Islam in Ukraine - Syria

Women Activists Proposed Patriarch Filaret to Unify Efforts to Protect Women Rights

Islam in Ukraine — Sat, 19 May 2018 19:34:40 +0000

Social activists, human rights activists, volunteers from Syria, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine met with the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, Filaret, and discussed ways to unify the efforts by followers of various religions in order to get across the truth to the world community about the crimes against humanity being committed now in Syria and at the East of Ukraine.

The representatives of Convoy of Conscience attended the event, namely, coordinator for International Fund-Faising for the IHH Foundation for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, Nalan Dal (Turkey), President of the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica, Munira Subasic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), human rights activist, member of the Syrian alternative government outside the country, Dima Moussa (Turkey), the journalist of the Anadolu Agency, Meriem Goktesh (Turkey), the public figure and journalist Olha Fryndak (Ukraine), the Ukrainian MP, Olha Bohomolets (Ukraine).

During the meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate, the discussion was around human rights violations; in particular, they spoke about the thousands of Syrian women, being kept now in the prisons of the Assad regime and being subjected to bullying, physical violence and rape. They also noted that currently in the occupied territories of the East of Ukraine and the Crimea, women were also in danger because of their civic position; they lost loved ones and relatives.

President of the Association of Mothers of Srebrenica, Munira Subasic recalled the terrible scenes when, after the capture of Srebrenica, the Chief of Staff of the Republika Serbska Army, General Ratko Mladic, personally promised rescue to the Bosnian Muslims, and instead of that he ordered only women and children to be evacuated, assuring that the men would be evacuated later. But in reality they were shot and buried in mass graves. The total number of those killed was about 8,000 men aged 12 to 77 years.

The activists told the Patriarch about the Convoy of Conscience that is an international action, which more than 10 thousand women from 55 countries of the world took part in, tried to inform the world community about the horrors that the women, imprisoned by the regime of Bashar Assad, had to pass through, and calling for protecting their rights.

Participants of the meeting, including Muslim as well as Christian women, urged the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate to inform his flock the truth about what was happening in the world nowadays and proposed to unite the efforts of followers of different religions for the sake of human rights, peace and life.

Patriarch Filaret expressed words of respect and gratitude to the activists’ deeds, noting that their efforts in the struggle for truth deserve the highest praise:

"We must unite on the basis of truth and conscience in order to root out the ill and sow the good seed in this place - said, in particular, Patriarch Filaret. - "We must tell the truth and not let the powerful persons of this world call blatant lie as the truth."

17/05/2018

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Ukrainians picket Russian embassy over Aleppo massacre

editor — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 12:05:33 +0000

On Thursday, December 15, protests are being held in front of the Russian embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine over the alleged war crimes against the civilian population of the Syrian city of Aleppo that had been captured onTuesday by the regime forces supported by Russia.

Dozens of Ukrainians have gathered together with anti-war slogans on Povitrianoflotsky Avenue near the Russian diplomatic mission building.

By holding this rally, the Ukrainians are joining the worldwide protests over brutal violence against civilians in Aleppo, committed by Syria's Bashar al-Assad's regime, its allies and Russia, patronising them in hostilities of civil war that has already claimed at least 250,000 lives.

"Russia and Syria's government forces must immediately stop assaulting the civilian population - airstrikes, prohibited chemical weapons and other means of mass demolition, extrajudicial killings and tortures, as well as besieging of uncontrolled districts of Aleppo and other Syrian cities," the Kyiv protesters claim on the event Facebook page.

Also, the Ukrainian protesters are calling on the United States and the EU to impose fresh sanctions on Russia over the war crimes in Syria, and also ensure safety and decent conditions for civilians in war-torn Syria. They also want the Ukrainian parliament to express solidarity with the Syrian people and to condemn atrocities committed by the hostile sides of the war, including Russia and the Damascus regime.

As reported previously, by December 14, the Syrian government forces and its allies supported by Russia, had finished assault operation on retaking the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo. According to the witness reports, the Syrian military had slaughtered at least 80 civilians of the devastated urban warfare zone over suspicion of loyalty to rebels and amid looting the captured city blocks.

Also, the Russian air forces are condemned by the international community as committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by performing indiscriminate bombardments of heavily populated city blocks and destroying the city's medical infrastructure and cutting humanitarian and food routes to ensure surrender of the surrounded rebel enclave.

According to UN, hundreds of civilians were killed because of Russian and Syrian carpet bombings and airstrikes in Syria, together with orchestrating a dire humanitarian situation.

