The Continuing Saga of theManbij Military Council & America's Duplicity

Turkish Soldiers Patrolling Near Manbij- Not In Manbij

Daily Sabah Oped

Excerpts with commentary and additional information.

DS: "In a very lackluster manner, the results of the much-anticipated Turkey-U.S. working group meetings, that culminated in talks focused on the issue of Manbij, have begun to tear at the seams. To some this may come as a surprise; while an avid observer of the Syrian file knows this is not at all a surprise"

You can put me in the avid observer category- coming apart at the seams is not at all a surprise!

To leave or not to leave?

DS: "Fast forward to November 2016 and Brett McGurk, the U.S. envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh, was announcing another YPG retreat from Manbij. The conflicting reports are obvious even to a novice observer. Just two months previous to McGurk's statement another international anti-Daesh coalition spokesman was also claiming that the YPG was leaving Manbij. An astute observer would question why the YPG withdrawal from Manbij was being announced more than once?"

 How often has this duplicity been discussed here?  I’ve lost track, but, it’s definitely been covered  going back years and years Including mentions of Brett McGurk as the Lawrence of Kurdistan

“ McGurk’s role in all this somewhat resembles the role of TS Lawrence, or Lawrence of Arabia, 100 years ago. Some see McGurk as a kind of “Lawrence of Kurdistan.”   

DS: “Throughout 2017 the Turkish government was hopeful that the incoming Trump administration would follow through with its campaign promises and reconsider its faulty strategy in Syria – supporting one terror outfit to defeat another. A matter Turkish officials have repeatedly addressed with both the Obama and Trump administrations.

Then in January 2018 Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch continuing to pursue its goal of clearing the border areas from terror groups. In Afrin, the obvious target was the PKK and its Syrian terror affiliates. This time around the situation was a bit different since the international coalition did not have direct access to these locations – at least that was the assumption. In this regard, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag warned in a televised interview that "If we happen to see American soldiers in YPG uniforms, they are a target. Let them not confront us." U.S. troops are known to be travelling in the same convoys, sometimes wearing YPG uniforms, during the U.S.-led international coalition training and support operations in northern Syria.”
 

The one difference on the ground in Syria’s northwest vs the northeast was the proximity of Russian forces to the territory.  Turkey got Russian and undoubtedly Syrian permission to fly over the area.  Americans weren't even going to ask. Americans were undoubtedly embedded with PKK/YPG in Afrin-  but with no ability to fly over the area and bomb everyone, the Americans, Brits, and French forces embedded with the PKK thugs in Afrin... FLED!
That's right. They left. Rather then have a PR disaster on their hands they ran!

From Manbij to Qandil?

DS: Interestingly, on June 6, a pro-Saudi publication Okaz, published an interview with Syrian PKK leader Fehman Hussein, known by his nom de guerre Bahoz Erdal, from the Qandil mountains. The Turkish military is currently engaged in an offensive in northern Iraq moving steadily toward the PKK's mountainous enclave. It was thought that Hussein, born 1969 in northeastern Syria, was killed near Qamishli in the summer of 2016.  (Yet, he was alive and in Qandil!) His interview, conveniently timed with the announcement of a YPG withdrawal from Manbij, clarifies a number of issues. Hussein claims he was in Syria in 2014 for three months on a social visit; offered advice and ammunition to the YPG in fight against Daesh; and warned Turkey of an increasingly violent fighting season this summer. Some of these facts are confirmed and clarified by Talal Sillo, the defected SDF Spokesman, who explained the intricate relationship between the PKK, YPG, and SDF; as well as Hussein's role in relaying orders from the PKK command to the SDF. Hussein's positions as a military commander for the PKK in Syria and his heading of a group known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) as cover for the PKK presence in Syria is well known to security officials since 2012.

Readers here should recall Talal Sillo-  The whistleblower that nearly no one paid any mind to what he was reporting. Even though, he was connecting the US directly to well  known terrorists- Not that his testimony was needed.  Least not in my opinion. The connections were obvious. 
One would have thought that would have been BIG news in the alternative/empire challenging media- But it wasn’t. Since there really isn’t much alternative empire challenging alternative media save for a few very small bloggers.

