Etiqueta: syria

Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí: “El DÁESH Para el Islam es como el Ku Klux Klan para los cristianos de América”

Deje un comentario

Biografía: Adel al-Jubeir

  • Adel al-Jubeir es Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí desde el año 2015
  • Es el primer Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores que no pertenece a la familia real de Arabia Saudí
  • Estudió en diferentes países y habla correctamente árabe, inglés y alemán.
  • En 2011 sobrevivió a un intento de asesinato

La atrocidad en la guerra de Siria, la inestable situación en Turquía, el Yemen también en guerra… Oriente Medio está en un momento complicado. Para hablar acerca de lo que está ocurriendo en la región, estamos con el Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, Adel al-Jubeir.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Ministro, durante décadas la política exterior saudí se trató con mucha cautela. Ahora vemos que están llevando a cabo una postura mucho más valiente. Están interviniendo en el Yemen, tienen una posición clara con respecto a Irán, en Siria luchan contra el grupo Estado Islámico, Al Qaeda y el Presidente Bachar al-Assad. ¿Hay que acostumbrarse a ver esta nueva Arabia Saudí?”

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Vemos que existe un vacío, por eso hay que hacer algo. Vemos una falta de liderazgo y tiene que haberlo, así que trabajamos junto a nuestros aliados para parar esto y proteger nuestros intereses.

Tenemos una milicia radical que además se ha aliado con Irán e Hizbulá. Se está apoderando de el Yemen. Tienen misiles balísticos y fuerzas aéreas. Se convirtieron en una amenaza directa para el Reino de Arabia Saudí y el resto de países del Golfo.

Alguien tenía que hacer algo y por eso intervinimos.

Con respecto a Irán creímos que ya era suficiente. Llevaban 35 años agrediendo a Arabia Saudí y sus aliados, así que creímos que también teníamos que actuar, no íbamos a seguir tolerándolo.

En cuanto a Siria, nuestro objetivo es apoyar las facciones moderadas de la oposición y provocar un cambio en el sistema.”

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews, pregunta:
“Cuando usted habla de “vacío”, ¿cree que la presencia de Estados Unidos ahora es más débil en la región?”

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“No necesariamente. Hemos visto como los hutíes se fueron apoderando de el Yemen muy lentamente en los últimos 7,8,9 años. Y nadie se enfrentó a ellos así que tuvimos que hacerlo nosotros. También vimos como atacaban a inocentes en Siria durante años y nadie hizo nada , por eso también tuvimos que actuar”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“La tentativa de golpe de Estado en Turquía ha traído más inestabilidad a la región. ¿Cómo evalúa el papel de Turquía con respecto a la política exterior después del golpe?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“El desafortunado incidente, el fallido golpe en Turquía, no creo que tenga ni un impacto duradero, ni en el bienestar de Turquía”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Sin embargo, los países occidentales están preocupados porque creen que Turquía puede volverse un país demasiado autoritario. El secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, John Kerry, incluso dio a entender que la permanencia de la OTAN en Turquía podría estar en peligro. ¿Tiene miedo de que esto debilite la lucha contra el autodenominado Estado Islámico?”

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“No lo creo. Turquía es una democracia y se hará lo que el pueblo turco quiera. Turquía tienen que tomar las acciones necesarias para garantizar la seguridad. Nadie cuestiona a Estados Unidos cuando envían a miles de personas a Guantánamo en Cuba, nadie”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Usted ha dicho más de una vez que está seguro de que el presidente Bachar al-Asad se va a ir. ¿Lo sigue pensando incluso viendo la debilidad de algunos actores regionales y lo que pasa en el campo de batalla?. Alepo está a punto de caer en manos del ejército sirio.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Al final habrá una nueva Siria sin Bachar al-Asad. Es cuestión de tiempo. Se puede llevar a cabo a través de un proceso político de forma rápida o más despacio, con una intervención militar, que costará más tiempo, habrá más destrucción, muerte y costará más dinero”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Ahora el proceso político parece estar atascado por lo que podrían continuar utilizando las armas.¿Qué camino ve como el más realista?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Nosotros apoyamos la oposición moderada siria militarmente. Si hay un proceso político, perfecto, sino apoyaremos el proceso militar”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“¿Hasta donde van a seguir apoyándoles en términos de ayuda militar?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Hay un grupo de países que ofrecen ayuda militar a la oposición. Nosotros sabemos a que grupos, cuando y como les damos apoyo. Les ofrecemos cada vez más un buen equipamiento así que van a poder con Bachar al-Asad”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
¿Debería Arabia Saudí enviar soldados al país?

