Syria opposed the US-Turkey agreement

Turkey never recognized, and will never recognize the inclusion of Crimea into Russia — the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced after the talks with the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. “Today I, once again, confirmed that Turkey will always support the independence of Ukraine. Turkey hasn’t recognized, and won’t recognize the annexation of Crimea. The Crimean Tatars are an important element of the relations between our countries. We will continue to consider the protection of the rights of the Crimean Tatars, and the preservation of their national identity to be our priority ”- RIA NEWS quoted Erdogan. He also expressed a hope for an early end of the conflict in Donbass. According to him — Ankara supports the Minsk process, and the OSCE mission in Donbass. The OSCE mission has Turkish diplomats as well.

The delegation from Caracas refused to participate in the negotiations with the Venezuelan opposition. The negotiations were supposed to take place in Barbados — said the Minister of Communications of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez. The decision to refuse to partake in the negotiations on 8th and 9th of August was made by the head of state, Nicolas Maduro. Caracas did so because of the economic blockade by the US. The Venezuelan opposition welcomed the blockade — TASS reports. The Venezuelan authorities are ready to discuss the details of negotiations with the opposition, in order to make them more effective.

The United States and Turkey intend to organize a joint operations center in order to create a buffer zone in northern Syria — TASS reports with a reference to Sean Robertson, the spokesman of the US Defence Department. «The negotiations between the representatives of the military departments of the two countries in Ankara during this week led to a progress in creation of a sustainable security mechanism in northern Syria. It would meet the legitimate requests of our NATO ally, Turkey» — he explained. «We intend to create a center for the joint operations between the USA and Turkey, in Turkey, in order to continue the planning and practical implementation» — the Pentagon representative added. The negotiations on the creation of a buffer zone, which would include a no-fly zone, began back in 2013. Several rounds of negotiations were held, including between Ankara and Washington, but each time, for a number of reasons, the parties couldn’t come to an agreement.

On 8th of August the Kyrgyz Parliament will have an extraordinary session due to the escalation of the situation in the country after an attempted detention of the ex-president Almazbek Atambayev — the parliamentarian press service reports. On the evening of 7th of August, the Kyrgyz special services began an operation aimed to detain Almazbek Atambayev at his own residence in the village of Koy-Tash. As a result of clashes between the supporters of Almazbek Atambayev and the law enforcement officers — 52 people were injured, one special forces officer was killed. Two attempted assaults on the residence failed to detain the ex-president. Later, Almazbek Atambayev and his supporters announced that they intend to hold a rally in Bishkek. They’ll demand the resignation of head of state, Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Sooronbai Jeenbekov, in his turn, said that Almazbek Atambayev blatantly violated the constitution and the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic through his armed resistance to the lawful investigative measures. Almazbek Atambayev headed the country from 2011 to 2017. Back in June he was stripped of his immunity and former president’s status. He is suspected of committing a number of crimes, including an usurpation of power.

The Syrian authorities loudly opposed the agreement between the US and Turkey on the creation of the so-called ‘safe zone’ in north-east of the country. “Syria absolutely rejects the agreement, announced by the US and Turkey, on the creation of the so-called ‘safe zone’. The agreement is a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, as well as the principles of the international law, and the UN Charter» — the SANA agency quoted the Syrian authorities. Recently it became known that Turkey and the US have reached an agreement on the establishment of a coordination center for the joint operations, and on the planned security zone in the northern Syria.