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Executive Summary for May 12th

We review key developments in Syria, including Assad’s offer of amnesty to rebel fighters in safe zones, Turkey softening its rhetoric over the U.S. arming Kurdish forces and the SDF confirming an imminent assault on ISIS’s de facto capital.

Published on May 12, 2017 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Assad: Amnesty, Reconciliation for Rebel Fighters in De-escalation Zones

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said his regime would offer amnesty to rebel fighters based in the recently agreed de-escalation zones on the proviso that they give up their weapons.

In an interview on Belarusian TV, Assad gave the Syrian regime’s strongest approval yet of Russia’s de-escalation zone scheme, calling it a chance for “reconciliation,” and urged those rebel forces not seeking amnesty to stand with the Syrian government in its fight against ISIS and other Islamic militant groups.

Claiming that the protection of civilians was the Syrian government’s first objective in agreeing to the zones, he added: “The second objective is to give the militants who want reconciliation with the state a chance … to settle their cases, hand over their weapons in return for amnesty.”

Meanwhile, Russia has offered the United States a role in securing the zones as a bargaining chip to soften the U.S. opposition to Iran’s involvement in the scheme, reports Bloomberg News. It is a risky bit of horse-trading on Russia’s part, given Syria’s objections to any foreign troop placement in the zones, as stated by its foreign minister Walid Moallem earlier this week.

Furthermore, during his interview, Assad ramped up his anti-American rhetoric, pinning the blame for last month’s sarin gas attack in Khan Sheikhun on the U.S., and claiming the event was a “cover for American intervention in Syria.”

Turkey Tones Down U.S. Criticism Ahead of White House Visit

Turkish president Rayyip Erdogan has moved to soften his criticism of the U.S. ahead of his official trip to Washington, D.C., next week, reports Reuters.

Previously scathing of President Donald Trump’s decision to send arms to Kurdish YPG forces in northern Syria – a group Ankara regards as “terrorists,” given their links to the proscribed PKK organisation – Erdogan instead pinned the blame on the Obama administration.

“Right now there are certain moves in the United States coming from the past, such as the weapons assistance to the YPG,” he said. “These are developments that are in contradiction to our strategic relations with the U.S. and of course we don’t want this to happen.”

Erdogan added that his visit to the White House could start a “new beginning” in relations between the two countries.

SDF Forces Prepare for Assault on ISIS Capital

The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has vowed that its much-vaunted assault on Raqqa, the so-called Islamic State’s de facto capital, will begin “soon,” reports Reuters.

Speaking from Tabqa, the strategically important town where the SDF seized control this week, SDF commander Abdul Qader Hevdeli said: “I can’t specify exactly. I believe entering and storming the city will happen at the start of the summer.”

First, however, was the small matter of taking delivery of the weapons promised by the U.S. government – enraging the Turkish government this week, given that YPG fighters are the predominant presence in the SDF.

“There will be support in the form of specialized weapons, armored vehicles or others,” he added. “I believe these weapons or this support will arrive soon.”

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