Russia: Calls for Assad’s departure ‘thoughtless’
MOSCOW — The entire territory of Syria must be “liberated,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said in remarks televised Saturday, dismissing demands for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure as “thoughtless.”
The Russian statement came as Turkish troops and Turkey-backed opposition fighters reportedly engaged in intense clashes with Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria. The Syrian army command condemned the fresh offensive by Turkish troops inside Syria, describing it as “an occupation that will be dealt with by all available means.”
The Turkish military intervened in the Syrian war in August this year under orders from Ankara to clear the border area of Islamic State fighters and U.S.backed Syrian Kurdish forces linked to Turkey’s own outlawed Kurdish insurgency. The Turkish government considers both to be terrorist groups.
In the northern city of Aleppo, government forces shelled eastern rebel-held neighborhoods Saturday night, marking an apparent end to a lull announced by Russia.
Russia’s Dmitry Peskov said Assad needs to stay in power to prevent the country from falling into the hands of jihadis.
“There are just two options: Assad sitting in Damascus or the Nusra sitting in Damascus,” Peskov said in reference to the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s branch in Syria that now calls itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham Front. “And Assad must sit in Damascus to ensure a political settlement.”
Peskov’s statement came as the break in fighting Russia had declared in the besieged city of Aleppo entered its third day before seemingly collapsing Saturday night. He said Russia’s decision to extend the break, which was initially declared for just one day Thursday, wasn’t a concession to Western pressure.
The United Nations greeted the lull intended to allow the evacuation of wounded civilians and fighters from the rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo that had been devastated by airstrikes. But the rebels rejected the offer to evacuate, and no evacuations were seen along the corridors created by the Syrian government.
A U.N. official said that Syrian opposition fighters were blocking the evacuations because the Syrian government and Russia were not holding up their end of the deal and were impeding deliveries of medical and humanitarian supplies into Aleppo.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the truce collapsed while the Aleppo Media Center, an activist collective, reported artillery shelling on different neighborhoods and an attempt by government forces to advance south of the city.
Russia launched an air campaign in support of Assad a year ago, helping his forces win back some key ground. The relentless bombing of Aleppo, the country’s largest city, has caused global outrage.
Peskov said the goal of the Russian campaign is to fight “terrorists,” saying the fall of the Syrian government would cause new flows of refugees and more terror attacks in Europe.
“Some countries are trying to play with the devil and use terrorists to get rid of Assad, and some just say thoughtlessly that Assad must leave,” Peskov said. “If Damascus falls and terrorists take hold there, there will be no political settlement then.”
He said there is little hope the Syrian conflict could end soon, adding that it will require “long and hard work by the international community.” “The territory of Syria must be liberated,” Peskov said.
In the north, Syrian rebels backed by Turkish tanks advanced under intense bombardment toward a major town held by Kurdishled rebel forces.
The Observatory said the fighting between the Turkey-backed fighters and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was concentrated near Tel Rifaat. It said 13 Turkey-backed rebels and three SDF fighters were killed.