528 Turkish intelligence officers captured by Syrian army; confess to Mossad link

Turkish intelligence officers captured by Syrian army; confess to Mossad
link (Feb)

(1) Possibilities of spiltting Syria into Sunni, Alawi (Shia) and
Kurdish zones - Roy Tov
(2) French officers & Turkish intelligence officers captured by Syrian
army; Kofi Annan cites R2P
(3) Syria says Turkish officers confessed they were trained by Mossad;
it also trains Free Syria Army
(4) Turkey says 13 French officers 'captured by Syrian Army'; France
denies that French soldiers were on Syrian soil

(1) Possibilities of spiltting Syria into Sunni, Alawi (Shia) and
Kurdish zones - Roy Tov
From: Roy Tov <roytov@live.com> Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:20:06 -0500

Alawi Republic of Latakia Saves Syria

http://www.roytov.com/articles/latakia.htm

Alawi Republic of Latakia Saves Syria

This Saturday, June 30, 2012, the UN is hosting an international
conference in Geneva in another attempt to find a peaceful solution to
what is already defined by all as a fully fledged war in Syria. The
ongoing military tie between the sides may continue for years; thus, the
UN Security Council is trying to be creative in finding a solution that
will grant Bashar al-Assad's regime a safe exit. Until now, there is an
agreement between the council members on the creation of a transition
government in Syria, but that's not enough. Bashar al-Assad will not
sacrifice himself for the sake of the American military interests. The
recent downing of a Turkish F-4 by the Syrian army shows the latter is
in good shape and ready for a long conflict. Under these circumstances,
the Alawi Republic of Latakia may be revived to rescue Assad.

The complex situation in Syria includes two main struggles. The most
obvious one is between the Syrian Army and the West-backed Free Syrian
Army. In parallel, there is a violent conflict between the Alawi
minority-closely related to Shia Islam-and Sunni Arabs. The Alawi
comprise roughly 12% of the population and hold the power; the Assad
dynasty is Alawi. The Sunni are 74% of the population and are attempting
to use the ongoing mayhem in order to gain power. The ethnic conflict is
conducted by paramilitary organizations trying to evict each other from
their respective territories. The most visible result of this conflict
is the gathering of Syrian refugees in Turkey, and the incessant reports
on massacres of civilians. The Syrian Army-where Alawis enjoy a
privileged position-favors the Alawi population, thus the ethnic
struggle is a tie despite the unequal forces involved.

Also the military conflict is in a draw. The Syrian Army gets support
from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, while the rebels are
financially supported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, and get
military help from Western sources smuggling weapons via Turkey.
Reliable sources claim that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are paying the
salaries of the rebel army. The Syrian regime is presenting this
conflict to the Syrian people as a war between Shia and Sunni Arabs.
Yet, there is more than a religious and ethnic conflict in this war.
Tarsus is one of Syria's two main ports; it is also the only Russian
navy base in the Mediterranean Sea. Russia is unlikely to give up this
strategic asset for the sake of the creation of a Western puppet-regime.
To complete this complex picture, Turkey is helping the Syrian
Kurds-which seek the creation of a Kurdish state-in an attempt to
sabotage the creation of Kurdistan in regions now belonging to Turkey,
Syria and Iraq.

Under these conditions, the fighting could persist for years. The
downing of the Turkish F-4 proved to NATO that Syria is not Libya. Any
Western country attempting to violently oust the Syrian regime will pay
dearly. During an elections year in the USA, there is no chance that
will happen. Coffins of USA soldiers arriving on the eve of the
elections will spoil President Obama’s celebration. Thus, this Saturday,
the international conference will try to find a different solution.

Bashar al-Assad may be forced out of power if he loses the support of
the Alawi people. This may happen in three different ways. All Syrian
pilots and most senior officers in the army are Alawi; if they turn
against him, he'll have no armed forces left. Then, the Alawi mid-class
running the Syrian administration may reject him and bring the country
to a standstill. Finally, the Alawi-majority coastal areas may decide to
support a different leader. These scenarios are unlikely to happen since
the Alawi reasonably fear a Sunni-ruled Syria. This is a clear tie.

