M of A - Concealed By U.S. Airstrikes Israel Opens Nusra Path To Lebanon

Des centaines de Kurdes passent la frontière turco-syrienne
▻http://fr.euronews.com/2014/09/27/des-centaines-de-kurdes-passent-la-frontiere-turco-syrienne

Le président turc a quant à lui rappelé l’urgence de sécuriser la frontière.

“Il faut prendre trois décisions importantes. L’une d’elles est de mettre en place une zone d’exclusion aérienne et de maintenir sa sécurité. Deuxièmement, une zone tampon, sûre, doit être mise en place en Syrie. Pour cela, il faut aussi voir avec qui nous allons nous mettre d’accord pour coopérer en matière d’entraînement et de matériel” a déclaré Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

U.S. Considers a No-Fly Zone to Protect Civilians From Airstrikes by Syria
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/world/middleeast/us-considers-a-no-fly-zone-to-protect-civilians-from-airstrikes-by-syria-.h

Et la « zone tampon » requise par Erdogan.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has not ruled out establishing a no-fly zone over northeastern Syria to protect civilians from airstrikes by the Syrian government, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday.

Mr. Hagel and General Dempsey indicated they are open to considering the request of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey for a buffer zone along the Turkish-Syrian border, where tens of thousands of Syrians have sought refuge. Mr. Hagel said, “We’ve discussed all these possibilities and will continue to talk about what the Turks believe they will require.” He said 1.3 million Syrian refugees are now in Turkey.

L’article du New York Times rapporté (correctement) par les Iraniens,
▻http://french.irib.ir/info/moyen-orient/item/342333-syrie-washington-veut-établir-une-zone-d’exclusion-aérienne

(...) le général martin Dempsey a déclaré : « Il n’est évidemment pas possible de créer un mur de sécurité en peu de temps. Pour créer un mur de sécurité ou une zone d’exclusion aérienne, il faut d’abord neutraliser par les opérations aériennes le système de la défense anti-aérienne de l’armée syrienne. »

 ????

Syrie : la coalition frappe l’organisation EI autour de Kobané
Par RFI
▻http://www.rfi.fr/moyen-orient/20140928-syrie-coalition-frappe-organisation-ei-kobane-mouvement-etat-islamique-

Vendredi soir, beaucoup donnaient pour inéluctable la chute de Kobané, tant l’approche des forces de l’organisation Etat islamique était rapide. Puis aux premières heures du jour, les frappes de la coalition sont venues redonner de l’espoir à tous ceux qui, collés à la frontière, scrutaient l’évolution des combats, sur les collines distantes de quelques centaines de mètres à peine.

Syrie : le groupe Etat islamique s’apprêterait à contrôler Kobané
▻http://www.rfi.fr/moyen-orient/20140928-irak-le-groupe-etat-islamique-s-appreterait-controler-kobane-ain-al-ara

Les affrontements se poursuivent au milieu de la nuit dans les environs immédiats de Kobané où plusieurs villages sont passés aux mains des jihadistes, alors que de nouveaux bombardements de la coalition visaient dans la soirée des positions de l’organisation Etat islamique, à une cinquantaine de kilomètres à l’est. Mais jusque-là, ces frappes n’ont pas permis d’éloigner la menace sur Kobané elle-même qui vit peut-être ses dernières heures.

Islamic State attack on Kurdish Syrian town threatens to derail AKP-PKK relations
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/islamic-state-attack-kurdish-syrian-town-threatens-derail-akp-pkk-rel

Kobane assiégée, la Turquie ne s’engage toujours pas militairement
▻http://www.rfi.fr/moyen-orient/20140929-kobane-assiegee-turquie-s-engage-toujours-pas-militairement

Toute la journée, des volontaires désireux de se battre aux côtés des Kurdes de Kobane ont accouru de toute la Turquie, mais les militaires turcs leur ont barré le passage ; il y a même eu des accrochages avec les forces de l’ordre qui ne laissaient passer que les blessés en provenance de Kobane et les réfugiés, à nouveau nombreux à se presser en Turquie.

Et toute la nuit, on a attendu – en vain – le bruit des avions de la coalition, espérant qu’ils viendraient pilonner les positions des troupes jihadistes pour desserrer leur emprise sur la ville. Mais, malgré l’aide tardive de brigades de l’Armée syrienne libre, la chute de Kobane semble toujours aussi inéluctable.

L’#Otan derrière le plan Erdogan
▻http://www.mondialisation.ca/lotan-derriere-le-plan-erdogan/5405244

Kurds see little hope Islamic State won’t take Kobane
▻http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/09/30/3272777_kurds-see-little-hope-islamic.html

If the U.S. and its Arab allies appeared reluctant to save Kobane from the Islamic State, there was no sign that Turkey would intervene, either. The Turkish military brought more than 30 tanks and armored vehicles to the border Monday and menacingly pointed their turrets into Syria. But one day later, they were parked in a lot close to the border with no sign of crews.

The tragedy of the Kobane region is that its leadership had been able to secure peace and calm for the past two years, a period in which internally displaced Kurds and other groups migrated there by the tens of thousands. When the Islamic State began pressuring last spring, the local Kurdish militia, known by its Kurdish initials as the YPG, seemed to be able to hold them off. But in recent days, the Islamic State has been advancing, and the U.S. coalition, no doubt spurred on by Turkey’s fears that the YPG is allied with its own Kurdish separatist insurgents, hasn’t come to the rescue. When Turkish Kurds tried to send in fighters, the Turkish government stopped them, using tear gas.

