MESOP Syria Daily: Assad Regime Worries About The Establishment of “Safe Havens”

By Scott Lucas October 17, 2014 11:19 Updated – The Assad regime has shown its concern over proposed “safe havens” along the Turkish-Syrian border from the Mediterranean to Iraq, protesting in letters to the UN Secretary-General and Security Council.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan set out the idea, with an international force and air cover protecting the areas, after another 200,000 refugees crossing from northern Syria into Turkey amid an Islamic State offensive near and in the Kurdish center of Kobane. On Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu defined a “humanitarian safe zone under military protection” which was far larger than expected, including northern Latakia Province in western Syria on the Mediterranean; Idlib Province in the northwest of the country; Jarablus, the Kurdish areas of Kobane, Tel Abyad, and Afrin; and “certain areas in al-Hasakah” Province in the east of Syria.

See Turkey Daily, Oct 16: Ankara Proposes Safe Havens in Syria from Mediterranean to Iraq Border

The Syrian Foreign Ministry protested, “These countries, particulatly the Turkish government, have used terrorists to attain cheap political ends as admitted by senior officials in many states….Since the outbreak of the crisis, the Turkish government has stopped at nothing in its attempts to undermine stability in Syria and endanger its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

It claimed that Turkey had arranged the entry of terrorists from 83 countries into and taht the crisis over Kobane was “proof of the close relations between Turkey and ISIS [the Islamic State]“.

The reassurance for Damascus, which fears the safe havens will make it easier for the opposition and insurgents to move civilian and military aid and personnel across Syria’s borders, may not come from the UN but from the US — Washington has responded coolly to the Turkish proposal.

(Featured Photo: Syrian refugees on the Turkish border, October 2014)

US officials, discussing the ongoing negotiations with Turkey over aerial intervention in Syria, say Ankara is allowing drone surveillance flights but is still refusing permission for manned missions.

A US official spoke of the situation over the Incirlik base:

They have not objected to just about anything on the surveillance side. The fights have been about manned aircraft coming in and out.An advisor to Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Cemal Hasimi, told a British newspaper that a comprehensive program for confronting the Islamic State is necesary:

While we are concerned about the tragedy in Kobane, we believe that fighting this terrorism there has somehow turned into a PR campaign. Honestly we are tired of all this ‘raising of awareness’ at certain moments — dropping a couple of bombs is not enough.

Air strikes are necessary but if you don’t have a political perspective on the future of Syria, aerial bombardment is not enough and Kobane is not going to be the last town which will be attacked in this way.

Large Price Rises and Mass Strikes in and Near Islamic State’s Raqqa After US Airstrikes

Syria Deeply reports sharp price rises and strikes in and near Raqqa, the largest Syrian city controlled by the Islamic State, following US airstrikes in the area.

The site claims a doubling in the price of diesel fuel to 150 Syrian Pounds ($0.93) per liter. With bakeries shutting because of lack of power, a loaf of bread now costs up to 200 Syrian Pounds ($1.25).

Shopkeepers of Raqqa reportedly went on mass strike to protest the surge in fuel prices.

One of them, Abo al-Ezz, said most of the strikes were in al-Taqba, west of Raqqa, after the Islamic State introduced in the area:

They tried to force us to open our shops, but then more people joined us by going on strike, and this caught them by surprise. So they stopped using force. The strike expanded to other areas, and after days of continuous strikes, ISIS increased the electricity access in the marketplace to three to four hours during working hours, but not in residential neighborhoods. There the power cuts are still happening for more than 20 hours a day.