A creative solution to the conflict may look back at events that took
place in the previous century. An Alawi State already existed between
1920 and 1946, under the French Mandate of the League of Nations. The
city of Latakia was its capital, and it occupied territories that
nowadays form the Syrian Latakia and Tarsus governorates. The Alawis may
agree to the destitution of Assad in exchange for the revival of their
republic. In this scenario, Syria will be split in at least two parts.
The Alawis clearly gain despite their losing control over most of the
country. The West will gain since a major country opposing it will be
split. The Kurds will gain; a weaker Syria increases their chance to
obtain an independent state. In the short term, the Russians will get to
keep their military port. Iran will have a stronger position in this
state than it has in current Syria, gaining influence along the coastal
areas next to the vast gas fields of the Eastern Mediterranean. In the
short term most players will gain, thus it is a feasible political
solution.

Syria has already been sliced in the past. In 1938, Hatay—a small
territory on the Mediterranean coast—became independent from the French
mandate of Syria as the Republic of Hatay. Following a referendum in
1939, Hatay decided to join Turkey, forming the singular panhandle shape
that can be seen on the maps of Turkey. Syria still doesn’t recognize
that event as legitimate. An important aspect of that event is that the
Alawis are one of two main ethnic groups inhabiting Hatay. Essentially,
the breakup of Latakia may be seen by Turkey as a repetition of the
past. After a few years, a referendum may be held on the issue of the
gathering of the Alawis with their brothers in Turkey, under a single
political entity. Latakia will join Turkey, giving the latter better
access to the strategic gas-fields. This scenario is so tempting to most
players that stopping it may be impossible. One more country-which is
keeping silent until now-will profit.

If Syria is split, Zion and its elders will applaud. Israel will cement
its illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, and be closer than
ever to create a regional empire based on destitution and violence. The
survival of a strong and democratic Syria is essential for ensuring
regional peace and stability; no region accepting Western occupation has
ever known peace. Syria is unlikely to be the exception.

(2) French officers & Turkish intelligence officers captured by Syrian
army; Kofi Annan cites R2P

http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/04/17/the-syrian-peace-plan-is-a-joke/

The Syrian Peace Plan Is a Joke

by Devon Douglas-Bowers

April 17, 2012

Currently in the news, there is much talk of how the UN-Arab League
sponsored peace plan is falling apart. Most recently, there is the
discussion of how Syrian troops fired rounds across the Turkish border.
Yet, the peace plan is not meant to stop the violence, rather it is
meant as a ploy to demonize the Assad government even further and to
push for intervention.

The text of the peace plan is made up of six points that call on the
Syrian government to

(1) commit to work with the Envoy in an inclusive Syrian-led political
process to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian
people, and, to this end, commit to appoint an empowered interlocutor
when invited to do so by the Envoy.

(2) commit to stop the fighting and achieve urgently an effective United
Nations-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all
parties to protect civilians and stabilize the country.

(3) ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas
affected by the fighting, and to this end, as immediate steps, to accept
and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause and to coordinate
exact time and modalities of the daily pause through an efficient
mechanism, including at local level;

(4) intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained
persons, including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and
persons involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay
through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such persons
are being detained, immediately begin organizing access to such
locations and through appropriate channels respond promptly to all
written requests for information, access or release regarding such persons;

(5) ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists
and a non-discriminatory visa policy for them;

(6) respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate
peacefully as legally guaranteed. [1]

The entire plan puts the emphasis for solving the conflict on the Assad
government, ignoring the fact that there is an armed opposition that
also needs to put down its weapons and come to the table. The most the
plan mentions about the opposition is that “Similar commitments would be
sought by the Envoy from the opposition and all relevant elements to
stop the fighting.”

Nowhere does it explicitly state that the opposition itself must stop
fighting. Despite this major flaw in the plan, the Al Assad government
agreed to implement it; however, they wanted the same commitments from
the opposition as well.

This is a major problem for the West and its Middle Eastern puppets as
they are arming and financing the Syrian opposition in a bid to
overthrow Al Assad. This can be seen by the fact that there were
recently 13 French officers captured by the Syrian military.[2] Thus,
the West doesn’t require the armed opposition to obey the UN peace plan
as it would hinder their goal of overthrowing Al Assad.

After the Al Assad government agreed to the peace plan, there were still
clashes against opposition forces, thus leading the Syrian government to
demand there be written guarantees from the opposition to stop fighting.
However, this was rejected by the Free Syrian Army, with their leader
saying that they “[do] not recognize the regime ‘and for that reason we
will not give guarantees.’” However, he still argued that “the
government should withdraw its forces to bases and remove checkpoints
from streets.”[3] This is quite hypocritical as a ceasefire is a two-way
street; if one side puts down their arms, than the other side must
reciprocate or there can be no ceasefire. Yet, this is where the shaping
of the peace plan comes in; the onus is put on the Al Assad government
to stop fighting, however, it doesn’t force the opposition to do the
same, rather it allows for the opposition to continue with its violent
acts. By doing this, it is forcing the Al Assad government to break the
peace plan, thus demonizing them and creating a situation that allows
for the West and its allies to continue their support for the Syrian
opposition.

Yet, in looking at the peace plan, one must also look at who wrote it:
Kofi Annan. Annan, currently the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, is part
of the imperial apparatus as he was a part of the Ford Foundation, which
has deep connections to the CIA.[4] In his September 20, 1999 speech as
the UN Secretary General, using Bosnia and Rwanda as examples, argued
that in those cases “the States had failed in their duty to protect
their own people. He therefore concluded that the sovereignty of States,
guiding principle of the UN Charter, constitutes an obstacle to human
rights protection.”[5] (emphasis added) Thus, he started the basis of
what would become known as ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ a doctrine which
has been used by the West to intervene in countries in order to
overthrow regimes that refuse to bow down to them.

More recently, there has been talk of the incident where Syrian soldiers
fired at people across the Syrian-Turkish border resulting in the death
of a cameraman and five people being wounded. However, what is being
ignored is the fact that the Syrian soldiers may have been firing at
rebels. NPR states that “The Syrian soldiers were believed to be firing
at rebels who tried to escape to the refugee camp after ambushing a
military checkpoint, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights, citing a network of sources on the ground.”[6] One
must also realize the role Turkey has played in the Syrian conflict.
They have sent officers into Syria. In February, it was reported that
“more than 40 Turkish intelligence officers were captured by the Syrian
army.”[7] In addition to this, they have in the past made threats that
they were going to intervene in Syria.[8] Thus Turkey itself is
supporting the Syrian opposition and cannot be trusted.

The peace plan is nothing but a joke meant to force the Al Assad
government to break the plan, thus allowing for the West and its allies,
specifically Turkey, to intervene in Syria and create a puppet regime.
This will only aid in the efforts to hurt Iran as Syria is Iran’s main
regional ally and if Syria collapses, Iran will truly be isolated. This
attempt at ‘peace,’ is truly an attempt at war.

Notes

1: http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=16257

2:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9122749/Thirteen-French-officers-captured-by-Syrian-Army.html

3:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/04/08/syria-wants-guarantees-from-armed-opposition-that-theyll-lay-down-weapons/

4: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/FordFandCIA.html

5: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=30057

6:
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/09/150275499/turkey-says-syrian-troops-fire-on-camp-across-border

7:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-u-s-drones-flying-over-syria-to-monitor-crackdown-1.413348

8:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9146900/Turkey-threatens-military-incursion-into-northern-Syria-as-refugees-flee-across-its-borders.html

(3) Syria says Turkish officers confessed they were trained by Mossad;
it also trains Free Syria Army

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-u-s-drones-flying-over-syria-to-monitor-crackdown-1.413348

Report: U.S. drones flying over Syria to monitor crackdown

Pentagon officials say drones used to gather evidence to make case for
international response; 40 Turkish intelligence officials captured in
Syria, Assad regime claims Israel's Mossad trained them.

By Zvi Bar'el and DPA | Feb.18, 2012 | 1:15 PM

The United States is flying unmanned reconnaissance planes over Syria to
monitor the regime's escalating crackdown on dissent, U.S. defense
officials told NBC television on Saturday.

The drones are being used to gather evidence on the Syrian security
forces' violence against pro-democracy protesters that can be used to
"make a case for a widespread international response," the U.S.-based
broadcaster quoted the unnamed officials as saying.

The Pentagon officials stressed that the U.S. is not preparing the
ground for a military intervention, but is simply collecting evidence of
President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters.

There was no official comment from Syria on the report.

The West has ruled out a Libya-style military intervention in Syria to
stop 11 months of bloodshed.

Meanwhile, there have been disagreements regarding what action must be
taken against Syria. Turkey refuses to set up buffer zones for civilians
on its border with Syria, and demands that the transfer of equipment and
medicine be done via the sea and not through its territory.

France, on the other hand, maintains that such buffer zones must be on
land and will anyhow spill over the Turkish border.

While the Syrian army continued to attack Daraa and Homs with tanks and
heavy artillery, large protests also took place in Damascus, as well as
Aleppo, a city which hasn't taken part in anti-regime protests regularly
thus far.

The resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly condemning
Syria, supported by 137 countries, has not impressed the Syrian regime
which is only escalating its war against the opposition and widening its
war zones. Russia continues to come to aid of the Assad regime with
weapon shipments, and on Friday two Iranian warships passed through the
Suez Canal on the way to Tartus port in Syria.

Western officials fear that Iranian military presence along with Russian
aid could turn Syria into a center of international friction much worse
than the struggle inside Syria. They fear that the control over actions
in Syria will be taken over by a Russian-Iranian "partnership" which
would exclude the European Union and Turkey and that U.S. involvement
could be too late and inefficient.

Turkey fears this development after a diplomatic crisis erupted with
Syria when more than 40 Turkish intelligence officers were captured by
the Syrian army. Over the past week, Turkey has been conducting
intensive negotiations with Syria in order to secure their freedom, and
Syria insists that their release will be conditioned on the extradition
of Syrian officers and soldiers that defected and are currently in Turkey.

Syria also conditioned the continuation of the negotiations on Turkey's
blockade of weapon transfers and passage of soldiers from the rebels'
Free Syria Army through its territory. It also demanded that Iran
sponsor the negotiations of releasing the Turkish officers.

Turkey, who mediated several weeks ago between the Free Syria Army and
Iran to secure the release of several Iranian citizens who were captured
by the rebels, rejects Syria's demands, and for this reason Turkish
sources believe that Turkey will soon decide on hardening its stance on
Syria.

Syria, on the other hand, has recently published "confessions" that it
allegedly gathered from the Turkish officers that they were trained by
Israel's Mossad, and were given instructions to carry out bombings to
undermine the country's security. According to the Syrians, one of the
Turkish officers said that the Mossad also trains soldiers from the Free
Syria Army, and that Mossad agents came to Jordan in order to train
al-Qaida officials to send to Syria to carry out attacks.

(4) Turkey says 13 French officers 'captured by Syrian Army'; France
denies that French soldiers were on Syrian soil

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9122749/Thirteen-French-officers-captured-by-Syrian-Army.html

Thirteen French officers 'captured by Syrian Army'

Thirteen French officers have been captured by Syrian forces according
to the Lebanon-based Daily Star newspaper, the first mainstream media
outlet to report on rumours of Western troops on the ground.

Free Syrian Army fighters gather near a building hit by a Syrian Army
tank in Idlib, northern Syria Photo: AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd

By Henry Samuel, Paris, and Amy Willis

8:07AM GMT 05 Mar 2012

The French foreign ministry dismissed the report, however, telling the
Daily Telegraph that not a single French soldier is on Syrian soil.

But the defence ministry was less categorical, saying it neither
confirmed nor denied the claim.

A photographer who recently escaped from the besieged Syrian city of
Homs also dismissed suggestions French soldiers had intervened to secure
his evacuation and that of three other Western reporters.

The report came on Monday as the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red
Crescent reached two neighbourhoods of Homs where they were distributing
food and blankets to civilians, including families who had fled the
battered district of Baba Amr.

The teams still do not appear to have been allowed into Baba Amr itself. ...

The report claiming that French officers are on the ground came from the
Daily Star, a reputable newspaper in Beirut.

The Daily Star cites a Damascus-based Pro-Syrian Palestinian source as
alleging that the French troops are being held in a field hospital in Homs.

The source claimed officials in Paris and Damascus are brokering a deal
on what to do with the French nationals.

No explanation as to why the French troops had been in Syria was given
nor was any indication as to whether they had been part of a larger
contingent.

It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

A foreign ministry spokesman in France said: “We deny the idea that
there are French troops on the ground”. A defence spokesman said: “We
have no information on this. We neither confirm nor deny it".

Damascus has not commented on the presence of French troops on Syrian soil.

However, Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said last month it
had no intention of intervening in the country as with Libya.

"No, I don’t think so because Syria is also a different society, it is
much more complicated ethnically, politically, religiously. That’s why I
do believe that a regional solution should be found,” he said. ...