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Estamos preparados para enviar fuerzas especiales a Siria dentro del marco de las operaciones de la coalición para luchar contra el Dáesh”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Usted habla del llamado Estado Islámico, en lugar de utilizar el acrónimo árabe Dáesh, supongo que no es una coincidencia, ¿Qués es el Dáesh para usted? ,¿Es islámico?, ?¿es un estado?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Ni es islámico ni es un estado. Son un grupo de criminales, psicópatas y perversos. El Dáesh para el islam es como el Ku Klux Klan para los cristianos de América. Nada que ver con ellos. Son un caso aparte. Cada religión tiene a sus fanáticos pero no reflejan la religión a la que pertenecen. Y el Dáesh, cree que forma parte de la creencia y no. Es intolerable”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Si es un grupo de psicópatas ¿cómo pueden seguir existiendo y teniendo un área geográfica durante tanto tiempo y por qué siguen siendo un problema incluso para los militares?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Existen muchos ejemplos en la historia de psicópatas que hacen cosas indescriptibles. Adolf Hitler era por ejemplo un psicópata”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Se ha llegado a un acuerdo nuclear con Irán. Arabia Saudí fue muy escéptico hace casi un año ¿Cómo ve la situación ahora?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Ya hemos dicho que todo acuerdo que evite que Irán obtenga armas nucleares, que haya sólidos mecanismos de inspección y que haya cláusulas que permitan restablecer las sanciones si Irán viola los términos acorados. De esta manera si aceptaríamos el acuerdo.

Lo que nos preocupó y nos preocupa son los fondos a los que Irán tendría acceso. Lo que veo es que Irán continúa con las acciones hostiles apoyando a Hizbulá en el Líbano, en Siria, en Irak e intentando dar armas a los hutíes. Por eso seguimos preguntándonos si Irán ha cambiado de actitud porque no lo vemos”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“Si ustedes tienen grandes sospechas de que Irán no se va adherir a los términos que se acordaron, ¿Arabia Saudí podría adquirir armas nucleares?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“Arabia Saudí va a hacer lo necesario para proteger a su pueblo y su país. Como lo vamos a hacer o como lo hacemos es algo que no voy a decir. Y menos en la televisión”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“¿Cómo son las relaciones entre Israel y Arabia Saudí después del acuerdo nuclear?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“No tenemos relaciones con Israel”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“¿No hay contacto ni extraoficialmente?

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“No”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews pregunta:
“A menudo se acusa a Arabia Saudí de ser responsable de manera implícita de terrorismo islámico. El argumento es que Arabia Saudí financia mezquitas por todo el mundo, instruye imanes y esos imanes propagan una versión muy conservadora del islam, ¿cuál es el caldo de cultivo de los terroristas?, ¿Qué responde a esto?”.

Adel al-Jubeir, Ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Arabia Saudí, contesta:
“¿Por qué vamos a apoyar ideas que nos están matando? Nosotros también somos el objetivo de los extremistas. Ellos quieren acceder a la Meca y a la Medina y por ello también hemos sufrido ataques, los hemos padecido. Porque hemos perdido personal de seguridad que intentaban defender a inocentes. Nosotros también luchamos para eliminar el terrorismo en la región y en el mundo.

Y aquellos que dicen que los saudíes financian el extremismo o su ideología… es absurdo.

Luchamos contra los hombres, el dinero y el modo de pensar que está detrás de todo esto. No vamos a tolerar el extremismo. Si existe un problema en una ciudad tienen que solucionarlo pero no culpar a otros. Lo que pasa en un país es culpa de los que gobiernan el país”.

Olaf Bruns, periodista de Euronews despide al invitado:
“Ministro muchas gracias por haber hablado con nosotros”.

Fuente y video original en: euronews.com

Uno de los padres fundadores del Internet ruso quiere ‘borrar a Siria del mapa’, y por qué se culpa a EE. UU. de eso

Deje un comentario
Imagen de Kevin Rothrock.

Imagen de Kevin Rothrock.

La intervención de Moscú en Siria está teniendo algunas consecuencias raras en Rusia. Uno de los episodios más extraños de esta historia es el ferviente apoyo de Anton Nossik a los nuevos ataques aéreos. Uno de los expertos líderes del Internet ruso, uno de los fundadores del popular sitio web de noticias Lenta.ru, y considerado de forma generalizada uno de los arquitectos clave de la blogosfera rusa, Nossik conmocionó a muchos cuando publicó en su blog una aprobación entusiasta de la nueva campaña de bombardeos en Siria del Kremlin. Nossik fue un poco más lejos que tan solo aprobar los ataques aéreos rusos, respaldando también cualquier cosa que ayude a “borrar Siria de la faz de la Tierra”.

Nossik es un destacado miembro de la oposición democrática de Moscú, pronunciándose con regularidad contra la represión política en Rusia (en particular las medidas del Kremlin contra la libertad de Internet). También es judío y ha pasado una cantidad de tiempo significativa en Israel, donde trabajó como periodista desde 1990 hasta 1997.

