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Polaris of Enlightenment

Friday, January 24, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/world/jihadists-take-over-aleppo-russia-and-iran-announce-support/

World

Jihadists take over Aleppo – Russia and Iran announce support

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 3 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin during a previous state visit to Syria. On the right, archive footage from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham during the takeover of a village outside the city of Hama, 2017.
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After eight years of relative calm in the region, Syrian jihadists returned to Aleppo at the weekend, having launched a swift and surprising offensive against Assad government forces last week.

The attack, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, can justifiably be said to pose a serious threat to the relative stability that has prevailed in the area since 2016, and risks renewing the bloody fighting in the region.

The response from Syrian government forces was relatively swift, but external actors such as Iran and Russia have also mobilized to regain control. The offensive, which unexpectedly moved quickly into the city center of Aleppo, reportedly took both the Assad regime and international actors by surprise.

After years of trying to keep the city under their control, government forces, after a brief lull, launched airstrikes against rebel positions in Aleppo’s surroundings.

According to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least 200 combatants have been killed so far in the fighting, many of them civilians.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a splinter group of Al-Qaeda, filmed its advance through the streets of the city, posing at famous landmarks such as the Aleppo Citadel and other historical sites.

In mobile videos on social media, they were seen trampling on posters of the president, Bashar al-Assad, and burning symbols of the Arab nationalist socialist Baath Party’s rule.

– We returned to give people hope and to take back our country, said an anonymous rebel leader.

Renewed support from Russia and Iran

The government’s response to the rebel offensive was initially somewhat tardy, but relatively soon both Syrian and Russian aircraft began intensive bombing in both Aleppo and the neighboring provinces of Hama and Idlib.

Syrian state media reports that more than 400 jihadists were killed in a 24-hour period, and that ground troops are now preparing to surround and repel rebel forces. At the same time, Russian air strikes against resistance bases are reportedly intensifying.

The Syrian military has long relied on its alliance relationship with Russia and Iran, both of which are militarily involved in the war. On Friday, Russian troops joined the air strikes against the groups that had moved towards Aleppo and Idlib.

– They have killed 200 militants who carried out the offensive in northwest Syria, the Russian news agency Tass reported.

Despite these bombings, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham continues to control large parts of Aleppo, according to sources.

Turkey’s role

Thousands of civilians, many of them Kurds, have sought refuge from the fighting in eastern Syria, according to the Kurdish-led administration in the region. The UN and international aid agencies warn that the situation is rapidly becoming unsustainable for civilians fleeing the fighting

Turkey’s role and responsibility in the unfolding situation further complicates the picture. Ankara has long supported the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group in its efforts to oust the Syrian regime from key areas, meaning that NATO member Turkey’s interests may clash with Russia and Iran’s support for Assad.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Photo: Kreml/CC BY 4.0

The Syrian government’s military action is accompanied by messages that it will regain control of the city. Syrian state media regularly show pictures of captured jihadists and destroyed resistance bases.

– We will retake the whole city, we have all the resources and support we need, said a Syrian officer during an appearance on state television.

In Sunday’s speech, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for continued support for Assad and pledged that Tehran would send additional forces if needed.

– Tehran is ready to provide all the support needed to beat back the rebels, Pezeshkian proclaimed to the present Syrian media.

Despite Assad’s repeated support from his international allies, his power is still not absolute, and the future of the region is seen as being determined by the military’s ability to repel the rebels.

Syrian observers say a long-term return to war in the country is highly likely unless negotiations and political solutions receive more international support.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The civil war in Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is still in office after the civil war triggered by the Arab Spring in 2011 devastated large parts of the country. al-Assad continues to enjoy the support of Russia, Iran and Shia militias in the region. At present, however, the allies are largely tied up in other wars and conflicts.

The wars just to the west, in Gaza and Lebanon, have in some ways spilled over into Syria as Israel has stepped up air strikes against targets in Syria.

