Marcoullis Meets Lavrov in Moscow Amid New Syria Tensions

August 1, 2012 | Filed under: Featured News,Geopolitics

The two ministers said they were particularly concerned about the escalating violence in Syria and want to see a peaceful solution of the internal crisis without outside military interventions and ‘with full respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.’

Cyprus and Russia are close allies, and so are Russia and Syria, which puts Cyprus in an extremely delicate position given that it is an EU member state and expected to enforce sanctions against the Syrian government.

Earlier this week, Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said that his country would use chemical weapons in case of ‘external aggression’ against Syria. Chemical weapons are monitored and guarded by the Syrian Army, and would not be used during the ‘internal crisis’, he said.

Meanwhile, the Syrian airforce has started an attack on the city of Aleppo, the largest population centre in the country. Syria has a population of 26 million people.

The EU decided to tighten sanctions on the Syrian government amid fears that it will use chemical weapons on the population. EU countries will be obliged to inspect vessels and aircraft heading to Syria if they suspect the cargo contains arms or equipment for ‘internal repression’, according to a statement after this week’s EU Foreign Affairs Council.

“This obligation applies in member states’ seaports and airports as well as in their territorial sea, in accordance with international law. Items that may not be exported to Syria under EU law must be seized. In addition, aircraft and vessels heading to Syria will have to provide additional pre-arrival and pre-departure information on their cargo,” said EU foreign ministers, including Marcoullis.

Cyprus is right in the middle of a major shipping line as one of the closest ports in the Eastern Mediterranean to Syria. Earlier this year, the government came under fire for not confiscating arms being shipped to Syria, from Russia, even though it stopped the vessel carrying them, the MV Chariot. Since the deadly explosion at Evangelos Florakis naval base – in which 98 containers of confiscated arms blew up – the government has treated vessels suspected of smuggling arms like plague ships.

The constant supply of weapons to Syria from Russia has frustrated the international community. Last week, an angry William Hague said the UK and the rest of the international community would do more outside the UN Security Council after a Chapter 7 resolution calling for Bashar al Assad to step down failed to pass due to Russian and Chinese opposition. The UK will give practical support to the Syrian opposition – but not lethal support, said Hague.

However, he did not rule out arming the rebels in the future. According to information, the Syrian opposition is already receiving arms, likely from Saudi Arabia. The UK favours an arms embargo on every side in Syria, but arms trading is happening anyway, said Hague.

“We will work with now more than 100 nations in the Friends of Syria to intensify the pressure on the Assad regime, to isolate them more completely from the rest of the world,” he said.

The picture that is emerging is that Russia is backing the current Syrian regime headed by Bashar al Assad, and the Arab League, EU and US are backing the rebels. Whether Cyprus can play this kind of game by sitting on the fence between both sides remains to be seen. Which side will it choose, ask observers.

Syria disintegrates

The civil war in Syria is growing worse. In the last week, three Syrian ministers have been killed in a suicide bombing and there is all-out war in Damascus and other parts of the country. Rebel fighters say they have taken strategic towns along the Turkey-Syria border.

Turkey and Russia are closely shadowing the conflict, Turkey has armed troops built up along its border with Syria after one of its jets was shot down over the country. Today, it suspended all trucks from passing through its border.

And Russia has just sent six warships to its port in Tartus, two of them via Cyprus’ Limassol Port. An estimated 17,000 people – mostly civilians – have died in the civil war between Assad’s security forces and opposition groups.

Source: cyprusnewsreport.com

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  • http://www.facebook.com/Phoevos Dean Plassaras

    With the exemption of Israel, Cyprus and Greece our immediate region if full of failed states:

    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failed_states_index_2012_interactive

    • Kasomoulis

      I don’t know about FP Dean, sometimes they are just spewing out lots of hot air. I would want to see the parameters/characteristics that determine each ranking’s database before I give them serious credence. On the other hand, I do not have a different data set that contradicts them, in this case! So….