En su publicación del 1 de octubre en LiveJournal, donde promueve la destrucción de Siria, Nossik dice que él, “como cualquier israelí,” comprende la necesidad de usar fuerza armada contra Siria. “Estoy completamente a favor de cualquiera que esté bombardeando Siria hoy,” escribió Nossik, añadiendo, “y si es borrada del mapa mundial, no derramaré ni una lágrima—solo diré gracias”. Continuó explicando que Siria, durante los últimos 70 años, no ha contribuido con nada al Medio Oriente “excepto con agresión, guerras, canibalismo, caos, y pena”. Nossik finaliza con un chistoso mensaje a Vladimir Putin, a quien invita a unirse a la fe judía, para escapar de las preocupaciones de la vida después de la muerte (en la cual Nossik, como judío, no cree) acerca de cualquier niño sirio al que las bombas de Rusia puedan matar.

Nossik se metió en más problemas cuando apareció en el Eco de Moscú para hablar de la entrada en su blog. En una entrevista, dijo que se alegraba de las muertes de “mujeres, niños, y ancianos” en Siria. Cuando se le preguntó, “¿Pero son personas?” Nossik respondió, “No, son sirios”.

Aunque sus comentarios aparentemente apoyan los ataques aéreos del Kremlin, varias figuras públicas se han abalanzado sobre Nossik por su discurso de odio. Su posición ha sido muy impopular entre la mayoría de rusos, tanto entre los partidarios como los críticos de la intervención de Rusia en Siria. Algunos incluso lo ven como motivo de intervención policial. Georgy Fedorov, un miembro de la Cámara Cívica (que aconseja al presidente ruso), ha apelado formalmente al Fiscal General del Estado, pidiendo que los fiscales investiguen la entrada en el blog de Nossik por incitar a la xenofobia y al odio religioso.

Además, Ilya Remeslo, un autodefinido abogado que con frecuencia lanza pullas a los miembros de la oposición en línea, ha lanzado una petición en Change.org dirigida al Comité de Investigación de Moscú y al Fiscal del Distrito. Remeslo está pidiendo a la policía que investigue a Nossik por incitar al odio y hacer un llamamiento a desatar una guerra agresiva, ambas acciones ilegales según el Código Criminal de Rusia. Actualmente, la petición ha conseguido poco más de 2.000 firmas.

El sitio web de noticias Russkaya Planeta, que perdió a gran parte de su personal el pasado mes de diciembre bajo misteriosas circunstancias editoriales, obtuvo una copia de la carta de Fedorov a los fiscales y fue el primero en publicarla. El artículo de Russkaya Planeta insinúa, más bien absurdamente, que Nossik podría estar actuando bajo las instrucciones del Embajador de EE. UU. en Rusia, John Tefft. Como prueba, el sitio web apunta que Nossik y Tefft “se reunieron en secreto el día anterior” en una reunión de blogueros rusos en la embajada estadounidense en Moscú. Como prueba, Russkaya Planeta señala una de las publicaciones en Instagram de Nossik, donde dijo que Tefft había dicho las palabras “mazel tov” (felicidades).

Sin embargo, la publicación real de Instagram resulta ser de finales de mayo, de la fiesta del 60 cumpleaños de Yuri Kanner. Kanner es el presidente del Centro Judío Ruso. Tanto Tefft como Nossik asistieron a la fiesta, aunque la fotografía de Nossik sugiere que Tefft dijo “mazel tov” a todo el público, no a nadie en privado.

Russkaya Planeta sugiere que la frase “mazel tov” (hablando, explica el sitio web, “en el contexto de las actuales relaciones tensas entre EE. UU. y Rusia y la guerra de información”) fue una señal a los blogueros anti-Kremlin para activarse en contra del gobierno. Cómo esto explica el sanguinario apoyo de Nossik a los ataques aéreos rusos en Siria, nadie lo sabe, pero plantear tales preguntas es probablemente todo lo que Russkaya Planeta esperaba hacer.

En: globalvoices

Islamic State Declares Holy War Against Russia

Deje un comentario

The Islamic State (ISIL) has called on Muslims worldwide to launch jihad against Russian and US citizens.

Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani called on the Muslim youth worldwide to start a holy war against Russians and Americans, who, according to ISIL, are waging a “crusaders’ war” against Muslims, as cited by Reuters.

Russia and the United States are carrying out separate campaigns against the Islamic State. Moscow launched airstrikes on ISIL targets in Syria on September 30, following a request from Syria’s President Bashar Assad. Since September 2014, a US-led coalition has been bombing ISIL positions in Syria without the approval of the UN Security Council or Syrian authorities.