Source: Ukraie Today

15/12/2016

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The Conference of Ulama in Grozny: the Reaction of the Islamic World

Михайло Якубович — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 09:30:46 +0000

In August 29, the representative congress of Muslim scholars, entitled "World Islamic Conference “Who are they, the followers of the Sunnah” finished its work in Grozny (Chechen Republic). More than 100 participants from 30 countries, especially from the Russian Federation, (almost all of them were muftiates, including the Mufti of occupied Crimea), as well as from Syria, Egypt, Libya, Kuwait, etc. have participated in the conference. The most representative delegation was from Egypt – it includes even supreme imam and Sheikh of the University "al-Azhar" Muhammad Ahmad al-Tayyib, its rector Ibrahim al-Gudgud, Mufti of the state Shawki Allyam and other important figures. A lot of famous preachers, including Sheikh Saeed Fuda from Jordan, also took part in the event.

The conference, dedicated to the 65th anniversary of Akhmad-hadji Kadyrov, was held with a wide scope that was quite usual for Chechnya. The children were ranked hanging the Korans, in such way they met the participants getting out of the aircraft. All the way from the airport, the locals welcomed them with Russian and Chechen flags. It became similar to the Russian Federation to hold such events. For already several years, Muslim scholars have been participating in "World Muslim Forum" that was established several years ago by the head of Russian Council of Muftis, Ravil Gainutdinov. But that was the first time the event was of such wide scope.

The conference in Grozny aroused interest far beyond the region, in fact all over the Muslim world, primarily, because of the resulting document, in which participants tried to give a clear answer on the question: who belongs to the Sunni and who doesn’t? However, according to the participants (in particular, the Mufti of Moscow Ildar Alyautdinov), it was impossible to include corrections in the already prepared resolution, so the “final” document hadn’t been adopted, and the work on it has been continuing after the event. The document, which has already appeared in Russian and Arabic languages, determines that the Sunnis officially include Ash'arites and Maturidi, four madhhabs, Sufi tariqah, and all sorts of sects ("Wahhabis", "Habashites" and others) that are defined as "misguided". Also, the definition of "misguided sects" was applied for "Muslim Brotherhood", "Hizb ut-Tahrir," Daesh (ISIL) and others. In general, the resolution reflects the Russian concept of so-called "traditional Islam", which meets the support and assistance from the state, and is opposed to all other Islamic movements.

The event is more interesting, perhaps, by its reflection of certain tendencies in relations between Russian Muslims with coreligionists of other countries than by its conclusions. It is known that the Russian authorities have significantly stepped up the "Islamic vector" of their activity in recent years: the opening of the mosque in Moscow (September 2015) was held in a big way, the main Muslim organisations supported the military operation in Syria almost unanimously, considerable resources are invested in creating a positive image of Russia as a state that is devoted to "traditional Islam" nothing less than to "canonical Orthodoxy." Recently, the deputy chairman of the Russian Mufties Council, Damir Mukhetdinov, called the Muslim Spiritual authorities of the Russian Federation as the “spiritual special forces of Vladimir Putin”. It is interesting, however, that neither the head of the Russian Council of Muftis, Ravil Gainutdinov, nor the head of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims, Talgat Tajuddin, visited Grozny (although they have sent delegations). To some extent, it follows from competition with the Caucasus, as the authorities of the Chechen Republic have been trying for a long time to make their region the "centre" of Russian Islam.

Statements, claimed by the participants of the conference, focused primarily on condemning the "extremist groups" and recognizing the Sufi tariqah as the movements of Sunni Islam. Again, many analysts saw a political context in it as the most representative delegations came from countries that had close relations with Russia. In particular, there is Egypt, where Sisi military dictatorship has achieved a significant loyalty from the religious establishment, and some authorities such as Sheikh Ali Jumaa (also was present at the conference) justified the killing of peaceful protesters. The Syrian scholars, who are close to Bashar al-Assad, also participated in the conference. But there were no representatives from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Turkish delegation was absent, first of all, because of the complexity of the Russian-Turkish relations, Saudi Arabia – due to religious reasons, because the ideology of Saudi Arabia is Salafism (that was condemned in the resolution project).

Western news agencies haven’t reported a lot about the conference (except CNN Arabic service). Though, the same can't be said about the Arab media. There have already appeared the articles analyzing critical statements, in particular the "Chechen conference: policy of exclusion " by Ziyad al-Shami ("Al-Muttamar Shishan: Siyyasa al-Iksa") for the news agency “Al-Moslim.Net”. With regard to this or other materials we can see that Saudi scholars were the first who condemned the statements of the conference, in particular, analyst Jamal Hashkedzhi, two Sheikhs Alyauvi Al-Saqqaf and Muhammad al-Saidi, as well as the leader of the Kuwaiti Party "Ummah", Hakim al-Mutayri. Even the Syrian Sufi preacher, Hasan al-Dugim, urged not to consider the conference as a representative one, speaking in defense of the "Salafi brothers who are closer to us than Putin's scholars". Many statements, of course, condemned the Russian actions in Syria: "Did the participants of the Conference asked Putin to stop bombing Sunnis in Syria? Or, perhaps, those, who are under the bombs, are no more Sunnis for them?" — Rhetorically asks Saudi Sheikh Saeed al-Burayk. It is predictable that the event was covered in a positive light by Arabic-language version of the channel "Russia Today", the official news agencies of Syria, Egypt and even Iran.

