I'm sure they'll get right on it.
| Remember the Jews of Nazi Germany, guys. Don’t do it. |
According to them, the new Syrian administration held two meetings with the PKK leadership, during which the Kurdish representatives demanded, in exchange for the surrender of weapons, that they be given a division or army corps in the Syrian army being created and that the oil fields in the north of the country, controlled jointly with the United States, be equally divided.
“The new authorities did not even discuss this issue, setting the PKK the condition to unconditionally lay down their arms,” the publication says.
| “We have conquered. You are conquered and must submit,” is the entirety of their position, it seems. Possibly they mistake Kurds for Arabs. |
The conflict between Turkey and the PKK began in 1984. Ankara considers the group a threat to national security, regularly conducting raids against its supporters in the country and operations in northern Iraq and Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 19 that there is a possibility of Turkish military operations in Syria to push Kurdish forces back from the border. The head of state added that Ankara is trying to create conditions for the return of refugees from its territory to Syrian lands.
Unrelated from regnum.ru
US Temporarily Eases Sanctions on Syria
The United States has temporarily allowed some financial transactions to be carried out with the new Syrian authorities, as well as transactions related to energy resources within the republic. This is evidenced by the license of the US Treasury Department published on January 6.
“Today, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Syria General License (GL) 24 to extend authorizations for activities and transactions in Syria beyond December 8, 2024. This action underscores the United States’ commitment to ensuring that U.S. sanctions do not interfere with activities that meet basic human needs, including the provision of government services or humanitarian assistance. This authorization is for a period of six months as the U.S. government continues to monitor the evolving situation on the ground,” the document, published on the Treasury Department’s website, says.
Thus, the US department lifted the ban on transactions with structures of the new Syrian authorities that were concluded after December 8, 2024. At the same time, sanctions were temporarily lifted with respect to operations on the supply of oil, gas and electricity within Syria. In addition, the US Treasury Department allowed operations to be carried out through the republic's central bank.
It is noted that the license expires on July 7, 2025. At the same time, the United States maintains a ban on operations that are carried out "in the interests of the authorities of Iran and Russia," including those transactions affecting the supply of goods, technologies, and services from these two countries. At the same time, previously introduced restrictions against oil imports from Syria to the United States remain in place, according to the license.
As reported by Regnum News Agency, on December 30, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote that high inflation, Western sanctions and loss of control over oil fields are preventing the new Syrian authorities from restoring the country's economy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had failed to cope with social problems in the country, including due to the destructive actions of the United States, which occupied the resource-rich northeast of Syria. The minister emphasized that it was the strangulation of the Syrian economy that contributed to social tension in the country, and Damascus had to resort to unpopular measures, including reducing subsidies for socially significant goods and services.
Russia has supported the Syrian government led by Assad in its fight against terrorist forces for several years. Moscow has pledged to provide support as long as the fighting is carried out by the Syrian state itself, President Vladimir Putin noted. Back in 2015, he emphasized that “we are not going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves.”