Earlier, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters that Islamic State fighters have lost a large part of their weapons and equipment since Russia has stepped up its airstrikes in Syria. This has forced the group to “set in motion the entire logistics network available to the terrorists in order to transport ammunition and fuel from the Raqqa province.”

In the past 24 hours, Russian aircraft carried out 88 sorties on 86 terrorist infrastructure positions in the Raqqa, Hama, Idlib, Latakia, and Aleppo regions in Syria.

Click in the image:

Islamic State in Details. In: sputniknews

Islamic State in Details. In: sputniknews

See: islamic state in details

In: sputniknews

Top China paper says U.S., Russia playing Cold War game in Syria

Deje un comentario

China’s top newspaper on Tuesday accused both the United States and Russia of replaying their Cold War rivalry by engaging in military action in Syria, saying they needed to realize that era is over and should instead push for peace talks.

Rebel fighters carry their weapons as they head toward their positions in the town of Kafr Nabudah, in Hama province, Syria, on which forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad are carrying out offensives to take control of the town, October 11, 2015. REUTERS/AMMAR ABDULLAH

Rebel fighters carry their weapons as they head toward their positions in the town of Kafr Nabudah, in Hama province, Syria, on which forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad are carrying out offensives to take control of the town, October 11, 2015. REUTERS/AMMAR ABDULLAH

A frame grab taken from footage released by Russia's Defence Ministry October 9, 2015, shows a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber dropping a bomb in the air over Syria. REUTERS/MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

A frame grab taken from footage released by Russia’s Defence Ministry October 9, 2015, shows a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber dropping a bomb in the air over Syria. REUTERS/MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

The People’s Daily, the official paper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said in a commentary that the United States and Russia seemed to be using Syria as a proxy for diplomatic and military competition, as during the Cold War.

“The United States and the Soviet Union used all sorts of diplomatic, economic and military actions on the soil of third countries, playing tit-for-tat games to increase their influence – it’s an old scene from the Cold War,” the newspaper wrote in a commentary.

“But we’re in the 21st century now, and people need to get their heads around this!,” it added.

While China generally votes with fellow permanent United Nations Security Council member Russia on the Syria issue, it has expressed concern about interference in Syria’s internal affairs and repeatedly called for a political solution.

Russia last month began striking targets in Syria in a dramatic escalation of foreign involvement in the civil war. This has been criticized by the West as an attempt to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rather than its purported aim of attacking Islamic State.

The United States and its allies have also been carrying out air strikes in Syria against Islamic State, and have supported opposition groups fighting Assad.

The People’s Daily said nobody should stand by while Syria becomes a proxy war, and efforts to reach a peaceful settlement to the crisis should not slacken.

“The international community, especially large countries with much influence, must fully recognize the critical, urgent necessity to reach a political solution to the Syria issue,” it said.

The commentary was published under the pen name “Zhong Sheng”, meaning “Voice of China”, often used to give views on foreign policy.

China, a low-key diplomatic player in the Middle East despite its dependence on the region for its oil, has repeatedly warned that military action cannot end the crisis.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Richard Borsuk)

In: reuters

What has Russia got invested in Syria?

Deje un comentario

Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt

Military aid, diplomatic support and an ever-increasing presence in Syria by Russia has made politicians around the world suspicious of what the Kremlin in Moscow has up its sleeve.

CNBC takes a look at the reasons why Russia is so keen to get involved in a conflict 2,000 kilometers away.

‘War on Islamic State’

Ostensibly, Russia has sent military equipment to Syria in a bid to help western forces and controversial Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defeat the terrorist group “Islamic State”, or ISIL.

The terrorist group has taken over swathes of Iraq and Syria in a bid to entrench its self-proclaimed caliphate. As a result, Syria has descended into a civil war with Assad’s troops and other rebel groups vying to regain, or just gain, territorial control from the group.

“We support the government of Syria in its effort to counter terrorist aggression,” Putin said Tuesday at a security summit in Tajikstan.

The Kremlin’s increasing presence in Syria is raising eyebrows in the U.S, however, which believes it to be part of a geo-political strategy to help Russia gain a lasting and convenient military presence in the Middle East.

Although U.S. officials are skeptical about Russia’s intervention in Syria, Islamic State does pose a threat to Russia, one analyst told CNBC, particularly in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, where Islam is a major religion and anti-Russian sentiment from pro- independence citizens is high.

“IS’ threat to Russia is not a speculation, it is a fact,” Lilit Gevorgyan, Russia & CIS Senior Economist at IHS, said Wednesday.

“IS has been using Russia’s troubled North Caucasus as fertile recruitment ground, and worse in June this year it even declared to have created a province in North Caucasus. This forms the basis of security reasons of Russia’s involvement in Syria.

But is it just to support Assad?

Putin has long been a staunch defender of Assad, despite continuing and credible claims that the Syrian president has used chemical weapons against his own people.