In general, the conference in Grozny revealed again a number of deep contradictions in the modern Muslim world. In such context geopolitical axis Egypt — Syria — Iran – Russia is quite indicative (though it is not strong enough, but has noticeable contours), as well as the concrete local conflicts in the Russian Federation (between the "traditional" Islam and its opposition), in Egypt (between the military junta and the "Muslim Brotherhood" with Salafis), in Syria (between Assad regime and Sunni opposition). However, an attempt to exclude Salafism from the right "Sunni" Islam was doomed to face the criticism. Not just because of the influence of Salafis, but also because of the very wide definition of the term, which already includes a number of directions ("political "Salafism," apolitical Salafism" and others.). Judging by the reaction to the resolution of the conference in Grozny, which was gently criticized even by some participants, including the already mentioned Mufti of Moscow, the document has not received support outside the circles in which it proposed to be adopted. Unfortunately, instead of the desired intra-islamic dialogue, which is so necessary (but it is difficult to hold even in the one particular country), the issue is that Muslim movements are in opposition to each other due to the influence of the secular authority. In practice, the consequences of such policies are often searches, allegations of "extremism" and other forms of repression aimed at the "wrong" (in terms of power) Muslims. Incidentally, we observe such situation now in the occupied Crimea. Speaking against the "politicization" of Islam, many Muslim leaders are drawn into politics, moreover, which is secular and pragmatic. The doctrines (about "right" or "wrong" understandings) don’t play an important role by itself here but its use as a kind of "loyalty features," belonging to certain groups, are important now. We can only hope that, despite the importance of the conference in Grozny, sooner or later, other similar activities will be held and will not exclude any Muslim groups of Sunni semantic boundaries, but, call for an open dialogue independent of political preferences.

31/08/2016

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Terrorists Violate Everything Sacred for Muslims: A Priest Attacked in His Church

Islam in Ukraine — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 14:55:34 +0000

The terrorists went beneath contempt once again and violated another fundamental Islamic principle that strictly forbids attacking religious buildings and killing priests, monks and people inside the temples. I’m talking about the attack on a Catholic Church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, where two criminals broke in during the mess and killed the local priest Jacques Hamel. We would like that this and other crimes wouldn’t be linked to Islam, for such actions contravene the Islamic prescriptions.

This crime has already been condemned by Muslim organisations of France and Europe. We, on our part, condemn this sin on behalf of Ukrainian Muslims. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who treated Christians with great respect, strictly prohibited damaging religious buildings and harming the believers that prayed there, monks and priests. For Allah Almighty told in the Holy Qur’an: “...and you will find the nearest in love to the believers (Muslims) those who say:

"We are Christians." That is because amongst them are priests and monks, and they are not proud”[5:82].

Thus, our Lord stressed that Christian community is the closest group to Muslims in spiritual matters.

Even during the war, Prophet Muhammad, when sending his army to the military expedition, instructed them: “When leaving for a military expedition, neither hoax nor betray! Do not mutilate, disable or torture! Do not kill children, elderly people, women and those who are praying in their temples, and the monks!”

Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s friend and the first Khalif, when sending his army to the military expedition, instructed them: “Do not cut or burn palm trees, do not kill the cattle or cut fruit trees, do not ruin Christians’ and Jews’ temples, do not kill children, elderly people and women. And you will find people staying in their temples - do not touch them unless they fight against you!”

Thus, chapels and temples and clergymen are untouchable according to Islamic rulings - even in the state of war! Much less are they allowed for any harm during the time of peace. But the terrorists do not appreciate laws established by the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad. They violate everything sacred for Muslims, causing Islamophobia and raising rage against Muslims.

On behalf of Ukrainian Muslims we strongly condemn the attack upon the church and massacre of the priests and believers, and offer our sincerest condolences, and hope that we’ll wrestle this disastrous problem down together.

29/07/2016

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Putin’s Imperial Adventure in Syria

editor — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:56:58 +0000

IN June 1772, Russian forces bombarded, stormed and captured Beirut, a fortress on the coast of Ottoman Syria. The Russians were backing their ally, a ruthless Arab despot. When they returned the next year, they occupied Beirut for almost six months. Then as now, they found Syrian politics a boiling cauldron of factional-ethnic strife, which they tried to simplify with cannonades and gunpowder.

