More than 1,200 protesters have been killed in Syria (AFP, Mustafa Ozer)
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Several groups and well-known personalities in Iraq’s Kurdish region have called on authorities to support the pro-democracy movement in Syria, in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“Silence in the face of the crimes committed in Syria is a disgrace and we call on the federal government of Iraq and in Kurdistan to support human rights, freedom and democracy in Syria because it is a moral duty,” said the statement, published in Kurdistan’s second biggest city Sulaimaniyah.
The statement was signed by 11 local organisations, including the Centre for Democratic Rights, and media and cultural personalities.
“We support Syrian citizens who aspire to freedom and a better life based on democracy and respect for human rights, and we condemn the Baathist regime, its savage repression and its crimes against humanity against peaceful demonstrators and the Syrian people,” the statement said.
“The Kurds of Iraq have been victims of the brutality of the Baathist regime, and its desire to eliminate the Kurdish people, and in Syria today, the Kurds are not treated in a manner equal to that of other citizens.”
The Baath party rose to power in 1963 in Syria and five years later in Iraq, where it was officially dissolved and banned after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Since March 15, more than 1,200 protesters have been killed and 10,000 have been arrested in pro-democracy rallies in Syria, according to activists.
Hatay Province, Turkey, 17 June (UNHCR) – UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie traveled on Friday to Turkey’s border with Syria, meeting with many of the refugees who have fled their country in recent weeks.
The flight of civilians from the northwest of Syria has picked up considerably in the last two weeks. There are now more than 9600 people living in four camps managed by Turkey with the Turkish Red Crescent.
Accompanied by UNHCR staff and Turkish government officials, Jolie visited the ALTINOZU camp in Hatay province, 20 kilometres from the Syrian border.
Some 1700 Syrians have found shelter there. “The people in this camp have fled in fear for their lives, and many told me they were distraught about the safety of loved ones still in Syria.” Jolie said.
Jolie met with one woman who managed to leave Syria heavily pregnant, and has since given birth to her child in the camp. She told how her husband had been killed.
Another distraught woman told Jolie how she was sick with worry about the fate of her husband still in Syria and unable to cross the border. “The woman claimed her husband was one of many, too afraid to cross,” Jolie added.
The American actress praised Turkey for welcoming the refugees, saying it is critical in these situations that people have access to safety. “I am really grateful for the open-door policy of Turkey in allowing these people to enter and the assurances that there will be no forced returns.
A mob of children chanted “look who is here”, and “welcome, welcome” as they pushed forward to shake Jolie’s hand. Many had slogans such as “freedom” painted on their foreheads.
“I appreciate the opportunity to visit this camp and talk to these families,” Jolie said. “It is a really complex situation and everyone needs to be doing all they can for the innocent families caught in the crossfire. I will be following this situation very closely and doing everything I can.”
“The Government of Turkey and the Turkish Red Crescent have shown tremendous generosity to the thousands fleeing Syria. The Red Crescent has set up camps really quickly and provided medical and other care. And UNHCR stands ready to assist if the situation starts to escalate.”
Ahead of her mission UNHCR received dozens of email messages thanking her for her planned visit to the Turkish-Syrian border and her support for the displaced. The refugees living in ALTINOZU camp greeted her with enthusiastic chanting.
Meanwhile the Goodwill Ambassador highlighted the relevance of UNHCR’s new global campaign dubbed “1 is too many” to the unfolding crisis.
“In the campaign we highlighted the fact that one refugee without shelter is too many, and in this latest displacement crisis we are seeing thousands in need and there may be many more in Syria yet to receive help. These people deserve and need our help.” she added.
via UNHCR – Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visits refugees in Turkey.
Istanbul – Turkey is stepping up pressure on neighbouring Syria for a peaceful resolution to the conflict there, an advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.
‘We are trying to convince the Syrian side to make rationalistic choices,’ Professor Nabi Avci said at a briefing of foreign journalists in Istanbul.
Avci is Erdogan’s former chief policy advisor and a newly elected member of parliament from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which won a third consecutive term on Sunday.
Avci emphasized Turkey’s close relationship with Syria and said that Ankara was working behind the scenes to urge the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to refrain from violence and undertake necessary reforms.
