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Opposition Sources Point to Signs of Russian Control over Latakia Port

The port of Latakia (Photo: Sputnik)
The port of Latakia (Photo: Sputnik)
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Opposition Sources Point to Signs of Russian Control over Latakia Port

The port of Latakia (Photo: Sputnik)
The port of Latakia (Photo: Sputnik)

Syrian opposition sources said that a joint patrol between the Russian military police and the Syrian regime forces in the port of Latakia, on Monday, was a military measure aimed at deploying observation points in the port, which was attacked twice by Israel in recent weeks. The attacks were said to have targeted Iranian weapon containers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) had reported that the Russian military police, accompanied by Syrian forces, conducted patrols inside Latakia port on Monday, in response to a wave of popular discontent with the Israeli targeting of the port and the Russian silence.

Quoting Syrian opposition sources, SOHR said that Russia aimed to expel Iran from the port, and was seeking to extend its control to protect it from the repeated Israeli air raids. Russian forces had deployed their control nearly two years ago over the port of Tartus.

No stance was made by Damascus regarding the report.

Meanwhile, Sana Al-Ali, an opposition activist in the city of Latakia, said that a number of Russian armored military vehicles, accompanied by drones belonging to the Russian Air Force, entered the port of Latakia on Monday.

The vehicles transported a group of Russian military police, accompanied by five Syrian officers, who conducted a tour inside the port for more than two hours, during which they examined some of the yards and warehouses, and inspected the operations.

Quoted by the Syrian opposition sources, the activist added that the Russian forces were planning to establish military headquarters at the main gate of the port, and other points inside it, in order to monitor the daily operations, in cooperation with Syrian regime officers.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.