1. Flashback: A Whistle Blows & No One Hears: Where Is The Alternative Media? 

2. Flashback:SDF defector Spills Still More Beans

3. Flashback:Talal Silo Spills the Beans "SDF created as cover to arm PKK"

 American Duplicity

DS: "Despite reaching an agreement on a road map for withdrawal and future operations, the fate of Manbij and eastern Syria remains unclear. American forces have numerous bases in northeastern Syria and are the main force protecting the YPG from a Turkish operation similar to that of Operation Olive Branch and Operation Euphrates Shield. Iraqi airstrikes in Syrian territory; Turkish concerns about the YPG taking more territory from Daesh with the U.S. help; ongoing Turkish operations in northern Iraq towards the PKK's historic mountain base, and a shifting geopolitical playing field all complicate the possible scenarios following the Manbij road map meetings.

What is clear, however, is that the United States is unwilling to fulfill its promises of pulling out of Syria, supporting a terror group that threatens a major ally – the second largest military in NATO – and taking much needed steps towards normalizing relations with Turkey.Mattis recently announced that talks would take place in Germany to discuss the implementation of the Manbij withdrawal road map. He described the first phase of the plan as efforts to identify where the Turkish and American military forces are positioned and then possibly conducting joint patrols in the area. Is it possible that they will use these new armored vehicles to transport the YPG fighters out of Manbij? If so, where will they take them? Qandil?

One thing is for sure, the road to clearing the Manbij pocket from terror elements is getting windier day by day"

 The author of the oped is entertaining the idea that even if the PKK exits Manbij, US forces will stay in place and continue on as guarantors of the Kurdish annexation project. The US will move the fighters to Qandil as reinforcements to terrorize Turks/ destabilize Turkey from yet another position. Entirely possible.  The Americans are that duplicitous and allies do come and go. Except for Israel and the UK.

Pt.2- Syria MUST Take Back Daara: Washington Faces a Choice

Follow up to: Syria MUST Take Back Daraa

 Selected excerpts from War on the Rocks
my limited commentary in red

" The United States faces a critical decision in southwestern Syria.  

A Syrian military offensive on the southwest now seems imminent. Clashes broke out on the area’s eastern edge on Tuesday, and the Syrian military bombed rebel-held towns from the air, an unambiguous breach of the de-escalation agreement. Time is short. Still, there may still be a chance for an alternative. In our latest report at the International Crisis Group, Keeping the Calm in Southern Syria, we urge all sides – the de-escalation agreement’s three sponsors as well as, indirectly, Israel and the Syrian government – to broker a deal to prevent a bloody fight for the southwest.

For the Trump administration, that means it has to choose:

• 1- Will it deal with the southwest on the area’s own terms? (ignoring the civilian rhetoric/ the US does not care at all about civilians) and promoting the interests of Jordan and Israel, two close allies?
• 2- Or will it fail to engage seriously in negotiations and allow events to take a more brutal course, one that crushes the southwestern opposition, rends the area’s remaining social fabric, and squanders whatever terms and guarantees Washington and its allies might have been able to negotiate in advance?

The sponsors of the de-escalation agreement discussed expanding the size of the buffer area, but higher-level trilateral negotiations faltered late last year. The Amman-based ceasefire monitoring center has continued to meet, but any expansion of the buffer zone and other substantive developments to the de-escalation agreement are the province of trilateral political talks among the United States, Russia, and Jordan. Those talks last convened in November 2017 – and since then, the agreement has been on autopilot.

The southwest is critically important to an ongoing struggle between Israel and Iran over the nature and duration of Iran’s presence in Syria, a regional conflict that has run parallel to the country’s civil war. The intervention of Iran and Hizballah in defense of their Syrian ally has given them a political prominence and military role in Syria with no precedent prior to the 2011 uprising. Israel has become convinced that Iran’s expanded presence risks upsetting the two countries’ tenuous deterrent balance across the region and has declared it will not allow Iran to establish a lasting strategic military presence in Syria. It has outlined a set of “red lines” that, if crossed, would prompt Israeli military action. These red lines include Iranian-backed militias taking up offensive positions in the southwest, opposite the occupied Golan. Israel has attempted to establish its red lines with an escalating series of strikes against what it alleges are Iranian or Iranian-linked targets in Syria. These strikes have recently come dangerously close to escalating into open interstate war.

 The ceasefire and buffer zone established by the de-escalation agreement were meant to serve both Jordanian and Israeli security needs.

America’s Syria Policy and an Endangered De-Escalation

1- The de-escalation agreement was meant to be not just a ceasefire, but also the basis for a more complete, evolving deal in the rebel-held southwest. Yet the Trump administration’s shifting policy has undermined the de-escalation deal, and, since last fall, prevented negotiated progress to advance the agreement.

2- The de-escalation agreement was also meant to be underwritten by an influx of stabilization assistance to support governance and services and restore some normality to the rebel-held southwest, led by the United States and the United Kingdom."

In other words the de-escalation agreement was intended, on the part of the US/UK to create an alternative government to the elected government in Damascus- with an eye to annexing still more Syrian territory.

"Militarily speaking, the rebel-held southwest seems unlikely to be a difficult target to capture for the Syrian army, particularly if Russia provides air support for an offensive. Rebel territory can be cut at a few key junctures and then defeated in pieces. The government has also been engaging in talks with rebel-held towns across the southwest to make sure they don’t act when the Syrian military marches south.

The main deterrent to a Syrian military offensive had been the danger that the involvement of Iranian-backed militias would set off Israeli intervention.

That meant an offensive posed a real danger to Damascus and might have discouraged crucial involvement by Russia, which has invested in its relationships with both Israel and Jordan. Yet Damascus can muster newly mobile Syrian forces, after its victories elsewhere, and energetic Russian diplomacy may have neutralized the risk of Israeli action"

If Russian diplomacy has neutralized the Israeli actions? We shall see.

"According to news reports and Israeli officials who spoke to my organization, Israel and Russia have arrived at a preliminary understanding on the return of the Syrian state to the southwest, conditional on the exclusion of Iranian-backed elements from that area and Israel’s continued freedom to strike inside Syria"

I wonder who has provided this information to Mr Heller's organization? It's unverifiable. We can only know afterwards if this accurate. I would hope Russia wouldn't make that type of a deal with Israel. 

"The U.S. State Department has warned Damascus against violating the de-escalation agreement and repeatedly promised “firm and appropriate measures.” But there is no indication of what that entails, or even if that language is backed by an actual threat. The U.S. government previously told rebels that if the Syrian military attacked, it would “do everything in [its] ability” to preserve the ceasefire – a reassurance that rebels told the International Crisis Group they found ambiguous and underwhelming"

Flashback: U.S. to take 'firm, appropriate measures' against so called Syria violations- Funding Terrorist White Helmets, Again.

"One Chance for a Negotiated Alternative

  The United States has a compelling interest in negotiating a settlement that avoids open war and mitigates the harm to the southwest’s residents and Syria’s neighbors.

 As an interim step, the de-escalation agreement’s sponsors should adopt a Jordanian proposal to shift the agreement’s focus to a “stabilization zone.” Stabilization would mean new steps toward the institutional and economic integration of the rebel southwest into its Syrian government-held surroundings – including trade both cross-line and cross-border through a Nasib crossing returned to Syrian state control – and draw in a broader set of international stakeholders, including Russia. The result would hopefully reassure the Syrian government and Russia that negotiated progress is possible and forestall a military attack.

Many southern rebels will resist any deal. But a negotiated resolution is better than a crushing military defeat at the hands of the Syrian military and the Russian air force, followed by unforgiving, prejudicial surrender deals that rip out large sections of the southwest’s clan-based society and expel southerners to Syria’s rebel-held north. Southern Syrians are better served by a deal that spares pointless bloodshed and preserves their tightly knit social fabric by keeping southern communities intact, preventing social breakdown that encourages crime, radicalism, and recruitment by Iranian-linked elements. Syria’s neighbors are better served, too. So is America.

Syria’s southwest matters. If the United States is going to protect its interests and the interests of its closest regional allies in this corner of Syria’s war, it needs to invest in talks and produce a solution specifically for the southwest – for the southwest’s sake and for America’s."

Can it get any more obvious that the whole concern here is for Israel?

Related:

• The Great Game is Playing Out Right Before Us All

• Russian/Turkish deal for Tell Rifaat. The Micro & Macro along the Silk Road: Pepe Escobar

Syria MUST Take Back Daraa

This battle is a game changer.  The outcome will decide Syria's future. Concisely.

SAA and allies are going to have a most heated battle to take this territory back.
Behind the rebels in this area are the US and Israel. The two biggest destabilizing forces in all of Syria. From the first day through to this very day.


That all said if Syria is to have a chance at remaining intact with an eye to rebuilding the state they have to take this section of Syria back. That's my opinion. Short, sweet and to the point.
What's ongoing in the north can be addressed afterwards- because if Syria can take the Daraa region back , the ball is in their court!  In case you are unaware Daraa is where the entire destabilization operation in Syria began.

Flashing back at PFYT's when my voice was the only one speaking out on the fact that Syria was being destabilized
March 24/2011: Western backed Social Media "revolution" coming to Syria

This latest "revolution" is based in Southern Syria, in one town called Daraa.