The west is no friend of Assad but, awkwardly, it is aligned with him in fighting Islamic State. But despite the common enemy, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this week warned his Russia counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that Moscow’s continued support for Assad “risks exacerbating and extending the conflict,” a statement of the conversation said.

Assad “could never be a credible member (of a coalition fighting ISIL),”Kerry said, adding that “there is no military solution to the overall conflict in Syria, which can only be resolved by a political transition away from Assad.”

Some analysts believe Russia only wants to prop up the Assad regime, rather than help defeat IS.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, Principal Analyst, Middle East and North Africa at Verisk Maplecroft said in a note Tuesday that despite the rhetoric against Islamic State, “concrete measures taken by Russia have nonetheless focused on ensuring the survival of the Syrian regime.”

“So far there is little to suggest that Russia is playing an important role in anti-Islamic State operations. The imminent delivery of a Russian-operated SA-22 anti-aircraft missile system to bolster the country’s air defences, for instance, will be of no utility against the Islamic State,” Soltvedt added.

Military bases and investment

On Tuesday, Putin said his government would continue to send military assistance to Syria and its cosy relationship with the regime appears to be allowing it to establish a useful military base and presence in the Middle East. The country already has a naval base in the coastal city of Tartus, which gives it access to the Mediterranean sea.

At the start of the week, a Pentagon spokesman said that a steady flow of people and equipment near the north-western city of Latakia suggested Moscow was planning to establish a “forward air operating base” at an airport there.

On the investment side, Russia has some commercial exposure and has been exploring energy development projects in the country in the past “but Syria has never been a critical trading partner for Russia,” Gevorgyan told CNBC.

It has got stalled deals with Russia over gas and oil exploration, however. In July, Gissa Guchetl, the executive director of the Russian Union of Gas and Oil Industrialists, told state news agency RIA Novosti that Russian business would consider resuming energy contracts in Syria worth $1.6 billion if the country manages to stabilize from its civil war.

Ukraine distraction?

While Russia might appear (or want to appear) as a helping hand for the alliance against Islamic State, experts believe that the Syrian conflict is a useful diversion for Russia from a crisis closer to home with Ukraine.

One analyst said Putin’s “support” for Assad was purely strategic.

“Russia’s support for Assad is driven by considerations about global spheres of influence,” Liza Ermolenko, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics told CNBC Wednesday.

“It’s now becoming obvious that Russia has lost Ukraine, thus, the stakes are high to ensure that Assad restores full control of Syria preventing the country coming under the American influence.”

Since Russia’s perceived role in assisting a pro-Russian uprising in east Ukraine in March 2014, it has been put under international sanctions. Wading into Syria then could help distract both the domestic population from biting sanctions and global attention from its behavior over Ukraine.

Appearing to help in Syria could also possibly thaw frosty relations with the rest of the world, IHS’ Gevorgyan said. “Ukraine is unlikely to go away as a battleground of West- Russia economic and strategic interests anytime soon. However, enter Syria and the Western attention is somewhat diverted from Ukraine.”

“In the best case scenario, Russia would like to see an anti-IS fight in Syria together with the West serving as a turning point for its exceptionally poor relations with Washington and Brussels now,” she added.

– By CNBC’s Holly Ellyatt, follow her on Twitter @HollyEllyatt. Follow us on Twitter: @CNBCWorld

Holly Ellyatt
Assistant Producer, CNBC.com

In: cnbc

The Great Debate: China’s ghost cities offer a solution to Europe’s migrant crisis?

Deje un comentario

Blogger’s opinion: I don’t think so, because ghost cities are only a a phase of the urbanization process in China. See: The “ghost towns”, the paradoxical strategy of Chinese urbanization.

These vacant apartments in the Pujiang area of Shanghai appear to be unwanted supply for non-existing demand but they’re actually new homes for residents who were evicted from the World Expo site. WADE SHEPARD FOR REUTERS

These vacant apartments in the Pujiang area of Shanghai appear to be unwanted supply for non-existing demand but they’re actually new homes for residents who were evicted from the World Expo site. WADE SHEPARD FOR REUTERS

Nearly 150,000 Syrian refugees have already claimed asylum in Europe and tens of thousands more are flooding the borders in search of places to live. Meanwhile, in China, there are millions of new apartments sitting completely empty and entire sections of freshly constructed cities that are virtually uninhabited. This disparity between unmet housing need and oversupply has not been lost on many around the world, and after writing a book about China’s ghost cities, I’ve recently found my email inbox getting flooded with suggestions such as this:

Do you think the Ghost Cities could be used, even as a temporary situation, to accommodate those displaced from Syria? It seems that many of the cities are just waiting for a community and here is a community that needs a city.

