islamist rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Islamic Front & Jabhat al-Nusra on the other hand. 2 days ago, ISIS fighters seized upon the confusion and captured the villages Kafrah, Ash Shaykh Rih, al-Ball and Jarez. However, rebels managed to recapture the latter yesterday leaving ISIS some 10 kilometers East of Azaz.

Tensions between Kurdish militias and Islamists have grown in recent years but this battle represents the first large-scale skirmishes witnessed between the parties in the province of Aleppo. 4-5 days ago, the opposition managed to advance West and recaptured the villages of Ibana, al-Kisha’ar, Malikia, Shawarghet Elarz and Tatumrash from YPG during an offensive launched from Azaz and Menagh Airbase.

This loss of land is largely explained by YPG fighters from Afrin gaining little to no experience since they captured the region in 2012 due to frontline stalemate. However, they have called upon reinforcements from Ayn al-Arab (Kobane) and Hasakah as to launch a counteroffensive enabling them to take the strategic bordertown of Azaz. These reinforcements are yet to arrive as they must endure a risky journey across hostile Turkish lands.
...

The Russian President warned that Turkey would face more than trade sanctions at his state of the nation address Reuters

Vladimir Putin has said Allah was punishing “the ruling clique in Turkey by depriving it of reason or logic” when it shot down a Russian war plane.

Delivering the annual state of the nation address to both houses of Parliament in Moscow, Russia’s President Putin said “probably Allah alone knows why they did it,” reports the BBC.

He added: “And evidently Allah decided to punish the ruling clique in Turkey, by depriving it of any reason or logic.”

In today's speech, Mr Putin branded Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian jet a “treacherous war crime” and said Turkey was responsible for the “murder of our people” and accused it of buying oil from Isis – a claim Turkey denies.

The Russian warplane was shut down by Turkish authorities last month after they said the plane violated Turkish airspace for 17seconds, despite repeated warnings to Russia.

The Kremlin dismissed these claims as “rubbish” and insists the aircraft had stayed in Syrian airspace, from where it is carrying out airstrikes.

Mr Putin warned Turkey that Russia planned to adopt further measures against it for the incident - beyond the sanctions it has already imposed which include banning imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables, and preventing Russians from going on package holidays to Turkey.

He said: “We are not planning to engage in military sabre-rattling.

“But if anyone thinks that having committed this awful war crime, the murder of our people, that they are going to get away with some measures concerning their tomatoes or some limits on construction and other sectors, they are sorely mistaken.

“We will remind them not once about what they have done, and they will feel sorry about it more than once.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied that his country is involved in trading oil with Isis, but the Russian Defense Ministry yesterday released satellite and aerial images showing hundreds of oil trucks streaming across the border to prove the claims.

Mr Putin said: “We know that Turkey is filling its pocket and allows terrorists to earn money by selling oil stolen from Syria.

“For that money the bandits are recruiting mercenaries, buying weapons and staging cruel terror attacks aimed against our citizens, as well as citizens of France, Lebanon, Mali and other countries.”

Mr Putin added that countries “should not apply double standards on terror” or use terrorist groups for their own ends.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters