Syrian president offers amnesty for crimes committed before Oct. 23

 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (shown) issues a decree to pardon crimes committed before October 23, 2012.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/23/268286/syrias-assad-offers-amnesty-for-crimes/

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has offered amnesty for crimes committed in the country before October 23, 2012, the Syrian state TV reports.

The Syrian president “decreed a general amnesty for crimes committed before October 23,” and not those committed by “terrorists,” the Syrian TV reported on Tuesday.

The amnesty does not apply to those criminals who remain on the run; rather, those who surrender to the government will be pardoned, the report said.

The decree came as an international proposal had been made by UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi for a truce in the Arab country.

Brahimi called for a temporary truce between the Syrian forces and foreign-backed insurgents during the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) starting on October 26.

The Syrian government says it will support the truce proposal only if the Western countries and their regional allies stop supporting and financing the insurgents.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. The Syrian government holds some Western countries and their regional allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, responsible for arming and funding the opposition and foreign insurgents.

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Turkey declares War on Syria

 

Russia Today Report: Turkish parliament authorizes military assault on Syria ‘when necessary’

Source; Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/turkish-parliament-military-syria-651/

Turkey’s parliament has authorized cross-border military operations into Syria ‘when necessary’ following a random mortar-shelling incident on the Turkish-Syrian border, reports Hürriyet Daily News.

The Turkish army has been retaliating by shelling Syrian military positions since Wednesday.­

The government-initiated debates in the Turkish parliament took place behind closed doors. The cabinet of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan claimed the Syrian military had launched an act of aggression against Turkey.

The motion signed by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan says that the Syrian crisis “affects the stability and security in the region” and accuses Damascus of conducting assaults into Turkish land.

“This situation risks and threatens our national security. In this respect, the need for taking precautions and acting quickly against any threats to Turkey has arisen,” says the document.

In accordance with Article 92 of the Turkish constitution, the government demanded a one-year authorization to send Turkish troops to foreign countries, which was granted.

On Wednesday at least three mortar bombs fired from Syria killed five civilians and wounded at least eight in the Turkish town of Akcakale. This became a second mortar attack on the Turkish town since last Friday. Back then Foreign Minister Davutoglu said he would take action if there were a repeat.

After a heated debate an urgent parliamentary session has opted to apply the new law.

The motion was supported by 320 deputies, while 129 voted against it.

Originally the bill targeted militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighting for independent Kurd state for the last three decades. The Kurds have bases in northern Iraq, de-facto not controlled by the government in Baghdad. The Turkish military has conducted a number of air and ground assaults on Kurdish positions in Iraq, most of them considered successful.

The debates around the move have sparked sharp negative reaction among the Turkish population. While a small group of anti-war protesters rallied outside the Turkish parliament in Ankara, a real anti-war storm has been initiated by Turkish and foreign activists on social networks both inside and outside of Turkey. The hashtag #savasahayir (no to war) quickly spread beyond Turkish borders into global social networking.

 

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Turkey Attempts to Trigger a NATO-led War against Syria

 

By: Tony Cartalucci

Land Destroyer Blog
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ca/
Source: Global Research
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkey-attempts-to-trigger-a-nato-led-war-against-syria/

After over a year of harboring foreign terrorists and supporting their operations near and across the Turkish-Syrian border, NATO-member Turkey has claimed it has retaliated with military force against “targets” inside Syria for an alleged attack on Turkish territory that it has blamed on the Syrian government.

Despite heavily armed listed-terrorist organizations operating in large numbers on both sides of the Turkish border with Turkey’s explicit approval and logistical support, the government in Ankara appears to have excluded the possibility that these terrorist forces, not the Syrian military, were responsible for the attack which consisted of mortar rounds the armed militants are known to widely use.

 

Image: Terrorists operating in Syria pose next to a large mortar. Mortars of all sizes are a favorite of terrorists operating in and around Syria in NATO’s proxy bid to effect violent regime change. The mortars fired into Turkish territory could just as likely have come from terrorists Turkey itself is funding, arming, and harboring on behalf of long-planned NATO machinations. Unlike the Syrian government, the terrorists, Turkey, and by consequence, NATO, all have an actual motivation for launching the initial attack that has caused Turkey to retaliate and predictably call on NATO to intervene.

The New York Times itself, in its article titled, “Turkey Fires Artillery at Syrian Targets in Retaliation for Civilian Deaths,” concedes that:

It was unknown whether the mortar shells were fired by Syrian government forces or rebels fighting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The Turkish response seemed to assume that the Syrian government was responsible.