A statement posted Thursday on the Facebook page "The Syrian Revolution 2011" held Syrian authorities led by President Bashar Assad responsible for the violence and called on the Syrian people to hold protests in all Syrian provinces on Friday, which it dubbed "Dignity Friday."

Videos posted by activists on Youtube and Twitter showed dead and wounded people lying on a street in Daraa, as heavy gunfire crackled nearby and people shouted in panic.

So let's take a look at the geography of Daara-

Daara is a border town, located right next to Jordan. Conveniently, it is also located very near to the Golan Heights, which are presently occupied by Israel.
Not to mention that Daara is not far from Israel itself.

Deraa is a city that the Syrian government simply cannot afford to lose. It is the main city of the historic Hawran region, which includes the provinces of Deraa, Sweida and Kuneitra - the last of which is partly occupied by Israel.

  Sigh, I've covered so much information about Syria for so long now that I'm left sort of gobsmacked when looking back on it all.

   Syria has already secured a vital trade route in the north, with the assistance of Russia and Turkey. To completely guarantee the security of this passageway, with an eye to securing Syria as a whole, intact nation state, they have to take back Daraa and the  M5 highway artery- I explained the importance of the highway as part of the Silk Road planning that Russia and China appear to be coordinating and cooperating to create

• Russian/Turkish deal for Tell Rifaat. The Micro & Macro along the Silk Road: Pepe Escobar

  I’m also wondering if this major highway, a major strategic route that passes through all of Syria, from Turkey, into Jordan is a part of the larger Silk Road project. Looking at a map it appears this is the M5 highway from Aleppo that connects Jordan and Turkey. The M5 also connects into the M4 which goes straight into Iraq. Which not coincidentally is all held by Usrael Kurds at this time.  I believe this highway would be extremely significant in the macro.
The macro being the Four Seas Strategy and the Silk Road Initiative

 You can also refer back to this post for still more background that sheds some light on this present moment in Syrian history:

• The Great Game is Playing Out Right Before Us All

 Bringing this latest situation up to speed

 Some of the latest reporting regarding the ongoing operation as follows via 

Syrianlivemap

4 hours ago - 32°55′N 36°18′E

5 killed and others injured in the bombing by the Syrian government in Daraa

4 hours ago

source

Syria: city of Hirak in eastern Daraa also being target by government bombardments

5 hours ago

source

S. Syria: town of Busra Harir and but also Nahetah (E. Daraa) violently bombarded by government as S. de-escalation zone gradually plunges into chaos.

From yesterday Via Inside Syria

 According to Inside Syria Media Center military sources in the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), The ground began an offensive against jihadists in the area of the settlement Busra Harir in the province of Daraa. The SAA moves west to divide and take enemy forces into the pocket. It seems their actions are going to be succesful. A lot of reinforcements have been used in the operation. Also Tiger Forces are fighting on the front lines.

IDF Reconnaisance Drone Crashes In Syria- Confirmed

JP

An Israeli drone crashed in the area of Khader in Syria late Tuesday afternoon.

However, there was no fear of leakage of information, according to the IDF.

S. #Syria: while Rebels & Regime are exchanging artillery fire in #Quneitra prov., latter says this #Israel|i drone (Skylark UAV, h/t @Orwellian2017k) was dropped over Hader. https://t.co/MbKlB3i9wP pic.twitter.com/xNfbsGMpS7

— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) June 19, 2018

Arutz Sheva

An unmanned aerial vehicle of the "Sky Rider" model fell Tuesday evening in the Al-Khader area of ​​Syria.

According to the IDF, there is no fear of leakage of information, and the UAV apparently fell due to a technical malfunction.

IDF claims it was a malfunction- If it was shot down, wouldn't they make that exact claim?
Of course they would! Notice the drone went down while rebels and government forces exchanged fire? Making it entirely probable that it was shot down.

A picture of the drone was distributed on social media and it was claimed that a Syrian aircraft had been shot down.

"Sky Rider" is powered by an electric motor and can fly autonomously and transmit to its operator in real time the images it obtains. At the end of the mission, the UAV flies toward a predetermined landing point, inserts itself into a deep stall, and blows an airbag under its belly, which softens its landing.

The aircraft was used by the IDF ground forces and operated by the Sky Rider unit, which was also used by the Australian Army and is expected to be used in Canada as well.

Press TV with a purported image of the crashed drone

The IDF acknowledges the drone crash- they're probably obfuscating how it was that it crashed.