Today, President Vladimir V. Putin has many motives in Syria, but we should keep in mind Russia’s vision of its traditional mission in the Middle East, and how it informs the Kremlin’s thinking. And not just the Kremlin: Russia’s Orthodox Church spokesman said that Mr. Putin’s intervention was part of “the special role our country has always played in the Middle East.”

Russia’s ties to the region are rooted in its self-assigned role as the defender of Orthodox Christianity, which it claimed to inherit from the Byzantine Caesars after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 — hence “czars.” The czars presented Moscow not just as a Third Rome, but also as a New Jerusalem, and protector of Christians in the Balkans and the Arab world, which, including the Holy Places of Jerusalem, were ruled by the Ottomans after 1517.

Devout peasants believed before they died that they should make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and dip their shrouds in the Jordan. Until 1917, the czars blessed the waters of “the Jordan” every Jan. 6, in the Moscow, or later the Neva, River.

Russia’s first major intervention began in 1768, when Catherine the Great went to war with the Ottomans, and Count Alexei Orlov, the brother of her lover Grigory, sailed the Baltic fleet through the Strait of Gibraltar to rally rebellions in the Mediterranean. Recruiting Scottish admirals, Orlov annihilated the Ottoman fleet at Chesme, after which Russians temporarily dominated the eastern Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, in Egypt and Syria (which spanned present-day Lebanon and Israel as well), the respective Arab strongmen, Ali Pasha and Dahir al-Umar, had collaborated to seize Damascus from the Ottomans, but then lost it. Desperate, they approached Orlov and Catherine, who agreed to back them in return for possession of Jerusalem. Orlov’s ships bombarded Syrian cities, eventually occupying Beirut.

They left in 1774, when Russia dropped its Syrian allies in return for Ottoman concessions over Ukraine and Crimea. Yet a Russian Mediterranean base was now a strategic aim: Catherine and her partner Prince Potemkin annexed Crimea, where they founded a Black Sea fleet, then tried to negotiate a base on Minorca.

Catherine’s successors saw themselves as crusaders, with Russia destined to rule Constantinople and Jerusalem. Ultimately it was this aspiration — and a brawl over the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem between Russian-backed Orthodox and French-backed Catholic priests — that led to the Crimean War.

Russian defeat in 1856 persuaded Alexander II and the last czars to back off on using military force to dominate Jerusalem, preferring diplomacy and soft power. But during World War I Russian forces occupied northern Persia and invaded Ottoman Iraq, nearly taking Baghdad. In 1916, Nicholas II’s foreign minister, Sergei Sazonov, negotiated the Sykes-Picot-Sazonov Treaty, which promised Russia Istanbul, sections of Turkey and Kurdistan, and a share of Jerusalem — a Near Eastern empire foiled by the Bolshevik Revolution.

The atheistic Soviets inherited a secular version of these dreams: At Potsdam in 1945, Stalin demanded a “trusteeship” over Tripolitania, Libya, and later recognized Israel, hoping in both cases to gain a Mediterranean base. He was rebuffed, but the Cold War made Russia a Middle Eastern power, backing Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt with 50,000 Soviet advisers.

Until the recent intervention, the closest Russia came to fighting was the Israeli-Egyptian War of Attrition from 1967 to 1970, during which Soviet pilots dueled with Israelis. When Nasser’s successor, Anwar Sadat, expelled the Russians, they cultivated a trio of dictators, Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Hafez al-Assad in Syria. All three, running merciless, dynastic-Mafia regimes behind the facade of socialistic parties, central planning and Stalinesque cults of personality, took quickly to their new benefactors: General Assad and Colonel Qaddafi were regularly photographed in moist fraternal hugs with the Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev. And General Assad, trained as a pilot in Russia, granted Moscow access to its Tartus naval base, now its last asset in the region.

After the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russian influence collapsed and Moscow came to bitterly resent the Western interventions that destroyed Mr. Hussein and Colonel Qaddafi. American retreat from the region grants Mr. Putin, who sees himself in an unbroken tradition of Russian personal leadership and imperial-national power from the czars to today, the opportunity to diminish American prestige and project Russia as indispensable world arbiter. The rescue of Mr. Assad’s son Bashar while fighting the opposition and Islamic State dovetails with Russia’s struggle against Chechen jihadis who flock to the black caliphal banners — and success will bring leverage in Iran and Turkey, where Russia once had muscle.

That said, Mr. Putin may end up channeling Catherine and trade Syrian influence to end Western sanctions and secure annexed Crimea — for this military showmanship concerns Mr. Putin’s political survival. In some ways, his defense of Syria’s autocrat is a defense of his own authority against rebellion. The power formula in Russia is this: autocracy in the Kremlin in return for security and prosperity at home, glory abroad — and for now at least, there’s glamour in the excitement of this Oriental adventure, a televised “Beau Geste” with Sukhoi bombers.

