Headlines 10/02/2016

Headlines

• Merkel the Hypocrite and Erdogan the Lapdog

• The Extermination in Syria

• Aleppo Invasion Imminent

Details

Merkel the Hypocrite and Erdogan the Lapdog

On Monday the 8th of February 2016, officials from Turkey and Germany announced in Ankara that both countries would push to curb, so called, “Illegal Immigration.” This announcement was made following a visit from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel to Turkey. Merkel stated that she was “not just appalled but horrified” at the Russian bombing in Syria, with the recent bombing campaign of the city of Aleppo bringing over 35,000 new refugees to the Turkish border. The link between the bombing and the influx of refugees was made by Merkel herself, yet Germany is present within Syria protecting the planes of its allies that continue to bomb the country and displace yet more refugees. Surely it makes more sense to stop bombing the land to prevent more and more refugees making the perilous journey into the EU. Erdogan is not free from blame either, a man who facilitates US bombing of Syria by allowing US warplanes to use Turkish airbases. Turkey may spend billions on housing some refugees but it has the ability to end the Syrian crisis within weeks by deploying its military. Turkey in all its foreign policy positions merely facilitates and aids western solutions, it never develops its own independent solutions, which it is more than capable of implementing and executing.

The Extermination in Syria

A UN report has found the 'extermination' of detainees in Syria. International investigators have said that several thousand prisoners have been executed, beaten to death or otherwise left to die during Syria's civil war, in policies that appear to amount to "extermination" under international law. The UN-backed Commission of Inquiry on Syria presented a 25-page report on killings of detainees by President Bashar al-Assad's government.

The report was drawn from 621 interviews conducted between March 2011 and November 2015. "The mass scale of deaths of detainees suggests that the government of Syria is responsible for acts that amount to extermination as a crime against humanity," Paulo Pinheiro, the commission's head, said. He continued: "Nearly every surviving detainee has emerged from custody having suffered unimaginable abuses.”

Aleppo Invasion Imminent

Syria’s largest city and business and economic hub is in the midst of a large exodus as Bashar al-Assad’s regime gears up for a full scale invasion. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in city are under threat of being cut off from basic food supplies amid expectations of a looming siege by government forces. Just a few months ago the Damascus regime was on the retreat with rebels launching attacks on Latakia, the Alawi stronghold itself. But the Russian intervention came in the nick of time and has saved the al-Assad regime from collapsing. Despite Russia’s initial setbacks, the Russian campaign has started to deliver results for the Assad regime.

This week, Russian airpower allowed al-Assad and his paramilitary forces to cut off the narrow, rebel-held “Azaz corridor” that links the Turkish border to the city of Aleppo. The city’s full encirclement is now a distinct possibility, with regime troops and Shi’ah fighters moving from the south, the west, and the north. Should the rebel-held parts of the city ultimately fall, it will be a dramatic victory for Assad and the greatest setback to the rebellion since the start of the uprising in 2011.