      • Dnesys

        Seems to be based on Debt, forecast GDP growth.

  • Oxi

    Why is the U.S. and UK so obessed with supporting islamist’s and salafist’s with known connections with al qaeda and other ‘terror’ groups?

    The western media along with their masters the main western governments do not want the truth to be on the news about these thugs. Reminds me of Kosovo where NATO supported a known ‘terror’ group the KLA. The west should be ashamed of itself!

    • Dnesys

      IMO there is a major split in America… I call it US v America. they cannot at this point in time be seen to mass troops for war or ground assult.

      You can have the best ships, the best fighter jets/bombers, the best bombs but if you look at Afghanistan this mean shiat. Look at what happened to Russia and now to NATO.

      What comes post election who knows. This tactic has been used for a long time by them and has proved successful due to the multi factional structure of the places they have hit.

      However Russia/China (SCO) plus the Brics are starting to block this. For their own agenda? of course but this is a necessary step as if no one is their to stop the hegemony then who know what will happen.

      Have you heard of and listened to some of the comments on tarpley.net? Whilst yes it is very presstv from IRAN/RT from Russia its gives a different view as to what the MSM dishes out in the west.

      • http://www.facebook.com/Phoevos Dean Plassaras

        This is how Turkey views the situation. We, in Greece and America, view it differently.

    • Kasomoulis

      Oxi,
      You are wrong the US and as far as I can tell EU in its entirety do not support the fundamentalist Islam!! You should have known this!
      The Kosovo and the European Balkan mess in the 90s was a precursor to the individual ethnic groups wanting to be independent nations – like the Czech and Slovaks that had nothing to do with Islam and not part of the Yugoslavia group. So, the deal was either let them fight and get buried by the Serves and eventually go free anyway, with more concequevences for the Serves or prevent it by intervening! The fact that the Bosnians and Kosovars were Islam was coincidental. Think about it!
      So your charge is ludicrous!

  • http://www.rodacino.gr/ Ειδήσεις

    Διάλογος για την κρίση στη Συρία
    Ξεκίνησε στην Τεχεράνη μια συμβουλευτική σύνοδος για την κρίση στη Συρία έπειτα από πρωτοβουλία του Ιράν, βασικό σύμμαχο του συριακού καθεστώτος, όπως μετέδωσε η κρατική τηλεόραση της χώρας. Η τηλεόραση μετέδωσε εικόνες από περίπου 30 εκπροσώπους κρατών που παίρνουν μέρος στη σύνοδο, την οποία άνοιξε ο ιρανός υπουργός Εξωτερικών Αλί Ακμπάρ Σαλεχί. Μεταξύ των παριστάμενων ήταν διπλωμάτες από τη Ρωσία, το Ιράκ, το Αφγανιστάν και το Πακιστάν.
    Ειδήσεις νεα Οικονομία
    http://www.rodacino.gr/article.jsf?id=26119251F15A1027808011ADA69E358C&at=1

    • Kasomoulis

      Νομίζω οτι η υπόθεση στη Συρία είναι πολύ προχωρημένη για να αλλάξει τώρα – όσο και να συμπαθεί κανείς τούς αλεβίτες που είναι κάπως αντι-ισλαμιστές και είναι οι ποιό συνεπείς και φερεγγιοι να κρατίσουν τους σουνίτες απο το να κάνουν έκτροπα, είναι τώρα πολύ αργά και ιδιαίτερα επειδή είναι πρωτοβουλία του Ιραν! Ελπίζω εμείς οι Ελληνες να βρεθούμε ουδέτεροι στα σχέδια τών μεγάλων δυνάμεων. Κανείς δέν έχει αντίρρηση αν υπάρξει μιά καποια βελτίωση και αποφευχθούν ανθρωπινα θύματα!

      • http://www.facebook.com/Phoevos Dean Plassaras

        Sosta.

  • Cypriot

    Is this website dead? I’m wondering if I should continue visiting it.