An Israeli spy drone has crashed in southwestern Syria as the Tel Aviv regime defies calls to end its violations of the airspace of the Arab country.

The Israeli military confirmed reports in Syrian media that the drone had been recovered from the Syrian town of Hader in Quneitra province.

Israel has launched attacks against various targets inside Syria from time to time. Damascus believes the attacks are aimed at boosting terrorist groups in the face of major gains by the Syrian army. 

Tel Aviv has also been providing weapons to anti-Damascus militants as well as medical treatment to Takfiri elements wounded in Syria.

The Great Game is Playing Out Right Before Us All

I left his comment at Syrian Perspective- In the comments Sigh, used to really enjoy that place- Ziad is still great. And I go and read his updates. After reading hundreds of really absurd comments- I decided to leave some geopolitical information. Much of it discussed here at the blog. Some additional information expanding on previous postings done here- My chatter is in blue- the rest is quoted from source

Penny

Well, I don’t know about everyone else but the ‘freemason’ “knights of malta’ secret society talk has run it’s course, in my opinion- so let’s talk geopolitics
Geography and Politics- Back in 2011, the topic of: Assad’s “Four Seas Strategy” Damascus converges with China
I used this source for that article: The Jamestown Foundation
Sorry to disappoint- no secret handshakes, or whistles. Published right in the public sphere

Assad’s Four Seas Strategy was integrated with the Silk Road
“Syria’s Four Seas Strategy- Geography and Politics

"While China is moving west towards the Caspian Sea, Damascus is concurrently moving eastward. Since 2009, Bashar al-Assad has been promoting a “Four Seas Strategy” to turn Damascus into a trade hub among the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea and the Caspian Sea. Aligning Syria with countries that lie on these shores—Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan (The Weekly Middle East Reporter, August 1, 2009)—Assad peddled this idea in May 2009 with Turkey, stating that “Once the economic space between Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran become integrated, we would link the Mediterranean, Caspian, Black Sea, and the [Persian] Gulf … we aren’t just important in the Middle East…Once we link these four seas, we become the compulsory intersection of the whole world in investment, transport and more.” He described Syria’s nexus of “a single, larger perimeter [with Turkey, Iran and Russia]…we’re talking about the center of the world” [17]. Syria can thus act as a means of access for EU countries to markets in the Arab world and western Asian countries [18]. Assad discussed this vision with Medvedev in May this year, and in August 2009 he received Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s blessing when he presented this strategy [19]"

Penny

We see Assad is a smart guy. He’s got good advisers. Probably Russian and Chinese in the mix. He wants to make Syria the center of the world.
Cue the Americans- who do not want this- nor Israel because they will lose their strategic influence. And as always the Kurds can be employed as they have been for decades/centuries to wage war. They want a nation state? And Israel and the US want to block the Silk Road and Syria’s rise as a regional power backed by both Russia and China.
So use the Kurdish proxies, and others, to destabilize 4 nations/ win for Israel/US
Not so good for Russia. China. Iran. Iraq. Turkey. Syria.

Penny

Continuing ” China’s Silk Road Strategy is linking up with Syria’s look east policy at the Caspian region. The region is a key source for feeding various pipeline projects: Azeri gas to the first stage of the Nabucco pipeline to Europe, which will eventually connect with the AGP to the Middle East; Turkmen and Kazakh gas via the Central Asia-China Pipeline and the Kazakhstan-China Pipeline to China; and Turkmen gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India via the TAPI pipeline to South Asia. Concurrently, a new Eurasian regional security architecture based on energy security appears to be emerging, with Turkey, Syria and Iran in the Four Seas Strategy to connect with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In 2007 an Iranian Fars News Agency article, entitled “Inevitable Iran-Turkey-Syria-Russia Alliance,” discussed how this “union of four” would challenge U.S. policies in the Middle East (Fars News Agency, November 5, 2007). Likewise, Russia and China may be taking steps to use the SCO to build a new regional security architecture that reinforces each other’s territorial integrity while retrenching Western influences [20]. As Russia is steadily increasing its Black Sea Fleet (Reuters, July 12; Christian Science Monitor, May 19), gaining a foothold in the Mediterranean via the Syrian port Tartus and forming a Black Sea military alliance with Turkey and Ukraine to be signed in August 2010 (RIA Novosti, June 28; Vestinik Kavkaza, June 29; World Security Network, July 7), China is increasing its footprint in the Caspian region via the SCO and Silk Road of pipelines, rail and highways [21]. Once again, there appears to be a new “great game” around the Caspian region and the Greater Middle East”