This sentiment is widespread across popular social media platforms, and on Twitter alone roughly 7 out of 10 results for searches pertaining to China’s ghost cities reveal tweets recommending the mass movement of Syrian refugees to these under-populated urban terrains.

Realistically speaking, this suggestion isn’t worth analyzing with much depth. The political quagmire of relocating masses of people across the planet — not to mention the fact that refugees need more than just housing — means that this is a far greater ordeal than simply assuaging demand with supply. It does shed light, though, on the gulf that exists between the predominant international opinion on China’s so-called ghost cities and their present reality.

Even though there are between 20 and 45 million unoccupied homes across China, which account for roughly 600 million square meters of uninhabited floor space — enough to completely cover Madrid — these places are not the urban wastelands they are often posited to be. While many of China’s new cities and urban districts are deficient in people they are not deficient in owners. Nearly every apartment that goes on the market in China is quickly purchased, often at exorbitant prices that commonly range into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Far from being unwanted infrastructure that could seamlessly be doled out to refugees, those arrays of vacant high-rises are actually the proud possessions of people who paid a lot of money for them.

So why would anyone spend incredible amounts of cash on houses they do not intent to use?

All over the world, the value of property extends beyond the utilitarian function of being a place to live. Real estate is also a vital economic entity that presents an avenue for investment as well as a way of storing wealth — a use of property that is taken to the extreme in China. “Many Chinese investors are buying property based on expectations of appreciation, and that it is a solid, safe investment that they can easily understand,” said Mark Tanner, the founding director of China Skinny, a Shanghai based marketing research firm.

A full 39 percent of individual wealth in China is kept in housing, and, according to Nomura, 21 percent of China’s urban households possess more than one home. The reasons for this desire to invest in housing often results from a lack of better options. China’s banks pay negative interest and are becoming even more unattractive with the recent wave of currency devaluation. Wealth management products are not fully developed and are highly regulated by the government, and the stock market is viewed to be about as secure as a casino.

A huge portion of the homes that are purchased in China function very much like stocks or a trade-able commodity. As an incredible number of new apartments are sold as unfinished concrete cavities without any interior fit out or even windows, they are in no way immediately livable. Strange as it may seem, they are very actively bought and sold in this bare-bones form. In fact, investors often prefer them that way. In many ways they are purely economic entities, quantifiable placeholders of value that are traded on the open market akin to precious metals. Just as one doesn’t need to mold a piece of gold into something usable, like a piece of jewelry, for it to have value and an economic function, an apartment in China doesn’t need to have people living in it for it to be economically viable.

“Empty units leave flexibility for quick sales in a changing market or need to cash in quickly,” said Barry Wilson, the founding director of Barry Wilson Project Initiatives, a Hong Kong-based urban design firm.

Another reason for the sheer number of unused apartments in China is the fact that there is often little financial incentive for owners to do anything with them after purchase. There is no yearly property tax in China, so vacant properties are not a financial drain on their owners. While the potential returns that could be had from renting them out (1 percent or so) is often not worth the hassle — especially because it costs tens of thousands of dollars to construct the interiors of new apartments in preparation for tenants. This is combined with the fact that Chinese homeowners, especially investors who have multiple properties, are remarkably un-leveraged. According to Mark Tanner, over 80 percent of homes in China are owned outright. This means that most homeowners, especially the big investors with multiple properties, generally don’t have any mortgages to pay off or any other leans, so there isn’t as much financial pressure to make a profit from these homes in the short term.

Additionally many empty apartments have owners who intend to occupy them at some point. A huge number of China’s new apartments are located in new development areas, which are, by definition, new. The thinking is if you buy property in these emerging new areas early, you can get a better price. So it’s common for people to purchase homes in places that are not yet ready to support a large population with the understanding that they won’t be able to inhabit them for many years. As these new urban developments grow and evolve, more and more people eventually move into their homes. According to a report by Standard Chartered, between 2012 and 2014 the occupancy rate of Zhengzhou’s Zhengdong New District — prominently featured in a 60 Minutes segment on ghost cities — doubled, while the population in Zhenjiang’s Dantu district quadrupled, and occupancy in Changzhou’s new Wujin district increased more than twofold. As new areas develop, the facilities, institutions, infrastructure and businesses they need to be attractive to residents, vacant homes begin filling up as ghost cities come alive.

So, while China may have tens of millions of empty apartments, it doesn’t mean that they don’t serve an economic function, it doesn’t mean that they are unwanted, and it definitely doesn’t mean that they are just laying out in some urban no-mans-lands ripe for the taking.

In: reuters

OTAN, preocupada por mayor presencia militar rusa en Siria

Deje un comentario

El secretario general de la alianza, Jens Stoltenberg, dijo que las acciones de Moscú no ayudan a solucionar el conflicto desatado en 2011.

Un tanque ruso secuestrado por los rebeldes a las fuerzas de Al Assad.