‘Issues having such heavy psychological baggage cannot be talked about in public,’ Avci said, adding that a military intervention by Turkey was not on the agenda.
Assad’s regime has cracked down harshly on anti-government protesters since March, when pro-democracy activists began calling for him to step down. At least 1,300 people have since been killed and more than 10,000 detained, human rights groups say.
Erdogan, believed to be one of the few remaining leaders who has open communication with Assad, recently issued his harshest critique of the regime so far, calling the crackdown on protesters ‘inhumane’.
The Turkish premier met Wednesday with Syrian presidential envoy Hassan Turkmani to discuss issues in Turkish-Syrian relations, including the recent influx of close to 9,000 refugees who have crossed the border into Turkey out of fears for their safety.
Calling Turkey ‘an island of stability’ in a region currently rocked by the unrest of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, Avci said Ankara sought to assist neighbouring countries undergoing change.
‘We can help in the peaceful transition of these regimes. We don’t want to use the word ‘model’, but (Turkey) can be an inspiration,’ he said.
Regarding the long-running dispute over the reunification of the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Avci sounded less hopeful, saying time was running out and that Northern Cyprus might reach the point of demanding international recognition as a state.
‘I’m afraid we are coming step by step to that stage,’ Avci said.
Cyprus has been divided into an internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in response to a Greek-inspired coup.
While the Greek Cypriot part of the island joined the European Union in 2004, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey.
via Turkey increasing diplomatic pressure on Syria, advisor says – Monsters and Critics.
Turkey is planning to create a military “buffer zone” for refugees inside the country as protests against the Assad regime spiral, it was claimed on Thursday.
By Andrew Osborn, in Guvecci and Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
8:57PM BST 16 Jun 2011
A Syrian refugee at a camp in Yayladagi, Turkey Photo: AP
Government sources told a leading Turkish newspaper that soldiers could be sent in to Syria to set up a “safe haven” under plans being considered should the flood of those fleeing the fighting worsened.
“We would close the border but we cannot turn our back,” a Turkish official told the newspaper, Hurriyet. “If chaos starts, then we will have to form a security zone or a buffer zone inside Syrian territory.”
The suggestion, which would be a marked escalation of the crisis and seriously alarm Damascus, came as Turkey faced pressure to take tougher action over the crisis in a neighbour until recently seen as an ally.
Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Turkish government of helping Syria to cover up crimes against its own people by stopping refugees telling their stories to journalists and human rights groups.
It has locked the more than 8,000 refugees who have crossed the border up in fortresslike camps and isolated them from the outside world, even obscuring them from view by covering the fences with blue plastic sheeting.
“The Turkish authorities are effectively gagging the victims,” Neil Sammonds, Amnesty’s Syria expert, told The Daily Telegraph.
“Already there have been three months of widespread killings, often it seems as part of a shoot-to-kill policy, torture, mass arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial executions. These amount to possible crimes against humanity.
“Were Amnesty and other rights groups or journalists able to meet the refugees in the camps and listen to and document their stories it is possible it would stir the international community and especially the United Nations Security Council into condemning the Syrian government.”
Syrian activist groups claim 1,500 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March. In the last week, Syrian forces have moved against two towns close to the border, Jisr al-Shughour and Maraat al-Numaan, where they said troops had been attacked by “armed gangs”.
Refugees said the Syrian army was continuing to make punitive raids on towns and villages in the region. Soma, a 20-year-old farmer, said his village just two miles from the Turkish border had been shelled in the early hours of Thursday and was now in the army’s hands.
“They destroyed it,” he said. “If I go back they will kill me. They want to raze our homes so we cannot return.” Ibrahim, 33, an olive farmer, said he had reliable information about two separate atrocities against women, saying that Syrian security forces were using sexual violence as a weapon.
In the first case, he said a group of 16 soldiers had gang-raped the wife of a pro-democracy activist. In another more recent case two or three days ago in Jisr al-Shughour Syrian soldiers forced three protesters’ wives to strip and serve them tea in the nude in order to humiliate them, he said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, turned on the Assads last week, accusing the president’s brother, Maher, in particular of “savagery” in putting down protests.
