Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Putin Lands in Damascus, Meets Syrian President


Tue 07 Jan 2020 | 08:04 PM
Ahmed Moamar

The Russian presidency announced on Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin landed hours earlier in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

The visiting leader met with his Syrian counterpart at the headquarter of the Russian troops deployed to Syria.

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for the Russian presidency, said that the Russian president arrived in Damascus today and vetted the headquarter of the Russian troops there then he met with the Syrian president Bashar Al Asad.

The two leaders were briefed on the military situation across the Syrian territories.

https://see.news/erdogan-prepares-to-send-syrian-rebels-to-battles-in-libya-sources/

Peskov added that Putin praised restoring signs of the peaceful life to streets of the Syrian capital.

The Syrian president thanked the Russian leader for his visit and the role played by the Russian troops to fight terrorism.

https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/russia-seeks-build-local-force-northeast-syria

Al Asad congratulated Putin and Russian people on the Epiphany, Christian Christmas  of the Eastern Christians.

Russia has been working to establish a new military force in the Kurdish-majority, northeastern part of Syria with the aim to deploy those troops and hardware to areas along the Syria-Turkey border.

The military force reportedly would replace a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-armed group that Turkey claims are terrorists.

"The Russians have already opened recruitment centers in two towns in our region, including Amuda and Tal Tamr," said a Kurdish journalist, requesting anonymity.

He said that he knows "several young people who have signed up to join this force," adding that Russia is primarily "recruiting ethnic Kurds."

Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed to VOA that Russian efforts were underway to build an allied force in the Kurdish region.

Kurdish military officials said they were aware of Russia's plans, noting the new fighters will largely be used for patrol missions, along with Russian troops in the area.

"Those joining the new force are our people," said a senior commander with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). "We want to make sure that we have a close military relationship with Russia," he told VOA on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak about the matter to the media.

On the other hand, the Kremlin announced that the Russian president will visit Ankara tomorrow, the capital city of Turkey where he will meet his Turkish counterpart.

The two presidents will launch a joint project known as the Turkish Stream, a pipeline carries the Russian natural gas to Turkey. They are going to discuss files of Libya and Syria.

Kremlin released a statement says that both Turkey and Russia seek to increase cooperation in handling the international issues especially in Syria and Turkey.