Un tanque ruso secuestrado por los rebeldes a las fuerzas de Al Assad.

Los reportes de inteligencia que hablan de una mayor presencia militar de Rusia en Siria tienen preocupada a la OTAN. Al menos así lo señaló este miércoles (09.09.2015) el secretario general de la alianza, el noruego Jens Stoltenberg, durante una visita a Praga. “Estoy preocupado por las informaciones sobre un aumento de la presencia militar rusa en Siria. “Eso no va a contribuir a la solución del conflicto”, dijo en la capital checa, en su primera visita al país desde que asumió el cargo.

Rusia ha negado esta semana cambios en la cooperación militar con Siria, sea en el estatus de la base naval de Tartus o en el suministro de armamento, en medio de los rumores occidentales sobre una intervención militar rusa en el país árabe. Según Moscú, esa colaboración militar se limita al suministro de equipos militares y a que especialistas militares adiestren en su manejo a los militares sirios.

Sin embargo, tres fuentes libanesas citadas por la agencia de noticias Reuters aseguran que fuerzas de combate rusas comenzaron a participar en operaciones militares en Siria, apoyando a las tropas del presidente Bashar al Assad. A eso se sumaría el reciente envío de barcos con tanques y aviones, además de desplegar un pequeño número de efectivos de infantería naval. Las fuentes de inteligencia estadounidenses no tienen clara la intención de estos movimientos militares, aunque el objetivo sería preparar una pista aérea en Latakia, bastión de Al Assad.

No solo asesoran

“Los rusos ya no son solo asesores. Los rusos decidieron unirse a la guerra contra el terrorismo”, dijo una de las fuentes libanesas citadas por Reuters. “Empezaron con números pequeños, pero la fuerza mayor no ha participado aún. (…) Hay algunos rusos combatiendo en Siria, pero todavía no se unieron con fuerza a la lucha contra el terrorismo”, destacó otra fuente, mientras un funcionario sirio señaló que “los expertos rusos siempre han estado presentes, pero en el último año han estado presentes en mayor grado”.

Luego de que Bulgaria negara el uso de su espacio aéreo a aviones de carga rusos (una medida que Moscú calificó como “grosería internacional”), el diplomático ruso Maxim Suslov, de la embajada en Irán, dijo que el gobierno de Teherán no impedirá los traslados, así como tampoco pondrá objeciones el gobierno de Grecia. El Ministerio de Exteriores ruso subrayó nuevamente que Rusia jamás ocultó su ayuda militar al gobierno sirio.

En tanto, el ministro de Exteriores, Sergei Lavrov, conversó con su par estadounidense, John Kerry, al que llamó a trabajar en conjunto para combatir al Estado Islámico. “Lavrov recalcó la necesidad de responder conjuntamente a los grupos terroristas que han capturado una parte importante de territorio sirio y amenazan la seguridad internacional”, informó la cancillería rusa en un comunicado.

DZC (EFE, dpa, Reuters)

En: DW

Syria: Russian soldiers fighting alongside pro-Assad troops

Deje un comentario

By Maria Khan

Russian troops are believed to be fighting alongside pro-Assad army against Syrian rebels. (Twitter)

Russian troops are believed to be fighting alongside pro-Assad army against Syrian rebels.(Twitter)

Russian troops are believed to be fighting against Syrian rebels, according to Syrian state TV reports. The troops are believed to be supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s army in Latakia. In addition to the troops, a Russian armoured jeep was seen in Latakia.

Several social media users also shared pictures of what are believed to be Russian planes and drones over Idlib.

“The Russians have been there a long time,” said an unidentified activist with the Syrian rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, reported The Times. “There are more Russian officials who came to Slunfeh in recent weeks. We don’t know how many but I can assure you there has been Russian reinforcement.”

According to reports, Russian language can be heard being spoken by the troops in the footage. “You can hear Russian, that is correct,” said Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military specialist at the Royal United Services Institute in the UK, reported Express. Sutyagin said, however, that it still remains unclear if the Russians were serving soldiers or contractors.

Meanwhile, Russia has been delaying the final Security Council approval to launch an investigation into the use of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. “We are still working on it. It’s a fairly technical subject and we want to be absolutely sure,” said Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, reported AFP News.

In: ibtimes.co.uk

Russian Troops Are in Syria, and We Have the Selfies to Prove It

Deje un comentario
Image: foreignpolicy

Image: foreignpolicy

Standing against the backdrop of Istanbul’s iconic Bosphorus bridge, a young man in combat fatigues poses for a photo holding up a colorful sign that says “I love you” in Russian. He’s not a tourist, though. The man’s name is Maxim Mazhnikov; he’s a member of Russia’s 810th marine brigade; and he posted the photo to social media to document his journey to war-torn Syria.