When Alexander II launched exotic Asian wars, one of his ministers, Count Valuev, wrote, “there’s something erotic about all things on distant frontiers.” Moscow lacks the resources to replace America and will find in Syria a quagmire, but Russians feel that a great imperial Russia has always been a player in the Middle East — and boldness counts for much in this wild world.

Source: The New York Times

28/01/2016

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Igor Semivolos: “Syrian Authorities And Rebels Are To Negotiate Only When They Lose The Last Chance For Destroying Each Other”

oleg — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 12:51:56 +0000

Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies Igor Semivolos spoke to tyzhden.ua on prospectives of the military operation against Asad regime, nature of Syrian conflict and its consequences for the Middle East.

How much sense the U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision on military intervention to Syria (even a short-term one) it makes, on your opinion? Will that terminate the conflict?
I’m very convinced that Barack Obama doesn’t want a new military campaign, as he’s not a martial President at all, and he has come to the White House aiming to terminate military operations in the Middle East. Besides, the region keeps losing its strategic values for the US it had 10 years ago, as the US dependence from Middle Eastern energy products decreased.

last I checked there are, however, obligations owed to allies. Those are not only Turkey and Israel, but also the countries of the Gulf (Qatar, Saudi Arabia) actively involved in Syrian internal conflict supporting the rebels.

The conflict as such now looks more like Shia-Sunni opposition, i.e. has some elements of war of religion. It’s extremely difficult to terminate this conflict, so as to overcome its consequences. This may also influence the cause of the conflict greatly.

As for the US short-term military operation, such a strike improves the rebels’ position itself, though this doesn’t bring them to victory, and, of course, it doesn’t solve the problem. Nobody expects that, however, which means we’ll have to get ready to negotiate in Geneva, one way or another.

When the negotiations are expected to be renewed?
In my opinion, this happens only when both parties lose the last hope for destroying each other — in that case they might go for negotiations. Obviously, this will happen after the active phase of military operation in Syria.

The rebels resist any negotiations as long as Bashar Assad remains the President of the country. At the same time, the authorities have to be ready to compromise, such as, for instance, forming transition government and holding democratic elections. If that happens, the representatives of Sunni majority are very probable to come to power, and they have no considerable experience in governing a country. This means, they’ll have to make some rules and develop coordination procedures in order to harmonize conflicting parties, which, in turn, is a critical issue for making the dialogue possible.

Is there any chance of solving the existing situation under the current President Assad’s rule?
Unlikely, as, I repeat, the opposition resists any negotiations with Bashar Assad. A formula that allows conflicting parties to start negotiations without losing face needs to be configured. This can be, for instance, a transition government or something like that. Even after negotiations are launched, they are expected to linger on because of the matter of procedure. A demand for peace-support mission may arise.

Syria is to remain a unitary country granted that the strategic decisions are made. Otherwise it is very likely that we have at least two new countries on the today’s Syrian territory. However, I don’t pelieve this will happen.

France is mentioned as the US ally in their military operation. Whom else the States can rely on in this situation?
Even the Great Britain delegates left themselves a creephole when voting against military operation, to be able to revise the issue in case the situation changes. So, we can’t put this country aside.
And don’t forget the allies the US have in their Middle Eastern policy I mentioned earlier. If the Syrian authorities demand to direct an attack to Israel, this country gets formally involved in the war. However, the 1991 situation is more than likely to repeat if Israel is under attack. The Israeli government didn’t strike back then, but today they have a much better air defence system which brings Syria’s chances for a successive attack to minimum.

Even having those countries is enough to form a powerful anti-Assad coalition. Generally speaking, more than 30 countries can join that coalition.

How Russia influences or can influence the negotiation process?
There are several reasons why Syria is important for Russia. First of all the situation itself gives Russia the feeling of being an important player of world’s top politics and a blocking shareholder in the UN Security Council. This feeling links to the discussion on the sovereignty limits amid the on-going globalization. I mean so-called sovereignty wash, i.e. the possibility of limiting the sovereignty because of the humanitarian problems in some or other country (such as Kosovo Crisis). For Russia, however, keeping the ultimate sovereignty where nobody can interfere into internal affairs still remains the matter of honour. By the way, Russian experts do all their best to avoid unpleasant conversation on war with Georgia (which Russia started without the UN SC resolution) when grieving about the collapse of the International Law.

Second, this is a clear “We won’t give you up”-signal for their clients. This, by the way, shows their lack of self-esteem and trust in their partners. This idea is very common among the users of Russian social networks: today we let Syria go, and tomorrow Belarus becomes a member of NATO.

Third, for Putin, Syria is a special force standing against American imperialism and guileful West as a whole. This message is meant to strengthen social support of the regime on the background of anti-American consensus inside Russia. Terrifying people is the best way this can be done, no coincidence the panic on the coming World War III is widespread in Russia. This, by the way, is felt in Ukraine, too, which means Russian informational influence is present here.