Penny

The great game as been at hand for years and years now. This is why I speak always of the remake the region agenda– the moves and counter moves- As they extend into North Africa.
Which is why Tell Rifaat was one stop on the silk road. it’s a battle between the big powers. Who is going to reshape the region?
Who will succeed? Who will control resources?
Etc.,
What is going on in Syria has larger ramifications for the entire
region- reverberating in Europe, China, Russia.
It will affect how trade is conducted. How and where money is spent- Winners/Losers
Sadly much of this reality has been obfuscated by the media- fake alternatives and troll patrols that talk about rubbish when none of that is raising awareness of the geopolitics at play. 

Finally!

 Geopolitics- Geography and Politics- 

Converging, Merging, Diverging 

What is occurring in the region of the Middle East/North Africa is not unrelated.
It's interconnected. 
Like a web with multiple strands spanning great spaces and many places. The web has multiple spiders spinning strand after strand. But each spider alters the pattern of the others.
Frustrating and impeding planned weavings, maybe for only for a short time? It's unknown. Until the repairing is done? Or perhaps an entirely new path has been embarked upon? Perhaps some spiders become permanently thwarted? As others continue on?
While the desired final weave was long planned for it often takes an extended period of time to accomplish. That's geo politics.

US-led coalition Attacks Syrian Military Positions al-Boukamal, Syria

Deir Ezzor, SANA-

The US-led International coalition attacked one of the Syrian Arab Army’s positions in the southeast countryside of Deir Ezzor, leaving casualties.

A military source said in a statement to SANA that the US-led coalition on Sunday targeted one of our military positions in the town of Al-Hiri, southeast of al-Boukamal city, leaving a number of martyrs and wounding other people.

The new aggression comes three days after that the Syrian army liberated an area extending from the road of Haqel al-Wared (field of roses) , al-M’aezleh and al-Tammah, to Ibn Muwain’e with 40 km-long axis and combed an area estimated at 2000 square kilometers in al-Mayadeen western Badiya.

The coalition has been targeting the military positions in a desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of the terrorist organizations due to the achievements of the Syrian army.

The field reports confirm that Washington provides Daesh organization with various kinds of support to prevent its collapse and invest it to keep its forces illegally in the Syrian territory and steal the economic resources in the eastern region through its mercenaries of terrorist groups.

Since it was illegally formed in 2014 under the pretext of combating terrorism, the US-led coalition has been conducting airstrikes against what it claims are Daesh targets without any authorization from the Syrian government or a United Nations mandate and committing dozens of massacres in Raqqa and the villages of Deir Ezzor and Hasaka.

I will update or create a new post regarding this most recent coalition war crime 

Don't Miss:

Aleppo Citadel Reopens It's Doors- Triumph Over Adversity

Geo-strategically speaking: 

Russian/Turkish deal for Tell Rifaat. The Micro & Macro along the Silk Road: Pepe Escobar

Aleppo Citadel Reopens It's Doors- Triumph Over Adversity

 Let's hope this is a good sign for Syria as a whole.

SANA

The citadel of Aleppo, the most important archaeological monument in the city and one of the most amazing places of Islamic architecture, has re-opened its doors for visitors and tourists after being rehabilitated and cleaned of the dust of terrorism.

The citadel is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world and has preserved its beauty throughout history as it walls and fortresses have stood in the face of invaders.

The citadel, which dates back to Ayyubid period, has been closed since mid-2012 to protect its unique designs from the inside. Today, it reopens its doors as the Eid (feast)’s gift to its visitors, renewing its glory and stories of heroism in defending its well-fortified walls against invaders and terrorism.

Entering the citadel for the first time after his last visit eight years ago, Mohammed Ahmed Maarouf talked about his feelings and desire to regain his memories inside the place, which has stood in the face of terrorism and looting.

The citadel has a great rank in the hearts of Aleppo people; Alaa-Eddin Hammami considers that reopening it to visitors enhances the feeling of safety which Aleppo missed during the years of crisis.

Meanwhile, Laila Kiali saw that the citadel embodies the history of the city’s people and reopening it brings back joy to the souls.

I was happy to read this news. Considering all that has occurred in Syria generally and in Aleppo specifically this opening is, in my opinion, pretty miraculous. 

 


Don't Miss!

Russian/Turkish deal for Tell Rifaat. The Micro & Macro along the Silk Road: Pepe Escobar