6 Spheres of Foreign Influence in Syria: Geographic Gains and Political Concessions
Ibrahim Hamidi for al-Hayat
September 16, 2016
Syria has become divided between conflicting forces into spheres of influence
Syria has become divided between conflicting forces into spheres of influence
Coordination office has issued publications and religious texts with the aim of bringing together the Sunni and Shiite doctrines and working toward bridging the differences in ideology
Main political opposition says FSA will deal “positively” with truce but stressed rebel groups have the right to defend Syrians and the revolution against regime aggression
Group’s deputy general dismisses truce as a deal which forfeits the sacrifices and gains of the revolutionary people while working to benefit the Assad regime
Commander of the key Fatimid Brigade killed by opposition forces in Syria’s coastal region, according to Iranian media
The opposition meets with high-level diplomatic figures in London to discuss its three-stage political vision, which includes six months of negotiations, a transition period lasting 18 months, and ending in elections
Harakat Al-Nujaba sends 300 Shiite families to Daraya and Moadimiya after clearing them of their residents, according to sources
If what we hear is true, the solution is based on acknowledging the status quo and surrendering to the rule of the current regime despite the killing, destruction and displacement that it has carried out over the last five years.
“What happened recently for the Turkish leadership to decide to send its tanks and soldiers inside Syrian territory and support some of the rebel groups to regain Jarablus from ISIS?”
Turkish PM says all relevant parties, including the regime of Bashar Assad, were informed of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish corridor
Until recently, Damascus saw the Kurds as an ally able to help pressure a wide geographical area that needed hundreds of thousands of soldiers and at the same time would constitute a thorn in the Turkish throat, which was greedy to swallow Syrian geography and people at the same time.
The clashes that have erupted in Hassakeh between the Kurdish PYD militia and the forces of Assad’s mafia regime may be one of the swift results of this common approach and a first indication of the new understandings between Turkey and Russia, which Iran may not be far from.
Following the recent Turkey-Iran-Russia strategic alliance, Assad sought to find a role to play in the Kurdish file, choosing to strike Hassakeh in order to be at the center of the Kurdish issue
Today, the governments of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria act based on a conviction they are reluctant to proclaim publicly, which is that the Kurds are more dangerous than ISIS
For the consecutive third day, Russian warplanes launch attacks from Iran to strike Syria, and targets “overlap” with America
Mikdad says Damascus wants Moscow and Tehran’s efforts to succeed in bringing Turkey back on the right track in order to ensure regional security
Both sides called on UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura to intensify his efforts to start intra-Syrian talks without preconditions in Geneva
According to leaders in the Islamist and moderate groups, Western diplomats, and officials and civilian activists in Aleppo, 10 reasons can be noted for the “Aleppo coup”
Disputes between regime forces and the so-called Hezbollah increased in the past two days after the fighters from Jaish al-Fatah had launched a series of attacks in southwest Aleppo
The move came days after Syrian resistance broke a month-long siege on Saturday where almost 275,00 people had been trapped in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo
