Sergei Novikov/TASS
On February 11, the Russian Military Police deployed reinforcements near the northern Syrian town of Manbij, which is held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the reinforcements, which consisted of several armored vehicles and eight trucks, were deployed in a base of the Russian Military Police in the village of Asalijja west of Manbij.
The Russian Military Police base in Asalijja is located right on the frontline separating the SDF from Turkish-occupied areas in northern Aleppo
The deployment of additional reinforcement in Manbij came two days after an incident in which Turkish forces opened fire at a Russian unit deployed there. The unit, which was conducting a patrol in the town of Qiratah, was targeted with mortars and heavy machine guns. No losses were reported.
Several units of the Russian Military Police and the Syrian Arab Army are present in the outskirts of Manbij to prevent a direct confrontation between the SDF and Turkish forces.
Russian and Syrian forces enjoy close relations with the SDF local branch in Manbij, the Manbij Military Council. The cooperation between the two sides apparently bothers Turkey, which has been eyeing Manbij for a while now.
Keeping things honest,sure beats a few cia/shekels without the future:
No losses were reported,so what are they waiting for losses?,its a crazy situation where the Turks and the SDF are on the wrong side.
United Arap Congloemirates :) say UAC quac quac.
It makes no sense the Russians are that few. They should be there or not unless they were in guerilla warfare…
What do you want Vietnam or Afghanistan?
I just wrote it. From a security and military ponit, they should not spread out like that.
Only guerilla forces are spread out like that and Russians here should be either a peace guard or a military threat.
turks rely on proxies, like the amerikans—this cowardice will terminate soon; both are decayed societies, declining educationally, culturally, economically
You forget Russians, Hesbollahs and Iranians are proxies too:(
Erdogan want’s Manbij so he’s chipping away at the Russians in an attempt to weaken their resolve, chip chip chip, is it working, who knows. Putin is destroying the legacy of the mighty USSR, Erdogan would never have dared do anything like this to the Soviets, he’d know what the swift response would be, but Putin’s a pushover compared to his predecessors, Erdogan can stick so many pins in him he ends up looking like a pin cushion before he even complains about it. Russia now demonizes HTS and deceitfully accuses them of attacking the SAA and Russia, but the truth is the moderate opposition forces the Russians and Iranians included in their political settlement are the factions attacking the SAA and Russia all the time. All these attacks I’m listing are by moderate opposition forces, and all the areas they attack are under joint Russian Syrian Government administration, which means the Turkish moderate opposition are attacking areas where both Russian and Syrian personnel are either present or located nearby.
1st Feb, “Over the past hour the Turkish army has shelled Maranaz, Bayluniyah and Ayn Daqnah and the Afrin Liberation Forces shelled Kafr Kashir”.
3rd Feb, “Turkish military and affiliated armed groups targeting Awn Dadat village, north Manbij with medium weapons”. “Turkish artillery fire striking Menagh military airport and Deir Jamal”. “Turkish artillery fire has struck Binê now. In total 7 different sites around Tel Rifaat have been struck by Turkish artillery fire”. “Turkish artillery shelling Maranaz, Shawarighat al Arz, and Qalaat Shawarigaha”.
5th Feb, “Clashes took place between SNA and YPG on the Kevikli line in the west of Manbij”. “The Turkish army is shelling Harbel, Umm Hosh, Samouqa, Tel Madiq, Mushayrifah, and Al Hasiyah with artillery at this time. Different area than usual getting hit. Other locations also getting hit near Tel Rifaat”. “Turkish Armed Forces hit YPG targets in Semuka, Um Hos, Harbul, east of Tel Rıfat with artillery shots”.
6th Feb, “Turkish artillery shelling on Maranaz, Syria’s northern Aleppo countryside”.
8th Feb, “SNA reports that there have been clashes with the SDF fighters as they try to infiltrate the Toukhar al-Saghir front in the countryside of the city of Jarablus, east of Aleppo”. “Again, the Turkish army base stationed in the village of Al-Sukkariyah targets the villages of Al-Buwayhij and Al-Hamra with two mortar shells, in the eastern countryside of Al-Bab, – the media center of the Manbij Military Council”. “Turkish military targets the villages of Maraanaz, Ain Deqna, and Menegh Military Airport in Syria’s northern Aleppo countryside with heavy artillery”.
9th Feb, “Turkish artillery fire landing around Arimah to the west of Manbij. Targeting both positions for the Al Bab Military Council and the SAA”. “Turkish artillery stationed in the village of Umm Adasah, north of Manbij, targeted the vicinity of al-Farat in the same countryside, with three mortar shells”. “Kurdish sites: Turkish artillery shelling on the western and northern countryside of the city of Manbij”. “Turkish artillery targeting SDF points on the outskirts of the Sajur River in the eastern countryside of Aleppo”.
