Syrien

„As for Russians, the total number fighting with ISIS in Syria and Iraq is impossible to know for sure, as official or semiofficial sources have given varying figures at varying points of time. (…) Indeed, some believe that Chechen republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov, himself a former Islamist insurgent turned Russian state hireling, saw the rise of ISIS as a convenient…

„[T]ens of thousands of Palestinians are apparently fighting on behalf of the Syrian dictator, even sacrificing their lives for him. These Palestinians, who went to live in Syria in recent decades, are helping slaughter the Syrian people fighting for their freedom. The guest has turned murderer. Among the Palestinians, the most fervent Assad supporters belong to the Popular Front for…

„Bislang konnte Assad darauf zählen, Iran und Russland gegeneinander auszuspielen, wenn es darum ging, Feuerpausen oder Verhandlungen zu hintertreiben. Doch im Zuge des Ringens um die Evakuierung der Rebellenviertel von Aleppo haben sich Teheran, Moskau und Ankara angenähert. Sollte die Türkei dem Erzfeind Saudi-Arabien den Rang als Schutzmacht der Sunniten ablaufen, wäre das auch im Interesse Teherans, das in der…

Von Tomas von der Osten-Sacken Der zwischen Russland, der Türkei und dem Iran ausgehandelte Waffenstillstand in Syrien ist inzwischen in Kraft, auch wenn aus vielen Teilend es Landes gemeldet wird, dass er schon mehrmals gebrochen wurde. Und wie bei allen Waffenstillständen zuvor, die alle nicht lange hielten, nutzen überall in jenen Gebieten Syriens, die weder vom Regime noch vom Islamischen…

„Syria would be divided into informal zones of regional power influence and Bashar al-Assad would remain president for at least a few years under an outline deal between Russia, Turkey and Iran, sources say. Such a deal, which would allow regional autonomy within a federal structure controlled by Assad’s Alawite sect, is in its infancy, subject to change and would…

„Characteristically, an autocrat inflates his place in history. But, in this case, it’s worth acknowledging that Assad has a point: the significance of Aleppo’s collapse is far greater than its physical territory, its ancient history, and its former splendor. For more than four years, Western governments and the United Nations stood by, watching, as Assad and his backers ostentatiously ignored…

„As a Syrian who has always identified politically with the left, I am particularly appalled by those men and women who call themselves left-wingers – and are therefore supposed to stand in solidarity with struggles for justice worldwide – and yet openly support the regime of the Assads, father and son, who are chiefly responsible for the Syrian disaster. Following…

„Hezbollah is fighting in Syria with American weapon systems supplied by the United States to the Lebanese Army, a senior Israel Defense Forces officer speaking under conditions of anonymity said Wednesday. According to the officer, Israel has supplied the U.S. administration with evidence, including photographs, of American-supplied armored personnel carriers being used by Hezbollah in Syria. The senior officer added…

„The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey in Ankara on Monday will lead to Moscow to increased its military involvement in the Syrian civil war, said Russian Deputy Ambassador to Israel Alexy Drobinin. The Russian diplomat made the remarks in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 TV on Monday night. His comments came after an off-duty Turkish police officer shot…

„Victory in Aleppo matters enormously for both sides, but when the dust finally settles in Aleppo, it counts for more in Iran. Securing Syria’s second city and industrial heart is much less to do with re-establishing state sovereignty than about asserting its own influence and agenda in the strategic heart of the region. Aleppo is a crossroads in Iran’s project…

„As counterintuitive as it may sound, ISIL will still be stronger than Al Qaeda in Syria even after the former is dislodged from Mosul and Raqqa. Many counterterrorism experts have argued in recent months that it is time to turn attention towards Syria’s Jabhat Fateh Al Sham, formerly known as Jabhat Al Nusra, as it is now the more dangerous…

„Syrian media sources said that General Javad al-Ghafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards and 16 IRGC-backed Shiite militias wants to kill all those who are still trapped in eastern Aleppo, which is hampering the completion of the operation aiming to evacuate the rest of the civilians and fighters. The sources said that General Ghafari has been in conflict with the…

„Zunächst einmal geht schlichtweg der Krieg weiter. In diesem werden die Rebellen wahrscheinlich weiter unter Druck geraten und Terrain verlieren, so dass Methoden der asymmetrischen Kriegsführung wahrscheinlicher werden (Bombenanschläge, Guerillaaktionen) – worauf das Regime mit harten Gegenschlägen antworten wird. Auch die Rebellen radikalisieren sich. In ihrer Hochburg Idlib geben radikale Islamisten längst den Ton an. Die in den Kriegsgebieten verbleibenden…

„In this multi-sided conflict, will there be more Aleppos? Or will there finally be a period without quite as many war crimes and bloodshed? Assad doesn’t have the answer, however much he claims control of his ‚Syrian nation‘. The US has little more to contribute, now effectively sidelined after years of indecision and a misguided decision to follow Moscow’s lead.…

„Was ist von einer Gesellschaft zu halten, die sich über den Freihandel und Chlorhühner empört, in den vergangenen Jahren zu Hunderttausenden auf die Straßen ging, um gegen die Vereinigten Staaten, TTIP und den freien Weltmarkt zu protestieren, und nun nicht auf die Barrikaden gegen Syrien, den Iran und Russland geht? (…) 400.000 Menschen sind in Syrien bisher durch den Krieg…