Russia
is seeking the closure of the Turkish-Syrian border, claiming that
convoys entering Syria from neighboring Turkey have supplied rebel
groups with weapons as a fragile truce between government troops and
opposition forces is taking hold despite reports of some violations.
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov
told the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday that “gangs have received
arms across this border, including from humanitarian convoys.”
Lavrov
said the border is being used as a channel to supply weapons to groups
he described as terrorists, with some arms hidden in humanitarian aid
deliveries.
Russia, a staunch backer of Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad, is at odds with Turkey over its military intervention in
Syria. Relations have been tense since Turkey shot down a Russian
warplane in late November last year.
Ankara denies such
allegations. Earlier, Lavrov told the conference on disarmament that
information showed “terrorist groups” have the technical specifications
and facilities needed to make chemical weapons and have hired
specialists with knowledge of how to create these weapons.
Russia
and the United States last week pushed through a “cessation of
hostilities” accord in Syria. Officials say it has largely eased the
violence since taking effect on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Syrian
President Assad described the cessation of hostilities in force since
Saturday as a “glimmer of hope” and accused the opposition of violating
the agreement intended to halt nearly five years of fighting.
The
opposition has in turn accused the Syrian government of breaching the
fragile truce by repeatedly attacking its positions, which the
government denies.
International observers have acknowledged
violations of the agreement while stressing that the level of violence
has decreased considerably.
“We will play our part to make the
whole thing work,” Assad was quoted as saying in an extract of an
interview with Germany’s ARD television network.
The president said the Syrian army had not reacted to truce violations in order to give the agreement a chance.
“The
terrorists have breached the deal from the first day. We as the Syrian
Army are refraining from responding in order to give a chance to sustain
the agreement. But in the end there are limits and it all depends on
the other side,” Assad said.
He also said people in Syria were suffering from a “humanitarian disaster.”
The
war has killed at least 250,000 people and forced millions to flee
their homes. The United Nations hopes the cessation of hostilities will
allow it to deliver aid to more than 150,000 people in besieged areas of
Syria.
The cessation of hostilities agreement, drawn up by the
United States and Russia, is also seen by the United Nations as an
opportunity to revive peace talks, which collapsed before they had even
started a month ago in Geneva.
Negotiating table
UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said
there was an urgent need to implement the agreement and for the warring
parties to return to the negotiating table, a UN statement said.
“They
agreed on the importance of urgently moving forward simultaneously on
implementing the cessation of hostilities agreement, providing vital
humanitarian assistance to civilians, and returning to political
negotiations,” the statement said.
US Secretary of State John
Kerry said on Monday that while efforts were being made to track down
alleged violations of the cessation of hostilities, there was currently
no evidence to suggest they would destabilize the fragile peace.
The
agreement does not include the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) and the al-Nusra Front, and Assad and his Russian backers have
made clear they intend to keep attacking the jihadist groups.
The
Saudi-backed “moderate” opposition says that because some of their
fighters are located in areas alongside Nusra, they fear being targeted,
too.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it was refraining from
striking areas in Syria where the “moderate opposition” was respecting
the cease-fire agreement, Interfax news agency reported.
A total
of 15 cease-fire violations have been registered in Syria in the past 24
hours, Interfax quoted the Russian military as saying.
The Syrian
military denied it was responsible for any violations and said
“terrorist groups,” the term it uses to describe its enemies, were to
blame. Operations against ISIL and the Nusra Front were going ahead.
“The
combat operations that the Syrian Arab Army is carrying out against
Daesh [ISIL] and Nusra are continuing according to the plans of the
military command,” a Syrian military source said.
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES | ISTANBUL
του ΑΡΗ ΧΑΤΖΗΣΤΕΦΑΝΟΥ** 
Μπορούμε
να εξορύξουμε τη Σελήνη; Μάλλον είναι απαραίτητο. Η επιφάνειά της είναι
πλούσια σε ήλιο-3, στοιχείο που θα μπορούσε να καλύψει μέσα σε έναν
χρόνο το 1/4 των αναγκών ενέργειας της Γης.