The informational war, however, led by Russia and later joined by China, Iran and Syria itself, is a maximum Russia can do in current situation. Russian Federation can’t influence the military campaign and this ain’t news for anybody.

Is it possible to predict how long the war lasts?
Unfortunately, civil wars can last for decades. The average age of population is considered one of the factors facilitating combat attempts of solving the civil conflict. The younger average citizen is, the higher is the risk for violent conflict. This is the reason why there’s a minimum chance for civil war in Ukraine, though the tension is high - the average age is about 40, and people don’t want to get involved in war when they’re in their 40ies. It’s contrary in Syria, where there’s a lot of youth; there’s been a populations outbreak during the last 20 years. Imagine how “explosive” the material is and how long it can last.

Source: tyzhden.ua

07/10/2013

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The US Have No Doubt The Chemical Weapon Was Applied By The Assad Regime And Are Prepared For Military Commitment

oleg — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 11:00:51 +0000

“The US have no doubt the chemical weapon was applied by the Syrian regime last week,” the US Vice-President Joseph "Joe" Robinette Biden announced.

“For we know that the Syrian regime are the only ones who have the weapons — have used chemical weapons multiple times in the past, have the means of delivering those weapons, have been determined to wipe out exactly the places that were attacked by chemical weapons,” he continued. “And instead of allowing U.N. inspectors immediate access, the government has repeatedly shelled the sites of the attack and blocked the investigation for five days.”

"The president believes and I believe that those who use chemical weapons against defenceless men, women, and children should and must be held accountable," Biden said.

US Defence Secretary Charles Timothy «Chuck» Hagel said earlier, that American forces are "ready" to launch strikes on Syria if President Barack Obama chooses to order an attack. Preventing further use of chemical weapons is the purpose for the military operation.

Sources within the US Administration say that the military commitment will be mostly done by launching strikes from the US naval units situated in the Mediterranean.

Source: korrespondent.net

05/09/2013

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Poison Gas Attack Claimed Thousands Of Lives In Syria, Mostly Children

oleg — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 09:21:43 +0000

Syria's main opposition group accused the government of "massacring" more than 1,300 people in chemical weapons attacks near Damascus on Wednesday, August 21, saying about 650 victims choked to death, including women and children.

The activists the attack was carried out applying “rockets with warheads containing poisonous gas”.

The accusation came as a team of UN inspectors was in Syria to probe previous allegations of three similar onslaughts allegedly carried out by Syrian regime last year.

The claim of chemical weapons use, which could not be independently confirmed, was vehemently denied by the Syrian regime which said it was intended to hinder the work of the UN weapons inspectors already in the country.

Calls For Investigation
Britain, France and the United States sought an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the allegations and asked the UN experts to visit accident scene.

EU also said the allegations "should be immediately and thoroughly investigated."

"We have seen with grave concern the reports of the possible use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime. Such accusations should be immediately and thoroughly investigated," a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

UK, France and League of Arab States came up with similar request.

Source: Islam.com.ua

05/09/2013

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Human Rights NGO “Together With the Law” Won’t Give Swindlers Any Chance to Cash In on Students

oleg — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 17:13:19 +0000

Human Rights NGO “Together With the Law” offers free legal advice both for students whose rights were violated and applicants planning to get education in Ukraine, providing them with list of necessary documents and information about students application procedures. They also offer help for Syrian students in Ukraine who can’t return to their Homeland due to the ongoing war conflict there, and face the problem of prolonging their residence permits in Ukraine until the war is terminated.

Legal advice is provided both in person (at address Kyiv city, 25a Dehtyarivs’ka Str.) and in remote (hotline No: +38(093) 544-64-84, e-mail: razom.zakon@gmail.com).

The NGO is open for applications regardless of the client’s nationality and ethnic origin. Moreover, one can get some legal advice regarding Ukrainian Legislation even when abroad.

Hunting for Students’ Money

A person seeking education abroad is a sitting duck for all sorts of swindlers. They also are at risk of getting into trouble caused by ignorance in paper-laden processes, Ukrainian Legislation and human rights protection mechanisms. Yet Ukrainian students also have similar problems when going to study away from their home city.

International students are at high risk as early as the application stage. It’s much easier for swindlers to fool a foreigner by presenting themselves as authoritative mediators between the applicants and their desired Universities. They disappear immediately after receiving the foreigner’s money, and the unlucky student can’t reach such “mediator” either on the phone or Internet.

Problems with apartment rental and residential permits are common as well. International (and even non-resident) students are slice of the cake for frauds. The victims can meet a variety of consequences, like demanding additional payments or, much worse, when the real owners show up and it appears that the apartment was leased out illegally by an unauthorized person who used fake documents. In such situation the students are forced to leave - and nobody returns their money, of course.