12th Feb, “Turkish army and affiliated armed opposition groups targeting Maraanaz and Ain Daqna villages, Aleppo northern countryside with heavy artillery”. ……..
But there are even more instances of UNPROVOKED Turkish shelling of Russian/Syrian controlled areas of Al Hasakah that I haven’t included in this list, so obviously the Turks aren’t too concerned they might hit a Russian patrol or policeman.
Its all smoke and mirrors people.
– Russian Navy joins major multinational AMAN-2021 drills in Pakistan, NATO countries also expected to attend –
“AMAN-2021 is a rare exercise that brings together countries from all across the globe, including those that do not exactly enjoy amicable relations.
“Exercise AMAN is about bridging gaps and making it possible to operate together in pursuance of common objectives,” Rear Adm. Naveed Ashraf, commander of the Pakistani fleet, said on Monday. ”
” “The goal of the Aman-2021 exercise is to strengthen and develop military cooperation between the countries participating in the maneuvers, reinforcing security and stability at seas, as well as the experience exchange between sailors in countering threats ”
” This will be the seventh of the biennial drills, and Pakistan had invited some 45 nations to participate. These include China, the US and Turkey, as well as several other NATO nations. ”
https://www.rt.com/russia/5…
Much of your comment seems to be pushing for a war between Russia and Turkey to save Assad at the expense of Russian and Turkish service members. Interesting. But unfortunately, they both won’t take that bait. If anything, Erdogan has proved to be a very clever politician over the years. Erdogan lured both Russia and the EU to make substantial investments in Turkey. According to a report, the EU has invested some $230 billion in Turkey since 2001. This makes EU sanctions on Turkey a near-impossibility.
Turkey imported some $22.5 billion worth of goods and services from Russia in 2019 alone, and exported about $4 billion worth of goods and services to Russia. There’s simply too much at stake for Russia to start a war with Turkey. Why did Erdogan choose Russia over his traditional Western allies for nuclear infrastructure and other projects? This is despite the fact that such a policy would infuriate the West. He wanted to tie Russia in, and he has succeeded. What can Assad offer Russia to offset these long-term economic goals from Turkey? Especially in the era of sanctions.
I think the Russians know exactly what they are doing. Assad is a beggar of protection. And beggars have no choice. You take what you are given and say, “thank you”, not demand more than the giver is willing to sacrifice.
Russia will have to dumb Assad with time. That would be the best strategy for Russia in Syria. They can cooperate with Turkey to counter America’s influence in Syria, while also excluding Iran. Biden’s desire to get tougher on both Moscow and Ankara may well force these two to cooperate in Syria like never before. Russia can watch Turkey’s back with the Kurdish problem. Turkey in turn, will help preserve Russia’s economic interests in Syria. Assad is expendable and can be replaced by someone acceptable to both Russia, Turkey, and the U.S.A.
My comment isn’t pushing for a war between Russia and Turkey, it’s pushing for Putin to start drawing a line in the sand that Erdogan can’t cross for fear of reciprocal actions. Atm Erdogan seems to do whatever he wants whenever he wants, and that endangers Russian servicemen’s lives, and Syrian SAA lives, and Syrian citizens lives. I don’t see the Russians retaliating against an offending Turkish artillery unit that just attacked a nearby position as reasons to start a war, it’s just a measured response to an illegal action, and it’s totally justifiable in a legal sense. But you’re right, Russia and Turkey don’t want to go to war, but Erdogan seems less scared of a potential war than Putin seems to be, and that’s not good for Russia or any of it’s allies [from my point of view].
So far most US/EU sanctions have been of a military and diplomatic nature but that could change in the future, it’s mostly dependent on Erdogan’s future actions, the EU and US aren’t as big a pushovers as Putin, they may draw even firmer lines in the sand than they already have. US and EU rhetoric is loud and strong, Turkey must confirm to agreed policy or be targeted with increasing sanctions. I could link a dozen pertinent articles from December last year but I’m sure you’ve already read most of them.
Most of the commodities Turkey no longer import from EU/US are now provided by Russia, and although the trade imbalance seems to favor Russia things aren’t as simple as they appear. If Turkey decided to abandon Russia and re establish a good relationship with the NATO alliance, all sanctions would be lifted, and then Turkey could switch to importing the US/EU commodities they once used to, which would leave a lot of high tech Russian industries high and dry. Most people have no idea but Putin gave huge tax incentives to high tech industry to expand and provide hi tech military commodities for the Turkish market, if those markets were to disappear overnight many Russian high tech industries would be left high and dry with no alternative markets for their commodities. So there’s a lot more at stake for Russia than there is for Turkey.