Turkey’s immediate, unwarranted act of military aggression, along with knee-jerk condemnations from the US bear all the hallmarks of an orchestrated event – or at the very least an attempt to opportunistically seize upon an isolated incident to disingenuously advance the West’s collective geopolitical agenda.

Syria clearly has no interest in threatening the security of Turkey, nor any reason to attack Turkish territory which would surely give NATO the excuse it has been looking for to directly intervene on behalf of its faltering terrorist proxies.

Turkey Has Longed for a Pretext to Start War with Syria

It was previously reported that Turkey was intended by NATO, and more specifically, Wall Street and London, to lead efforts in carving out “safe havens” in Syria’s north, and to do so either under a false “humanitarian” or false “security” pretext.

This has been confirmed by Fortune 500-funded, US foreign-policy think-tank, Brookings Institution which has blueprinted designs for regime change in Libya as well as both Syria and Iran. In their report, “Assessing Options for Regime Change” it is stated (emphasis added):

“An alternative is for diplomatic efforts to focus first on how to end the violence and how to gain humanitarian access, as is being done under Annan’s leadership. This may lead to the creation of safe-havens and humanitarian corridors, which would have to be backed by limited military power. This would, of course, fall short of U.S. goals for Syria and could preserve Asad in power. From that starting point, however, it is possible that a broad coalition with the appropriate international mandate could add further coercive action to its efforts.” -page 4, Assessing Options for Regime Change, Brookings Institution

 

Image: The Brookings Institution, Middle East Memo #21 “Assessing Options for Regime Change (.pdf),” makes no secret that the humanitarian “responsibility to protect” is but a pretext for long-planned regime change.

Brookings continues by describing how Turkey’s aligning of vast amounts of weapons and troops along its border in coordination with Israeli efforts in the south of Syria, could help effect violent regime change in Syria:

In addition, Israel’s intelligence services have a strong knowledge of Syria, as well as assets within the Syrian regime that could be used to subvert the regime’s power base and press for Asad’s removal. Israel could posture forces on or near the Golan Heights and, in so doing, might divert regime forces from suppressing the opposition. This posture may conjure fears in the Asad regime of a multi-front war, particularly if Turkey is willing to do the same on its border and if the Syrian opposition is being fed a steady diet of arms and training. Such a mobilization could perhaps persuade Syria’s military leadership to oust Asad in order to preserve itself. Advocates argue this additional pressure could tip the balance against Asad inside Syria, if other forces were aligned properly. -page 6, Assessing Options for Regime Change, Brookings Institution.

Turkish leaders have clearly spent much time fabricating various excuses to meet Washington’s demands in this regard by fabricating or taking advantage of violence Turkey itself is fostering along its own border with Syria.

The report would also mention Turkey’s role in helping undermine, subvert, and carve out the ancient northern city of Aleppo:

Because creating a unified national opposition is a long-term project that will probably never fully succeed, the contact group, while not abandoning this effort, may seek more realistic goals. For example, it might concentrate maximum effort on breaking Asad’s hold on, say, the elite of Aleppo, which is the commercial capital and which is also the city where Turkey has the greatest leverage. If Aleppo were to fall to the opposition, the demoralizing effect on the regime would be considerable.

Should this option fail, the United States can simply accept a bad situation in Syria or escalate to one of the military options below. -page 6, Assessing Options for Regime Change, Brookings Institution.

The military options include everything from perpetuating violence to, in Brookings’ own words, “bleed
it, keeping a regional adversary weak, while avoiding the costs of direct intervention,” to Libyan-style “no-fly zones,” to a full military invasion. It is clear, upon reading the Brookings memo, that the conspiracy has indeed begun to unfold since its writing – with various military options being prepared and various co-conspirators positioning themselves to execute them.

The Brookings Institution’s “safe havens” and “humanitarian corridors” are meant to be established by NATO-member Turkey, who has been threatening to partially invade Syria for months in order to accomplish this. And while Turkey claims this is based on “humanitarian concerns,” examining Turkey’s abysmal human rights recordin addition to its own ongoing genocidal campaign against the Kurdish people both within and beyond its borders, it is clear they are simply fulfilling the agenda established by their Western patrons on Wall Street and in the city of London.

 

Photo: Turkish tanks entering Iraq to raid Kurdish towns and hunt suspected rebels in 2008. More recently, Turkey has been bombing “suspected” rebel bases in both Turkey and Iraq, as well as conducting mass nationwide arrests. Strangely, as Turkey verifiably does what Libya’s Qaddafi and Syria’s Assad have been accused of doing, in all of their hypocrisy, have been calling for a partial invasion of Syria based on “humanitarian concerns.”