Ankara promet de « tout » tenter pour empêcher la chute de Kobané
Le Monde.fr avec Reuters | 03.10.2014 à 09h51 • Mis à jour le 03.10.2014 à 11h11
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2014/10/03/ankara-promet-de-tenter-d-empecher-la-chute-de-kobane_4499763_3210.html

En plus on y apprend qu’il existe un "conflit entre la Turquie et l’EI"

Syrie : la Turquie s’implique, mais la bataille de Kobane continue
▻http://www.rfi.fr/moyen-orient/20141003-kobane-syrie-irak-ei-coalition-le-drian

Pour la coalition internationale, l’aspect important de cette résolution adoptée jeudi 2 octobre réside dans l’autorisation donnée aux troupes étrangères de stationner en Turquie et d’utiliser ses bases, mais il ne faut pas attendre des Turcs qu’ils s’engagent directement contre les troupes du groupe Etat islamique, explique Jérôme Bastion.

Selon notre envoyé spécial à la frontière, Ankara veut surtout instaurer une zone tampon en Syrie pour accueillir les réfugiés, protéger sa frontière, mais pas forcément pour combattre directement les jihadistes.

#mots #sens

[Turkish] PM : SYRIAN KURDS PAYING PRICE FOR SIDING WITH ASSAD
▻http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2014/10/02/pm-syrian-kurds-paying-price-for-siding-with-assad

Ankara urges PYD leader to join ranks of Free Syrian Army against al-Assad
▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-urges-pyd-leader-to-join-ranks-of-free-syrian-army-against

Is Turkey Going to War ?
▻http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=56835

TURKEY’S PRIORITY IS A NO-FLY ZONE

“Three things are of the utmost importance,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in late September. “Firstly, the formation of a no-fly zone; secondly, the formation of a safe haven on the Syrian side and preparation for its organization and administration; and thirdly we will discuss which actors will manage this process.”

Next week, the top two officials running the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State, John Allen and Brett McGurk, will be visiting Turkey. The Ankara government is then expected to try to negotiate accession to the anti-jihadi coalition in return for U.S. participation in a no-fly zone over northern Syria.

Such direct military intervention against Assad’s government is something the United States has long sought to avoid, but it is a core goal of Turkish policy and a long-standing demand of much of Syria’s opposition. With the U.S. Air Force now operating inside Syrian airspace and the Turkish parliament having cleared the way for foreign forces on its soil, a no-fly zone is no longer the distant possibility it used to be. But U.S. and Turkish views on the issue remain far apart, and overcoming U.S. objections will prove much harder for Erdoğan than securing the support of his own parliament.

What’s at stake as Kurds, Islamic State, and US fight over Kobane? A lot.
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2014/1009/What-s-at-stake-as-Kurds-Islamic-State-and-US-fight-over-Kobane-A-lot

Concealed By U.S. Airstrikes Israel Opens Nusra Path To Lebanon
►http://www.moonofalabama.org/2014/09/concealed-by-us-airstrikes-israel-opens-nusra-path-to-lebanon.html

Under the protection of the U.S. attack on IS and other targets Israel now practically established a no-fly-zone next to the Golan which will allow Jabhat al-Nusra to safely use the corridor and to attack Hizbullah in Qalamoun and in south Lebanon. It also opens space for new attacks on Damascus.

#Hezbollah squeezed out of #Golan by #Jabhat_al-Nusra, #Israel
►http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/hezbollah-threatened-by-al-nusra-syria-militants-israel.html

The Syrian opposition militants entering Lebanon’s southeastern corner are not Hezbollah’s only concern. There are three other consequences, equally serious and disturbing for the party.

(...)

Some Israeli media outlets have further revealed direct cooperation between the militants and the Israeli army, and other media outlets have reported about the lack of animosity between the Israeli state and Jabhat al-Nusra, which represents al-Qaeda in Syria, as well as Israeli reports about direct contacts with the Syrian opposition and mutual reassurances.

All of these facts draw a disturbing picture for Hezbollah on two levels: on the one hand, the restoration of the “good strip” scene, established by the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon for more than 20 years as a means of normalizing its occupation of the area.

On the other hand, there is the possibility that Israel has begun work on the composition of this strip, believing that the American/Western war against IS will stray and topple the regime in Syria and create an atmosphere of complete chaos in Damascus. This is what Israel is bracing for by establishing a fundamentalist Sunni strip on its borders, one that is able to isolate it from the more extreme Sunni fundamentalist groups that are less friendly to the Israeli state.

#Liban

@kassem
►http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/hezbollah-threatened-by-al-nusra-syria-militants-israel.html

Worrying reports emerge of #ISIS plans to wreak havoc in Lebanon
▻http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Sep-25/271897-worrying-reports-emerge-of-isis-plans-to-wreak-havoc-in-lebanon

The security authorities have warned that ISIS and the Lebanese branches of the Nusra Front and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades have united in order to establish a haven in the border area stretching from the north through the Bekaa Valley to the Shebaa farms in the south.

According to reports, if ISIS is to conduct attacks in these areas, they will be led by a figure known as Sheikh Abu Hasan al-Ramlawi.

Ramlawi – who goes by a nom du guerre – is a Palestinian who holds a Jordanian passport. Security forces marked him as an important figure because he used to mobilize Islamists in Deraa in southern Syria, before moving to an area closer to Lebanon.

Ramlawi is believed to have moved toward the Syrian part of the Golan Heights and Shebaa until he reached the area’s Lebanese Sunni villages, where he has reportedly been working on forming armed groups.

As a result of the sensitive location of this area, Hezbollah is believed to be monitoring the situation closely.

There are fears that Israel might try to take advantage of these developments to target Hezbollah. Some even believe that Ramlawi may have been coordinating with Israeli secret service agency Mossad in order to manipulate events in Syria.