However, non-resident students don’t face the problem the international ones do: they are citizens of Ukraine and don’t need residential permits. If you’re an international student - it’s essential for you to have one.

Mind that some Universities don’t bother with helping their students get such permits, and young people are alone with their problem.

“Together With the Law” consultants offer assistance in receiving and prolonging residential permits as well as advice about prospects of getting postgraduate education or work permits in Ukraine.

You Can’t Send Young People Just Out of Universities to the Field of Civil War

Students from Syria face specific problem: how to prolong resident permits for those of them, who either completed their education or cannot continue their studies, because their war-stricken families aren’t able to pay for them any longer — until it’s safe to return to their homeland?

Sadly, many of those people have no one in their families survive in the bloodshed; there’s neither home nor relatives they can safely return to... You can’t send young people just out of the Universities to the field of Civil War!

Syrian students are welcome to approach “Together With the Law” Human Rights NGO - their consultants will do their best to help these people.

Muslim Organizations of Ukraine Expressed Solidarity with Syrian People

03/07/2013

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Fiasco: Reflections on Middle-Eastern Policy of Russia

oksana — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:41:50 +0000

The modern Middle East, and, first of all, its heart - the Arab world, endures the fatal period of its history. Tormently, in struggle, the new shape of this region which became the cradle of three religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which was throughout many millennia one of the centers of world history and policy, is born. "The Arabian spring" leads to the large-scale transformation of all Arabian Orient on the basis of restoration of its civilization identity, comprehension of its place in world civilization process.

In the center of the present stage of "the Arabian spring" is Syria, its hardworking, courageous and distressful people which rose against tyranny, named "Asad's regime", not allowing the Syrians to straighten shoulders, to breathe freely and to live according to the laws of the Creator. The regime desperately resists, uses the powerful tool of oppression. Blood of many thousand Syrians was already shed.

Actually, nowadays the regime of B.Asad is in full isolation. In the region it is supported only by its principal — Iran, which transformed the present Syria into the obedient tool of its policy of expansion. On the international scene the regime, perhaps, has just one ally — Russia. The very Russia which in due time declared that it is the successor of the ex-Soviet Union and even kept from its times its hymn and the program "Time". But after all, the Soviet Union always tried to appear in the image of the Arabs' loyal friend protecting them from "intrigues of the American imperialism and world Zionism". How the leaders of the present Russia who loudly declared that liquidation of the Soviet Union is "one of the greatest geopolitical accidents", appear among those who are cursed by wide Arabian masses for their support to "the bloody butcher", B.Asad?

The present position of Russia in the Syrian question is far not casual. It is natural and caused. Let us remember, under what circumstances the "crowned" ascended to Russian throne. It was in 1999, under the roar of cannonade and bombing attacks on the distressful Chechen earth when in order to win the Kremlin B.Yeltsin's successor launched the second Chechen war. On purpose to bring down heat of the anti-Russian moods among the international public, especially in the countries of the Islamic world which launched wide international campaign in support of the Chechen people, the newly elected president of the Russian Federation, V.Putin, proclaimed that Russia is the strategic ally of the Islamic world and even its part, and started to advance the idea of introduction of the country into the Organization "Islamic Conference". In 2003 Russia even managed to achieve there the position of observer. Then were widely advertised visits of V.Putin to the countries of the Middle-Eastern region, friendship with HAMAS.

The maneuver was somehow successful — the Islamic world has considerably grown cold to the Chechen Republic that allowed the Russian power to "pacify" it. At the same time, already then in the Arabian public opinion these efforts of Moscow were perceived as insincere, false. Obvious discrepancy between official speeches of the Russian leaders and the present state of affairs, first of all - concerning Russian Muslims — their spiritual life, became isolated in strictly regulated frameworks imposed from above; in the country was actually established the special status of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, the Chechen Republic could not be pacified up to the end. Moreover, all Caucasus flared. Discrepancy between, say, invitation to Moscow of HAMAS leaders and proceeding listing of "Muslim Brotherhood" as a terrorist organization was obvious, too.

The Arabs started to understand all more clearly that they are just a change in geopolitical games for the Kremlin, means of pressure on the USA, the NATO and the European Union. The whole Arab world was shocked by cruel murder in far Qatar of the spiritual leader of the Chechen people, the ex-president of Ichkerian Republic, Z.Yandarbiev which was committed by Russian special agents. And after that Russia still dreamed that Qatar supported its far-reaching plans of full monopolization of all world gas market!

As bolt from the blue for the Kremlin rulers became the historic and epoch-making event - "the Arabian Spring".

Just recall what nonsense was born by the President of Russia, D.Medvedev and the Prime Minister of Russia — V.Putin! That "the events in the Middle East are directed at split of Russia", and so forth.