….

This latest exchange between Turkey and Syria is not the first. Turkey has fabricated stories before involving Syrian troops “firing across” the Turkish-Syrian border. The New York Times published these bold accusations before admitting further down that “it was unclear what kind of weapons caused the injuries on Sunday around six miles inside Turkish territory,” and that “there were conflicting accounts about the incident.” As are all the accusations used by NATO, the UN, and individual member states to justify meddling in Syria’s affairs, these tales involve hear-say from the rebels themselves.

It is clear that Turkey, NATO, and the UN are continuously attempting to set a pretext for the establishment of “safe havens” and “humanitarian corridors” intended to circumvent the UN Security Council which has seen attempts to green-light military intervention vetoed multiple times by Russia and China.

That the UN has failed utterly to condemn the combined provocations and meddling in Syria’s affairs illustrates the absolute failure of supranational, let alone, global governance.

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Several Syrian soldiers killed in Turkey attack

 

Syrian troops in the capital Damascus carry the coffins of comrades killed during the unrest in the country. (File photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/04/264874/syrian-soldiers-killed-in-turkey-attack/

Reports say several Syrian soldiers have been killed in a new attack by Turkish forces on a military post near the border town of Tel Abyad.

The Turkish forces fired artillery shells at targets in the Syrian territory during the early hours of Thursday.

The exact number of the Syrian soldiers killed in the attack has not been reported.

Turkey’s attack follows a Syrian mortar strike that killed five people in the southeastern Turkish town of Akcakale in Sanliurfa province on Wednesday.

Syria said it had started an investigation into the cause of the mortar attack on the Turkish territory.

Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi also sent a message of condolence to the Turkish people and families of the victims.

The minister stated that Syria respects the sovereignty of its neighbors and wants its own sovereignty to be respected in return.

In addition, Zoabi called on some foreign countries, especially Turkey, to stop the flow of weapons and terrorists into Syria.

Meanwhile, the Turkish parliament is scheduled to discuss Thursday a motion for cross-border military operations inside Syria “when deemed necessary.”

Damascus says certain Western and regional countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, are supporting the insurgents fighting against the Syrian government.

On Wednesday, NATO ambassadors held an emergency meeting in Brussels over the Turkish-Syrian border clashes and said in a statement, “The alliance continues to stand by Turkey and demands the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally.”

In July, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with the Turkish Cumhuriyet daily that Turkey “has supplied all logistic support to the terrorists who have killed our people.”

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Russia must help Syria if US supports rebels - Zhirinovsky

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, takes issue with article by US Senators (RIA Novosti / Vladimir Fedorenko)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/politics/russia-syria-zhirinovsky-us-141/

Vladimir Zhirinovsky has labeled calls by US senators demanding Barack Obama directly support the Syrian opposition “absolutely unacceptable,” saying his party would demand a Russian response.

In an op-ed piece that appeared this week in The Washington Post, three influential senators called on the Obama administration to “directly and openly provide robust assistance to the armed opposition, including weapons, intelligence and training.”

Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham employed rather loose logic when they argued that by sitting on the sidelines of the Syrian battle, “we are jeopardizing both our national security interests and our moral standing in the world.”

The leader of Russia’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and its parliamentary faction, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, described the article as a call for "violently toppling the current government in Syria, which included the use of aviation and other US assets."

"If President Obama…follows the advice of Congress and acknowledges the need for armed support for the Syrian insurgents, the situation will become irreversible," he said, as quoted by the LDPR press service.

In the event of US military intervention in Syria, Zhirinovsky warned that "Syria will follow the fate of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and other countries, whose sovereignty remains a status only on paper today."

Although his party is opposed to outside military interference in the affairs of independent states, “if the US senators' calls for supporting the Syrian opposition 'with fire and sword' are put into practice, the Liberal Democratic Party will insist on a Russian response.”

“If the Republican senators succeed in persuading the US president (to provide military support to the Syrian rebels), we (LDPR) will demand that the Russian leadership openly side with the Syrian government,” the firebrand Russian politician added.

Meanwhile, Zhirinovsky believes there is no real opposition in Syria, rather international terrorists are acting there.

"Gangs of armed terrorists are acting in Syria under the guise of opposition status,” he said. “It is they whom Senator McCain says should be supported."

Zhirinovsky stressed that "Russia should support the legitimate Syrian authorities, be it [President] Bashar al-Assad or his successor, elected according to the will of the Syrian people.”

The government of President Assad has been struggling for over a year to prevail against armed rebels who seek to bring down the government.

Moscow has called on the West not to take sides in the conflict.

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