HTS fighters at the entrance of the town of A’wejel
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which controls the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, will open a crossing with government-held areas, several opposition sources reported on November 28.
The crossing will be located in southern Idlib between the government-held town of Saraqib and Sarmin town, which is controlled by HTS.
A Source affiliated with HTS told Jesr Press that the crossing will be open for trading only. People will not be allowed to move between the two regions.
“The materials that will enter through the crossing will be necessary materials, first and foremost medicine,” the source said. “Several materials will be exported from areas controlled by HTS.”
The news led to a backlash against HTS, which was defeated by the Syrian military and its allies in all recent battles in Greater Idlib. Opposition activists are accusing the terrorist group of trading with the regime over the blood of its own fighters.
Earlier this year, HTS made an attempt to open a crossing with government-held territory. However, locals and activists responded with a series of protests that forced the group to cancel its plans. This may happen again.
LOL, Assad’s playing Russia Turkey and Iran for the fools they are, he’s actually beating them at their own game now, LOL. :]
According to the Russian/Turkish/Iranian Astana agreements and resolution 2254, HTS are designated as enemy combatants and both HTS and the Salvation Government are named terrorist organizations, so neither of them are included in the political process. On the other hand those same agreements designate the moderate opposition as legal opposition forces, and also say they must be included in the political process [they’re currently rewriting the constitution that Assad keeps saying doesn’t need rewriting]. So they’re the legitimate opposition and Assad already negotiates with them politically, but he’s never ever opened a border crossing with them, done a trade deal with them, or made prisoner swaps with them, he just kills them whenever he sees them on the battlefield. :] So why does Assad do deals with the people his allies Russia and Iran call terrorists, and yet he won’t do any deals with the people his allies call the moderate opposition [I don’t call them moderate], that seems to be the opposite of what we should be expecting, it should be the other way around shouldn’t it, BUT IT’S NOT. So why isn’t it working out the way we’d all expect it to, why does Assad do deals with the terrorists but not the moderate opposition, it’s because he’s a lot smarter than any of us, that’s why. Currently HTS politically controls 75% of the Turkish occupied Syrian territory, and in those areas they control all the political, social, and economic institutions, they collect all the taxes and the Turks do the same in the areas the Syrian Interim Government controls. But HTS only has about 15,000 loyal fighters and perhaps another 20,000 allies to help them control all their territory [75% of occupied Latakia, Hama, Idlib, and Aleppo], and most of their allies aren’t very reliable allies at all, the TIP Uighurs are more sympathetic to Erdogan’s cause than they are HTS’s. And apart from their weak numbers on the ground they also have a problem with weapons and equipment, they just get Turkish throwaways and don’t have access to replacements when they need them, so militarily the SAA outnumber them 5 to one, and the SAA also have much better equipment too, so HTS wouldn’t last a week if they had to fight the SAA on their own. On the other hand the Syrian Interim Government that Turkey supports boasts more than 100,000 moderate opposition fighters, and they also have Turkey’s full political military and economic support, they also get UN aide and recognition, and yet they only control 25% of the occupied territories, so alarm bells ringing. [They claim to have 100,000 but I think it’s more like 50,000]. That means the moderate opposition that Russia Iran and Turkey all want included in the political settlement, only represent 25% of the total opposition forces. So that’s not inclusive at all according to international Law, that’s placing the interests of 25% of the population above the interests of the other 75% of the population, and that’s just a recipe for political disaster as well as being illegal. :[ mmm, and it’s also something Assad could take advantage of. :] So lets look at it from Assad perspective, Russia, Iran, and Turkey all want Assad to accept a political settlement with the moderate opposition [MO], but the moderate opposition [MO] are the ones currently attacking the SAA, so that’s not working out the way it’s supposed to for a start. On the other hand HTS hasn’t attacked Assad since the start of the year, they’ve actually abandoned Jihad, want to open a political dialogue, and now kill or arrest any Al Qaeda/Muslim brotherhood agents/fighters they find, mmm, that’s not acting like terrorists is it, it’s more like they’re sucking up and trying to gain legitimate acceptance from the international community, mmm. HTS doesn’t like Turkey at all, they may allow them to place military equipment and facilities in the areas they control, but they also actively overthrow the Turkish backed Syrian Interim Government in any and all areas they can, they also arrest their fighters and their politicians, and they also call the Turkish forces and their proxies apostates, and they also warn their own followers that one day the Turks may become the next enemy, LOL, so they’re great allies aren’t they. Now again lets look at it from Assad’s perspective, if the Russian, Iranian, Turkish political process is implemented by the three parties, it means Assad will have the [so called] moderate opposition politicians included in his next elected government, and in the next election after that they might even end up controlling the government. Just remember the US autonomous zone will be included in this political process and they’ll cooperate with the Syrian Interim Government against Assad at every chance they get. The Turkish backed SNC has already entered a power sharing agreement with the US backed SDF so the writings already on the wall. On the other hand if HTS and the Salvation Government manage to take over even more territory from the Turkish backed Syrian Interim Government, or practically [not completely] displace them altogether, it would mean Turkey and the moderate opposition would have less political legitimacy in any future political negotiations or makeup, which suits Assad just