Quoting Mark Twain, President Vladimir Putin has made his first public statement on Syria during his Direct Line broadcast on Thursday. “Whoever wants to imagine Russia weakened…I want to recall the famous man and writer [Mark Twain], who once said: ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’”
During four and a half hours of question-and-answer, Putin responded to questions on the Syrian conflict from a US and later a Turkish reporter. He said the future of the Russian bases at Khmeimim and Tartus is undecided. “The vast majority of [Syrian groups] tell us that they would want our military bases to remain in Syria. I don’t know — we should think about it, because we have to decide for ourselves how we relate to the political forces that are now in control and will control the situation in this country in the future. Our interests ought to coincide. If we stay there, then we have to do something in the interests of the country where we are.”Putin endorsed the Turkish military movements into Syria over the Israeli ones. “Israel is also solving security issues for itself…We hope that Israel someday will leave the territory of Syria, but right now it is bringing in there additional troops. I think there are already thousands of troops. And I have such an impression, that they are not only not going to leave, but they are going to reinforce there…Turkey needs to ensure its security somehow. We understand that all. This is not for today’s meeting, so as not to waste time.”
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/
To Keir Simmons of NBC, Putin said: “You and those who, I repeat, pay your wages, want to present everything that happens in Syria like some kind of failure, the defeat of Russia…We came to Syria ten years ago so that it would not become a terrorist enclave like the fact we observed in some other countries, say, in Afghanistan. In general, we have achieved our goals… And even those groups that fought against the Assad regime, with government troops, also undergo internal changes. No wonder today many European countries and the United States want to establish a relationship with them. If they are terrorist organizations, what are you doing there? So, they’ve changed, have they? This means that to a certain extent, the [Russian] goal has been achieved.
“Furthermore, we did not have ground troops in Syria. They just weren’t there. There are our two bases — air and naval. The ground component consisted of the armedof forces of Syria itself and some, as we all know — there is no secret here – the so-called pro-Iranian combat formations. In our time we even took out of there [Russian] special forces. We didn’t just fight there.
“What has been happening there? When armed opposition groups approached Aleppo, Aleppo was protected by about thirty thousand people. 350 militants entered the city. Government forces, and with them the so-called pro-Iranian units, retreated without a fight, blew up their positions, and left. And also with some small exceptions, where there were some clashes, that was what happened throughout Syria. If earlier, let’s say, the same Iranian friends asked [us] to help them move their units into the territory of Syria, now they asked us to withdraw them from there. We took out four thousand Iranian fighters from the Khmeimim base to Teheran. Part of the so-called pro-Iranian units went without a fight to Lebanon, some to Iraq.
“Today the situation in the Syrian Arab Republic is not easy, of course. We very much hope that there will be peace, tranquility. We support relations with all the groups that control the situation there, with all countries of the region. The vast majority of them tell us that they would want our military bases to remain in Syria. I don’t know — we should think about it, because we have to decide for ourselves how we relate to the political forces that are now in control and will control the situation in this country in the future. Our interests ought to coincide. If we stay there, then we have to do something in the interests of the country where we are.
“What will be our interests there? What can we do for them? This is a question that is waiting for painstaking research on both sides. Already now we can do something, including using these bases – we have already offered it to our partners, including those located in Syria, and neighboring countries. [We] offered the use of, say, the Khmeimim airbase to deliver humanitarian aid in Syria. And this is accepted with understanding and desire to organize this work together. The same applies to the naval base in Tartus. Therefore, whoever wants to imagine Russia weakened, since you are an American, I want to recall the famous man and writer [Mark Twain], who once said: ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’”
Later in the broadcast, Putin was asked a question by Ali Jura of the Turkish state news agency: “Mr. President, Israel violates international rights by killing tens of thousands of people, including children in Palestine and Lebanon. Israel now takes advantage of the situation in the region to occupy Syria and violates its sovereignty. How do you comment on the actions of Israel? Did you have a conversation with President Erdogan about the region as a whole? Thank you.”
Source: http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75909 – from minute 2:50:12.
“Vladimir Putin: We are in constant contact with President Erdogan. I don’t remember when we spoke to him for the last time, but of course, we discussed the situation in the region, in the Middle East. The viewpoint of Turkey’s President Erdogan is well aware of the events in the Middle East. And our position is well known in Lebanon and Palestine. Our position is not subject to the current situation. We have always believed so and now believe that it is possible to solve the Palestinian problem only by solving the causes of its occurrence. There was the decision made by the UN Security Council at the time that two states should be formed – Israel and Palestine. Israel is established; Palestine, in fact, has not yet been created. That’s the problem.
“Moreover, from its side Israel continues the so-called illegal settlement activity. I don’t know what Israel’s ultimate goals are in the Gaza Strip, but it deserves only of condemnation. We have done this repeatedly at almost all levels, from the public level and our position in the Security Council United Nations. There’s nothing to add here. The same goes for Lebanon.
“What about Syria? It seems, frankly, that Turkey is doing everything to ensure their security on their southern borders during the development of the situation in Syria, to create conditions for the return of refugees from their territory to other territories that are concentrated in the territory of Syria, located under Turkey’s control in fact, and perhaps to move the Kurdish formations from the border. All this is probably possible and, perhaps, even to some extent, to some extent. But still the main beneficiary of what is happening events in Syria — the main beneficiary is, in my opinion, Israel.
“And you can view as you please what Israel is doing, Russia condemns the seizure of any Syrian territory. This is obvious — our position here is not subject to any adjustment. But Israel is also solving security issues for itself. Here is the line in the Golan Heights, a line well known to everybody. Israel has advanced 62-63 kilometers along the front to a depth of 20-25 kilometers. It has entered into the fortifications which were created for Syria by the Soviet Union – this is a type of Maginot line. You know, these are serious fortifications there, really.
“We hope that Israel someday will leave the territory of Syria, but right now it is bringing in there additional troops. I think there are already thousands of troops. And I have such an impression, that they are not only not going to leave, but they are going to reinforce there.
“In fact, the local population has already asked to be included in the Jewish state. Since this is already under way, there’ll be another problem. If everything that happens will lead to the disintegration of Syria, then these are issues which will have to be decided by the local population in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and with the right of nations to self-determination. This is a difficult question — it is not for today’s discussion.
“Of course, we know Turkey, Such a problem [there is] with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has been going on for decades. I hope that there will be no escalation, but some politicians of Europe recently told me that at meetings after the First World War the Kurds were promised their own state, then they were deceived, and so on.
“Here are the Kurds in this region – in Turkey more than a dozen million, in Iran, in Iraq – they live in concentrations, how many Kurds are there? You probably know better than me but at least 30-35 million, right? There is a serious Kurdish problem, and the Kurds are serious guys, serious fighters; in Manbij, in my opinion, they fought to the last. That’s what they do.
“We need to decide the Kurdish problem. In the framework of Syria under President Assad they had to solve it, and now it is necessary to resolve it with those authorities who control the territory of Syria. And Turkey needs to somehow ensure its security. We understand that all. This is not for today’s meeting, so as not to waste time. “I just want to say about it, that there will be many problems, but we are on the side of international law and for sovereignty of all states, in respect of their territorial integrity, bearing in mind Syria, including the position on these matters of the authorities who now control the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. In this sense, we are on their side. By the way, we are in contact with them, we are in contact with all groups, including those that are now in the control situation in Syria.”