Obedient to the Kremlin state men of official Russian Arabic studies and lovers to talk with an intelligent view of everything that moves in unison howled ominously about "the insidious machinations of the U.S. imperialism," "the hand of CIA" on the "controlled chaos", started by masons and the like. Not so long ago the known Syrian legal expert and publicist living in Russia, O.Shaar, wrote a brilliant article under the well-aimed heading — "Fiasco of Russian political Arabic studies" in which he in details explained the reasons of such position of modern Russian political Arabic studies.

In Moscow the true essence of "the Arabian spring"was not understood, its civilization component. In the expert Russian environment the leadership was taken by explicit Islamophobes like E.Satanovsky and A.Ignatenko, who spoke about horrible "Islamic threat", comparing Muslims with "killers". "Pernicious" Qatar suffered from them most. This small state in the Arabian (Persian) gulf not only shows surprising rates of development, standard of living, innovative approach to many issues of internal and foreign policy, but also, according to well-aimed expression of the Ukrainian president of V.Yanukovych, became "the catalyst of progressive ideas and reforms in the Arab world". Qatar renders huge support to many Arabs stirred to action with tyranny and injustice, even such dictators, as M.Qaddafi and B.Asad (which remains only support of the Russian policy in the region).

And here, under the decree from above, mister V.Lvov on the web-site of the Russian Institute of the Middle East which president is the mentioned E.Satanovsky, places the whole series of articles, having for an object to "expose" the authorities of Qatar which, you see, dared to defend honor, dignity and freedom of the Arab world. And here a new "lion" of Russian Arabic studies set off to the winds. So much he told about Qatar and the ruling dynasty of this Arabian monarchy. This "soap opera" has visually shown all wretchedness, moral degradation of the so-called "analysts" serving the Kremlin. And they, of course, copy their owners — those who now reign Russia and defines its policy in the Middle-Eastern region.

The present governors of the Russian Federation who entrenched in the Kremlin, firmly grasped the bloody regime of B.Asad promptly going to the bottom, having beheld in it a unique stronghold of the former and current influence of Russia in the region, except for, perhaps, Iranian regime. It is amazing, as dictators are drawn to dictators as if there works some kind of "dictatorial international".

Why the present Russian management with such a maniacal persistence clings to B.Asad? There are some important military-political moments. Syria is connected with Russia by multi-billion contracts on delivery of arms. Only during the last days Russia concluded the bargain with the present Syrian regime on 550 million dollars. Under this agreement it should deliver 130 warplanes. In the Syrian port Tartus there is the only naval base of Russia on the Mediterranean Sea which allows serving military Russian ships and is an original symbol of presence of the Russian Federation on the Middle East. Russia considers falling of B.Asad's regime as a personal accident, as display of crash of its presence at the region and as an evident indicator of qualitative change of balance of powers in the Middle East which is a disadvantage. From here stems absolutely irrational, mad position of Moscow — in every way to keep in power B.Аsad, at least at the expense of victims and blood of Syrian people.

A well-known Arabian publicist H.Al Madzhid with bitter sarcasm wrote that the actions of the leaders of Russia concerning Syria force to think that they "drink vodka while taking their political decisions".

From here stems shameful game of the Russian diplomacy in the United Nations when under any, even the most ridiculous pretexts, the Russian representative blocks acceptance of saving resolution for the Syrian people, capable to stop bloodshed and to open the way to political exit from deadlock of the Syrian tragedy. World powers as it was declared by the US representative to the United Nations, S. Rice, "with disgust" apprehended the last veto of Russia and China; the representative of Germany named the veto "a double shame". The Syrian national board which names itself the national government of Syria, directly accused Russia and China in "encouragement of murders and genocide", having specified "irresponsibility of rendering to the Syrian regime of license for the unpunished murders". The management of Jordanian "Muslim brotherhood" called for boycott in the whole Arab world of Russian goods, in front of embassies of Russia in different countries protest meetings passed.

Apparently, the position of Russia won't change till March, 4th — the day of presidential elections, after all, to the main applicant for the position of President of the Russian Federation, V.Putin, it is still important to support the image of a "cool guy" who wins all external and internal enemies of Russia up to the end.

Unfortunately, apparently, Syrian people should incur many victims. But they will surely win. And former influence of Russia in the region disgracefully disappears, bursts and dissolves. Perhaps, once historians will also remember about such influence and about vain attempts of Russia to play the main role in the Middle East, beginning from Peter I and up to now.

Good bye, amen!

Vyacheslav SHVED,

The leading research assistant of the department of Asia and Africa of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the NAS of Ukraine, the vice-president of the all-Ukraine Social Organization "Ukrainian Center of Islamic Studies".

More articles by the author:

Islam in Europe: Guest or at Home

Last Acts of Terrorism in Russia: Conclusions for Islamic Studies of Ukraine

13/02/2012

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