The Assad regime has limited control over Syria's territory, with Kurdish forces maintaining autonomy in the northeast and another set of rebel forces holding areas in the north and northwest, largely with support from Turkey.

Aleppo was Syria's largest city before the outbreak of war in 2011, but a long and bloody siege left much of it in ruins from indiscriminate Russian aerial bombardment. In 2016, government forces retook control of the city, marking a clear turning point in the war.

Source: TT

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-pm-israels-attacks-must-be-investigated/

Sweden

Swedish PM: Israel’s attacks must be investigated

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 4 January 2025
– By Editorial Staff
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Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) is waiting to take a position on whether Sweden considers Israel’s reported hospital attacks to be compatible with international law, but emphasizes the importance of protecting civilians.

According to a report by the UN human rights body OHCHR, published in December 2024, Israel has carried out 136 attacks against 27 hospitals and 12 other health facilities in Gaza since October 2023. In several of these attacks, patients and health workers have been killed, and mass graves have been found with bodies showing clear signs of belonging to health care seekers.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed serious concern about the situation in Gaza but avoided taking a position on whether Israel’s attacks on hospitals in the area are compatible with international law.

– We maintain our demands for both humanitarian access and the need for incredible caution where there are many civilians, Kristersson told TT.

The Israeli government claims that the hospitals are being used as terrorist hideouts, but the UN describes the evidence presented for this as vague. The Swedish government also states that it has not seen sufficient evidence to determine whether the attacks can be justified as proportionate under international law.

– I have not seen any evidence. Nor for the opposite, I should say, but these are things that will be examined very, very carefully, says Kristersson.

He also notes that a “united EU” criticizes Israel for lack of consideration for civilians, also taking into account the complicated situation in the densely populated Gaza.

– Nevertheless, the belligerent has a responsibility to protect civilians. Israel is constantly criticized for this, even by a united EU.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/sources-turkey-prepares-to-invade-syria/

World

Sources: Turkey prepares to invade Syria

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 18 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Turkey is accused of wanting to become the “ruler” of the region.
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Turkey and its allied militias are reported to be building up their forces near the Syrian border and are expected to launch a major invasion against Kurdish-controlled areas of the country soon.

The Wall Street Journal is the source of the information, citing senior US officials. According to the newspaper’s sources, the forces include militia fighters as well as Turkish commandos and a large number of artillery pieces.

Preparations are taking place near Kobani on Syria’s northern border with Turkey – a town that today has a Kurdish majority, and according to the sources, Washington is currently focusing on trying to persuade the Turkish leadership to hold off on the military operation.

Ilham Ahmed, who works for the Civil Administration of the Syrian Kurds, has also sent a letter to US President-elect Donald Trump, appealing to him to prevent a Turkish attack.

“From across the border, we can already see Turkish forces amassing, and our civilians live under the constant fear of imminent death and destruction“, Mr. Ahmed writes in the letter obtained by the WSJ.

US threatens sanctions

According to the Kurds, Erdoğan’s goal is to “establish de facto control” over the Kurdish territories before Trump takes office in January – and the aim is reportedly to force the US to cooperate with Ankara as the “ruler” of the region.

Already last week, US-backed Kurds in the country said they had been subjected to Turkish artillery and drone attacks, prompting Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to warn the Ankara leadership that the NATO member could face sanctions if it did not cease hostilities.

Since overthrowing the government of Bashar al-Assad, jihadist militants and their allies have also taken control of almost all of western Syria – and are supported in various ways by Turkey itself.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)
Abu Mohammad al-Julani is now Syria’s de facto head of state – but different actors are fighting for control of Syrian territory. Photo: facsimile X/@PamirNews/CNN

Fight for influence and new territory

In the east and north-east, however, Syria is still controlled by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces – funded in part by the United States. Turkey’s position is that the armed Kurdish groups are considered terrorists.