fine. :] If HTS manages to take over all or most of the territories that Turkey still politically controls, would Turkey still have a legitimate reason or political right to remain in Syria, not really. Could it also mean Turkey could start removing their troops and equipment from the areas they no longer control politically, and even end their military support for HTS, quite possibly. So who would you prefer to control the occupied territories if you were Assad, HTS or Turkey. HTS and the Salvation Government have at most 15,000 loyal fighters and 20,000 dubious allies but no real military infrastructure/industry/logistical support, but they do have experienced and fanatical fighters as well as more support from the locals. On the other hand the moderate opposition have at least 50,000 fighters and possibly more [they say 100,000], they also have excellent logistical support from Turkey, weapons, vehicles, and equipment, they also get medical and financial aide, and they also have regular Turkish troops as well as Turkish drones and aircraft assisting them. But more importantly they’re also directly politically supported by Turkey, and they’re also indirectly supported by Russia and Iran via the Astana agreements and resolution 2254, but HTS isn’t politically supported by anyone, they have no international friends at all. So if you were Assad wouldn’t you be doing deals with HTS too, and wouldn’t you want them to take over even more territory from Turkey and the Interim Government, and wouldn’t you like to see them the last man standing in a political war between Turkey and HTS, I know I would. And that’s because I know Assad could never kick Turkey out of Syria militarily or politically, but HTS can, at least politically, and when and if that happens Assad can then chose to come to a political settlement with HTS, or he can chose to wipe them out altogether. But what shouldn’t happen is this, Russia and Iran forcing Assad into a political settlement with the moderate opposition, a settlement he doesn’t want or need, that’s what shouldn’t happen, but sadly it is thanks to Russia and Iran. I hate HTS just as much as the moderate opposition, both groups want to bring in Sharia Law and chop peoples heads off, so neither are better or worse than the other. But one of them’s a 130 pound prize fighter and the other one’s a 600 pound sumo wrestler, and in the preliminary bout the prize fighters beating the hell out of the sumo wrestler, so if the prize fighter manages to beat the sumo wrestler, Assad can then face the prize fighter alone in the next bout, and hopefully it’s an exhausted and battered prize fighter with no one left ringside to help him. Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the US all want to implement resolution 2254 but Assad doesn’t want it implemented at all, so open your eyes if you don’t understand why Assad’s doing deals with HTS. Assad’s allies Russia and Iran are actually doing deals with an even bigger devil than HTS, they do deals with the moderate opposition, and Assad keeps saying the moderate opposition are just a front for the Muslim Brotherhood, and he also keeps saying the Muslim Brotherhood are actually Syria’s biggest threat. And yet here are Russia and Iran sitting down with Turkey, who are the Muslim Brotherhoods biggest supporters, and they’re all telling Assad he has to do a political deal with them, and then Assad see’s HTS trying to kick Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood out of Syria, so is it any wonder he does deals with HTS instead of moderate opposition/Muslim Brotherhood. Russia and Iran are shafting Assad and Assad’s fighting back, he did accept a new amended version of resolution 2254 late last year but he hasn’t done a single thing to help implement the resolution, and why would he, it’d be the same as cutting his own throat. F–K the Astana agreements and resolution 2254, they give the Muslim Brotherhood way too much say in Syria’s political future, but HTS actively kills Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, so they actually do what Assad would really like to do [that’s if the Russians and Iranians would let him], they kill all the Turks and Muslim Brotherhood fighters in Syria. So is it any wonder at all Assad seems to favor HTS over the Muslim Brotherhood, he’s actually be stupid if he didn’t. SF should be telling you all this but they don’t, but who would really expect them to, they wouldn’t be doing themselves or Russia any favors if they did. So it seems it’s my job now, and I don’t mind admitting I fully support Assad in this respect, and I’ll also happily admit I’m totally opposed to Russia, Iran and Turkey’s political motives concerning resolution 2254. But I might just add I’m totally agreeable to Russia’s actions in southern Syria, so don’t assume I’m anti Russian just because I oppose this particular objective, they have my full support on many other matters concerning Syria.
Turkey told HTS to open up crossing points with government.
What does Turkey get out of it, why do they want HTS to reopen a crossing point, just so HTS can buy medicine from the Syrian Government and then sell them food in return, they get nothing out of that deal, in fact it’s the opposite, they lose if HTS becomes stronger by doing deals with the Syrian Government. Maybe you’ve forgotten or don’t know this, but the Russians already have an open crossing point at Saraqib, and the Russians and Turks have been conducting joint patrols on the M4 highway since April, so why would Turkey need HTS to open another crossing point if the only people allowed to use it are HTS and the Syrian Government, and only allowed to use it to buy and sell each other stuff. Assad won’t buy or sell anything to the Turks despite the fact the Saraqib border crossing and the eastern part of the highways been reopened and available for Russian use since April, if he did Russian Trucks full of Syrian medicine, and HTS trucks full of food, would already be driving along the M4 with Russian and Turkish escorts, and they would’ve been using the open border crossing at Saraqib since April, but they haven’t been. Turkey can’t tell HTS to do anything because HTS doesn’t listen to anyone, they barely tolerate the Turks now. Assad’s had open border crossings with HTS in Latakia, Hama, Idlib, and even Aleppo since sometime after April, and they’ve not only been trading with each other since then, they’ve also done prisoner swaps and stopped attacking each other, but Assad hasn’t done any of that with the Turks.
The only thing that should be traded with those Wahabi Apes are bullets.