The Hurriyet report said Mr Erdogan was “losing hope” in President Assad but also added he had not yet “burned his bridges” as he had with Col Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, whom he has told to step down.
Mr Sammonds said Turkey was playing a “dubious game” pursuing narrow national interests rather than international justice.
“No one understands why they are doing this but there are plenty of hypotheses,” he said. “One of the more compelling ones is that the Turkish government does not want people inside Syria to know what is going on because it might cause a larger wave of refugees to flee to Turkey.
“Another is that Turkey still wants to maintain good relations with Syria while at the same time making strong statements about reform and the need to end the violence.”
via Turkey to create military ‘buffer zone’ within Syria for refugees – Telegraph.
DAMASCUS—Syria’s military expanded its reach to a fourth border by deploying forces to the remote towns of Deir el-Zour province near the frontier with Iraq, a volatile tribal area, stretching the capacity of its military.
Tanks began heading toward al-Boukamal on the Iraqi border on Tuesday, activists and residents said, but hadn’t advanced into the province as of Thursday.
Protesters hold a child up during a demonstration against President Bashar al-Assad in Deir el-Zour, Syria, on Thursday.
Protesters hold a child up during a demonstration against President Bashar al-Assad in Deir el-Zour, Syria, on Thursday.
Unrest in Syria
Despite the rising death toll from weeks of unrest, people across Syria continue to protest the government of President Bashar al-Assad. See events by day.
Meanwhile, in a sign of the growing pressure on President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to respond to protests, Rami Makhlouf—a first cousin of the president who is considered Syria’s wealthiest businessman—announced late Thursday he would sell his shares in the telecom company SyriaTel and relinquish his real-estate properties to the state.
Mr. Makhlouf, who monopolizes business life in Syria, has been a symbol of corruption for the anti-government protesters, who have chanted slogans against him. Mr. Makhlouf is among members of Mr. Assad’s regime sanctioned by the U.S. and European Union for his role in the protest crackdown.
“I will not allow myself to be a burden on Syria, its people, or its president,” Mr. Makhlouf said in a televised news conference. He said he was responding to rumors by “conspirators” aiming to spread chaos in Syria, maintaining the government’s line that the uprising is instigated by Islamists and foreign agents bent on destroying the country. The move, however, was widely seen as a means for the president to relieve himself of protest targets.
Syria’s military already is spread across the vast northwestern area bordering Turkey, and has remained deployed in its southern region, where protests started in Deraa in mid-April. A military campaign against the western town of Tal Kalakh last month sent thousands of Syrians fleeing into Lebanon. A similar scenario unfolded on the border with Turkey last week, which now hosts at least 8,900 Syrian refugees.
via Syrian Forces Spread to New Area Near Iraq Border – WSJ.com.
ANGELINA Jolie will meet Friday with Syrian refugees in southern Turkey during a tour of camps set up on the border to house some 8,500 Syrians.
The Syrian refugees fled a violent government crackdown on the country’s pro-democracy movement.
Jolie’s visit was confirmed Thursday by Selcuk Unal, a spokesman for Turkey’s foreign ministry, who told AFP that “Ms. Jolie will visit Hatay province on Friday after traveling from Istanbul.”
Turkish newspaper the Hurriyet Daily News reported Wednesday that the Hollywood star submitted an application to the Turkish authorities for permission to visit the refugee camps on the border.
Jolie was said to be keen to meet some of the Syrians who fled to Turkey to escape the crackdown on Syria’s anti-government uprising.
Many of the refugees are staying in three camps in Hataya province and come from the Syrian town of Jisr al Shughur, some 25 miles from the Turkish border and the scene of a major army operation.
Foreign ministry sources confirmed to the Hurriyet Daily News that the application to visit the refugees was made Tuesday on Jolie’s behalf.
She is a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and known for her humanitarian activities.
In April, she traveled to Tunisia during its refugee crisis as thousands fled from its war-torn neighbor, Libya.
via ANGELINA Jolie to visit Syrian refugees in Turkey | Ya Libnan | World News Live from Lebanon.