There are estimated to be between 1.6 and 2.5 million Kurds living in Syria – mainly in autonomous regions in the north of the country. The Kurdistan region, which includes parts of Iraq, Iraq, Syria, Armenia and Turkey, is home to around 35 million Kurds, and Kurdish nationalist groups are striving to establish an independent nation state in the region.

As previously reported by The Nordic Times, the fall of Assad seems to have led to various actors quickly trying to seize territory and strengthen their influence in the region. One clear example is Israel, which recently captured new land beyond the Golan Heights area that it has illegally occupied since 1967 – on the grounds that it wants to prevent potential hostilities and terrorist threats against the Jewish state.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/assad-breaks-the-silence-filled-with-hope-that-syria-will-be-free-again/

World

Assad breaks the silence: “Filled with hope that Syria will be free again”

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 17 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria for 25 years before being toppled by Islamist terrorists.
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For the first time since militant Islamists seized power in Syria and overthrew the country’s secular government, the ex-president has now chosen to break his silence and tell us why he actually fled to Russia.

Bashar al-Assad also says that he still feels a strong affinity with Syria and its people and that he is hopeful that the country “will once again be free and independent”.

He says that the decision to leave Syria was made as late as the evening of December 8 and his initial plan was to continue fighting the jihadists who had advanced to the capital Damascus the day before.

“I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday, 8th December 2024. As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations. Upon arrival at Hmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen”, writes Syria’s toppled leader.

“As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes. With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December“, he continues.

“Meaningless occupation”

According to Assad, his departure for Moscow “was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles“, as some have claimed. On the contrary, he was determined neither to resign nor to flee before all hope was lost.

The ex-leader further stresses that he has never sought positions for personal gain but always considered himself a steward of a national project, supported by the Syrian people’s faith in its vision.

“I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment“, he continues.

“When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless. This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people – a bond that remains unshaken by any position or circumstance. It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent“, he concludes his letter.

Ruled for 25 years

Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria for 25 years before his overthrow, and before that his father Hafez al-Assad was in office from 1971 to 2000.

In the West, particularly in recent years, Assad has been accused of being a bloodthirsty and totalitarian despot who has ruled the country with an iron fist and systematically imprisoned or repressed critics and dissidents.

However, supporters of the ousted president point out that, unlike many of its neighbors, Syria under Assad was a country of relative freedom, where Christians and atheists could live their lives without risk of being killed or abused by Islamists, and that until the civil war, the country was relatively developed and prosperous compared to other nations in the region.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/world/israel-expands-illegal-settlements/

World

Israel expands illegal settlements

The escalation in the Middle East

Published 17 December 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The occupation is justified on the grounds that the area is of “enormous security importance” to Israel.
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The Israeli government has approved a proposal to double the number of Jewish settlers in the illegally occupied Golan Heights.

– Strengthening the Golan Heights is strengthening the State of Israel, said Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to the Prime Minister, the decision to expand the occupation, which is condemned by the world, was taken “in light of the war and the new front facing Syria, and out of a desire to double the population of the Golan“.

– Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold on to it, make it flourish and settle it, promises the Head of Government.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and then annexed the area in 1981. Most countries in the world, apart from the United States, reject Israel’s occupation of the area, which is illegal under international law – but despite this, around 20,000 Jewish settlers live there today in 30 settlements.

“Enormous security importance”

From the 1970s until early December, Israeli forces in the Golan Heights were separated from the Syrian military by a buffer zone on the Israeli side of the border. But when Bashar al-Assad’s government in Damascus was overthrown, Tel-Aviv quickly responded by sending soldiers into the buffer zone and declaring it a “security area” free of “heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructure”.

Despite condemnation from the UN and the rest of the world, Defense Minister Israel Katz also declared over the weekend that Israeli forces had been ordered to remain over the winter on Syria’s Mount Hermon, citing the area as being of “enormous security importance” to Israel.

Critics argue that Israel’s actions in Syria are part of a broader trend also visible in the West Bank and Gaza, aimed at permanently seizing these areas and integrating them into the “Greater Israel” envisioned by Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com