What Mazhnikov will do when gets there remains a bit of a mystery, but he is one of many Russian troops from the same unit that have been tracked via social media as they make their way towards Syria. According to a report by Russian investigative journalist Ruslan Leviev, growing numbers of Russian troops over the last two months have been sent to a Russian naval maintenance facility in Tartus, in western Syria. The apparent Russian military build-up there is sending alarm bells ringing in Washington, where the Obama administration worries that Moscow may be stepping up its efforts to help Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad hold on to power.

Leviev’s research, which relies on posts by troops on Russia’s two biggest social networking sites, notes a shift in the types of troops being sent to Syria, from draftees to experienced career soldiers. Many of the posts have already been taken down, but Leviev managed to track down several troops from Russia’s 810th marine brigade and monitor their movement to Syria through the photos and status updates they posted online.

This photo, taken from VKontakte, Russia’s version of Facebook, shows Mazhnikov, a career soldier, crossing the Bosporus bridge in Istanbul en route to Tartus and was posted on March 29, 2015. (Click to enlarge.)

29_mart (1)

Photos taken from Mazhnikov’s profile on Odnoklassniki, another popular Russian networking site, show him in Syria at the Russian naval facility. The following photos were posted on Aug. 22, 2015.

assad_russia1assad_russia2

Leviev also found Anatoly Golota, another member of the 810th brigade on VKontakte, whose status says “Off to Syria”.

screen-shot-2015-09-08-at-12-11-29-pm

Videos uploaded to the Internet in recent weeks have also sparked concerns that Russian forces are engaged in actual combat inside Syria. On Aug. 24, the Oryx blog, which monitors military developments in the Middle East and North Africa, pointed to combat footage filmed and posted by the media wing of Syria’s National Defence Force that showed a Russian-made BTR-82A armored vehicle near Latakia, in western Syria, with a color scheme used by Russian military units and not previously exported to Syria. As the armored vehicle is shooting in the video, orders can be heard in what appears to be Russian, raising speculation that troops sent by Moscow are taking part in fighting on the ground. Beyond the footage, however, there is little proof that Russian forces are engaged in Syria beyond their maintenance and advisory roles.

“The participation of [the] Russian fleet, special operation forces or aviation [forces] are all possible, but in very limited scale,” Nikolay Kozhanov, a fellow at the London-based Chatham House and a non-resident scholar at Carnegie Moscow Center, told Foreign Policy. “Putin will not send the army.”

Still, the influx of Russian troops, even if confined to Tartus, is indicative of the changing battlefield dynamics in Syria.

Since the war in Syria began, the Kremlin has been a key backer of the Assad regime, supporting Damascus economically, diplomatically, and militarily. Moscow was instrumental in helping to negotiate the deal in 2013 under which Assad gave up its chemical weapons in exchange for the U.S. rescinding plans to bomb his regime in response to his gassing of his own people. The Kremlin has been supplying weapons to the Syrian government throughout the ongoing war, and Russia has also played a role in training the Syrian military, with Russia’s former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov admitting in 2012 that Russia had “military and technical advisers” in Syria. Moreover, in October 2014, Syrian opposition fighters overran a joint Syrian-Russian listening center that was believed to be used for espionage operations.

According to Anna Borschevskaya, a fellow at the Washington Institute and an expert on Russian foreign policy in the Middle East, Moscow is using the fight against the Islamic State to try to persuade the West to allow Assad to remain in power, something that Washington and its Gulf allies have said is a precondition for any successful peace talks. Should Assad abruptly fall, the Islamic State would likely benefit the most and could control even more territory in Syria.

“This is central to Putin’s proposal on how to fight ISIS,” Borschevskaya told FP.

Moscow put forward a peace plan for Syria that envisions enlisting Assad regime and Iran in the anti-Islamic State coalition, but rounds of negotiations with Washington and Riyadh have brought no visible results.

Amid the uncertainty of the Syrian government’s longevity in the country, signs are pointing towards an even greater Russian presence in Syria — and the influx of more experienced troops, like those from the 810th brigade, to Tartus could be part of that shift.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern in a phone call to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov over the weekend, saying that if the reports of a Russian military buildup were true, it could dramatically escalate the conflict. Kerry’s phone call came on the heels of a Sept. 4 New York Times report that Russia had sent a military advance team to Syria, as well prefabricated housing units to an airfield near Latakia where Russian humanitarian aid and military hardware have been unloaded.

Lavrov told Kerry it was premature to talk about Russia’s participation in military operations in Syria, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman told RIA Novosti on Monday. Still, Lavrov confirmed Moscow’s military commitment to the Assad regime, saying Russia “has never concealed that it delivers military equipment to official Syrian authorities with the aim of combating terrorism”.

Photo taken from Maxim Mazhnikov’s Odnoklassniki profile.

In: foreignpolicy