Displaying items by tag: Syrian Crisis

(The following article was originally published on geopolitika.ru website)

On Tuesday, February 14, a Russian MFA media release about a meeting between Mikhail Bogdanov, the Special Representative of the Russian President, and Kadri Jamil, one of the Syrian Opposition leaders, stated: “the Russian side stressed the need to establish practical cooperation between Damascus and Ankara in order to overcome the consequences of the earthquake on February 6.”

This statement confirms Russia’s pursuit of a Syrian-Turkish settlement, which over the seven months preceding the earthquake, was the main item on the agenda of the Astana Format (for Syria peace talks).

Nearly two weeks after the devastating earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey, seismographs are still recording aftershocks that usually occur after every major earthquake, the strength of which gradually decreases until it fades away. This is the opposite of what is happening on the humanitarian level, where the strength of the aftershocks increases on the humanitarian side in all the areas affected by the earthquake, especially those in Syria.

For the Syrian public, inside and outside Syria, the humanitarian aspect related to the earthquake disaster and the deep pain it left behind, as well as to their crisis that erupted 12 years ago, is always the most valued and important aspect, at least in its emotional and national side. For the political sides, especially the extremists, as well as for the external powers, especially the Western ones, the humanitarian aspect is the least important, and it is just a tool to pass policies.

(The following article was originally published by CGTN, on the 17th of February 2023)

The U.S. Treasury announced a decision on February 9 claiming to allow an easing of sanctions imposed on Syria for the ensuing six months until August 8, as part of "earthquake relief efforts."
The decision allows for "third parties" to transfer aid to Syria without fear of U.S. sanctions, but should only be intended for aid to earthquake-effected areas. Nonetheless, the sanctions programs applied to Syria for many years, the most severe of which are the Caesar Act (2019) and Captagon Act (2022), provide for "humanitarian exceptions," but are conditional on U.S. approval. 

It remains unknown how many Syrians are still under the rubble, and they are hundreds, maybe thousands, and maybe more. It is not known who among them is still alive, but there are certainly some waiting to be saved and are still to this moment groaning under the rubble of their homes.

Before talking about the new sanctions law and its objectives, it is worth recalling that American sponsorship of the drug trade in South America, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world is proven not only by political facts, but also by the confessions of American officials. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the role of the CIA in the drug trade in Colombia, and financing itself and its dirty operations from that trade. Likewise, under the American occupation in particular, Afghanistan went from producing 5-10% of the global opium to producing 90% of it.

Syrians want an immediate and urgent solution; they want an end to the catastrophe and the trail of pains they are treading. It is no longer important for them to even think about why things have gotten to the way they have. All they think about is how to get to salvation.

The issue of Syria refugees has resurfaced over the last week, and this time through the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and the focus by Lebanese and Syrian media on some of them returning to Syria. As is usual from the extremists in the Syrian sides, the issue was exploited as a tool for media dueling, as well as trying to politicize the issue in a way that perpetuates the current situation, from which extremists from the sides benefit in putting additional obstacles to prevent making progress towards reaching a comprehensive political solution. The necessary conditions to move forward with the political solution are also necessary to stop the Syrian bleeding, one of the manifestations of which is the migration of Syrians out of the country. This means, the Syrian refugees file today cannot be dealt with as a humanitarian, political, economic, social, or security file; rather, it is all of those, in addition to being an existential file linked to the continuance of the country and its unity.

Like its predecessors, the state's general budget for 2022 reflected the country's deteriorating situation on all fronts. The factors of war and economic sanctions, and, before this and that, the government policies followed for decades, left an economy afflicted with a heart attack and an infrastructure paralyzed in most of its sectors, which was reflected in a significant decline and deterioration in all indicators of Syrian economic performance.

On Thursday, August 25, the “Rai Al-Youm” (Today’s Opinion) news website published an article titled “What are the secrets and behind-the-scenes of the escalation again US forces in Syria?” (Arabic) by the well-respected Palestinian journalist and author, Kamal Khalaf. We will discuss the subject of the article due to its importance.