“What can Assad offer Russia to offset these long-term economic goals from Turkey? Especially in the era of sanctions”.
Well concerning sanctions Assad has absolutely nothing to offer, but he does have a naval base that Russia desperately wants to retain. And the only reason they need to retain the base is the fact they’re scared the Turks might refuse access to the Mediterranean sea if ever there was a situation that provoked that action [I know there’s a legal agreement not to]. And Assad’s been very loyal to Russia right up to the point the Iranians started prying him away from the Russian sphere of influence, which has only been just recently.
Sadly I do agree with you, the Russians do see Assad and his Government as being expendable, and a secondary concern to the preservation of the newly developed but shaky Turkish/Russian political/economic alliance, as well as also sometimes being secondary to Russia’s economic relationship with the western block nations, and that’s possibly the main reason Assad’s been turning to Iran for guidance and direction lately. So Putin’s risking the loss of 3 allies if things go really bad, Turkey, Syria, and Iran could all turn on Russia in the right situation. Biden’s totally anti Russian and controls the US, so right now he’s probably sending out envoys to China, Turkey, and Iran, in an attempt to find weaknesses in their relationships with Russia, that he can somehow exploit to weaken Russia’s sphere of influence, and if not empower themselves, at the very least decrease tensions or increase cooperation with any or all of the 3 superpowers that Russia relies on. Turkey’s already stopped buying all natural gas from Iran and instead buys LPG from the US, that not only hurts Iran immensely, it also affects Russian interests as well.
Well, I understand you now. But frankly, I think Russia is better off allying with the Sunnis (Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood), than Iran. There is a war between Iran and America/Israel/GCC. Even though Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood threaten the GCC, they aren’t as great a threat as Iran. For, example, no MB group is bombing Saudi Arabia right now, or threatening to bomb the U.A.E. For this reason, the Shiite axis will only be a liability to Russia. There is little economic benefit for Russia, because trading with Iran will attract huge Western sanctions against Russia. This is why Assad isn’t the right choice for Russia in Syria. Trading with Turkey, Qatar, Libya, etc on the other hand, will not draw any sanctions for Russia. Turkey is also an emerging global economic hub, something Iran can never hope to achieve with the current regime. Turkey also shares a border with Russia, and is far more influential than Iran or any other Muslim country (including Saudi Arabia) among anti-Western Sunnis, and believe me, we are the majority. The West is troubled like never before. Things are not going their way. The Muslim world firmly rejects their values and is in a struggle to wriggle free of the West. America needs to focus on Iran and Turkey simultaneously. But it’s difficult to contain both at the same time. It needs the cooperation of one to deal with the other. America putting too much pressure on Turkey risks plenty of military interests for the U.S. It also risks Turkey’s exit from NATO, a greater Russian influence, and stronger ties with Iran. It also risks U.S military presence in Qatar, as Qatar will never dumb Turkey. Neither will Pakistan, Malaysia, or Indonesia forsake Turkey. In fact, if the U.S makes the mistake of turning Turkey into an Iran-like enemy, there is no doubt Turkey will pursue nuclear arms. Europe will also lose billions in economic investment that’ll further deepen the EU’s economic crisis. Suddenly, the U.S will have two cooperative nuclear powers to deal with (Iran and Turkey). For all the rhetoric, Biden will tread carefully on Turkey. The U.S cannot afford to make an enemy of Turkey. So, your talk of a firmer U.S on Turkey than Russia doesn’t make sense to me. Erdogan has declared severally that NO COUNTRY OR PERSON can dictate to Turkey what to do. Yes, they can hurt Turkey’s economy really bad. But Turkey will hurt them more, by creating complications for the U.S that Biden cannot solve in decades. So, I’m not worried the least regarding America’s threat against Turkey. Erdogan will try to calm tensions to achieve his aims with as little sacrifice as possible. But he won’t capitulate like some people think. Neither will his party.
What are they going to do that the previous smaller force couldn’t do ?
Manbij is the Heart City of the Heartland. Who owns the Heart City controls the world. Thats why Bolton and I spent so much time on Manbij together with Merkel and May. Because we knew how important it was with a stack in the Heart City, but Trump didnt knew it.
All right, Trump kicked Bolton and I out of the game, because he didnt understand it takes time, funding and thousands of people to maintain influence, building up networking, paperwork and leverage in the worlds hottest spot plot Manbij and this is NOT done overnight.