AA receives new footage of Syria-torture
28 January 2014 19:00 (Last updated 28 January 2014 19:17)
Anadolu Agency receives new photographs and videos of 220 dead civilians thrown into the Syrian Queiq river.
ISTANBUL
New photographs and videos of 220 dead civilians, including women and children, being thrown into the Queiq River by the Syrian regime have been released.
Anadolu Agency (AA), which last week published photographs documenting war crimes by the Assad regime, received the new photos on Tuesday.
The dead bodies were taken out of the river under the supervision of the Aleppo-based Syrian Justice Institute, and photographed and identified one by one.
The institute said that 220 dead bodies have been recovered from January 29 and March 15.
The Syrian Justice Institute's forensic experts recovered and cleaned the bodies in order for identification purposes, and to preserve their physical condition, the institute said.
However, 35 of the bodies recovered from the Queiq River, also known as the Aleppo River, were unable to be identified.
40 bodies were found 20 km of southern Aleppo, by local residents.
AA has only published two of the images, along with a very short video, due to the inappropriate nature of the footage.
On January 20, AA published a report, accompanied by photographs, titled "Syria War Crimes," which resounded across the globe. The 55,000 photographs of 11,000 bodies were taken over a two year period, allegedly by a former Assad regime officer.
AA has agreed to share the new photographs and videos with a UN-related Investigation Commission.
Syrian refugees uneasy about future
29 January 2014 15:13 (Last updated 29 January 2014 15:28)
Syrian refugees without shelter in Turkey are concerned about their future and their greatest needs are food, heating and clothes
by Tutku Senen DIYARBAKIR, Turkey
Syrians, who had fled the civil war in their country over the past three years and who have taken refuge in Turkey, are deeply concerned about their future.
500,000 refugees without shelter in Turkey out of a total of 700,000 refugees are afraid for their future, according to the Women's Center Foundation (KAMER) and Hasna Foundation, who have conducted research on "Syrian refugees: Those living on the streets."
The foundation officials interviewed 214 Syrian women aged between 12 to 70, who live on the streets without shelter in seven cities of Turkey in order to determine their urgent needs.
Chairperson of the KAMER, Nebahat Akkoc told AA that the Syrians who live in Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Kilis, Mardin, Siirt and Sanliurfa cities, feel unsafe due to unrest in their country and live in fear of being deported from Turkey.
The research shows that 42.5 percent of Syrians wish to stay in Turkey but many of them have lost their relatives in the civil war and are unable to make contact with those still in Syria. Akkoc told of a woman they have interviewed who died of heart attack upon hearing news of her husband's death in Syria. The refugees mainly settle in poor neighborhoods and get help from other poor families. Akkoc noted that sometimes 30 families stay in the same house and they beg if they really have to.
Akkoc noted that Turkmen Syrians are in better condition when compared to the others, "Because Turkmens know the Turkish language, they can reach aid easily. The Syrians' children go to school. But they do not have identity cards because they have fled. They are afraid of everything. They are afraid of being sent back to Syria, altough they are traumatized due to living in a country that they do not know."
98 percent of the 214 interviewed women lost their relatives in Syria. 96 percent of those who died, lost their lives in war, while 2 percent of them died from hunger and through lack of medication. 68.7 percent of the women's immediate families are in Syria and 72 percent of the women who left Syria more than 10 of their family members still remain in Syria.
Akkoc also emphasized that 49 percent of the refugees miss their country and they want to return to Syria if the war ends. On the other hand, 34 percent of the refugees do not want to return to Syria, adding, "In case they are employed, 63 percent of the refugees want to stay in Turkey, while 28 percent of them want to return."
Syrian refugees are too hungry, too cold and scared
Akkoc underlined that all family members are suffering from hunger and 70 percent of the refugees need all kinds of aid. The vast majority's primary needs are food (88 percent). Secondly, 73.5 percent of the refugees need clothes, and 69.5 percent of them need heating. On the other hand, 28 percent of them are in need of immediate medical treatment, and 78 percent of the participants of the study are not receiving an education, according to the report.
Living in tent cities can be a very stressful environment for many who long to return to a normal life. Akkoc, says regarding the refugees "They are spending a really harsh winter. They are too hungry, too cold and scared. They are too sad due to the war and some of them have bad blood between each other". Akkoc recommends that a commision be established so that international funding boards and charities will be able to assist over the long-term to enable Syrians to return to a normal independent life. She adds that Charity from Turkish individuals is not enough for Syrians who prefer to live self-sufficiently outside of the camps.
Akkoc will submit her findings from the survey for recommendation to governorates and municipalities.
More than 100,000 people have been killed during the three-year conflict, which has also internally displaced more than 6.5 million people. Over two million are now registered as refugees in neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.
But relentless bloodshed, daily air raids on civilian areas around Aleppo and, most significantly, the descent into chaos and infighting by anti-Assad forces, have left him disillusioned. He also warned of the risks for well-meaning foreigners of becoming desensitised and sucked into bloody factional battles that were only worsening the conflict. "I just saw it was Muslims killing Muslims, and people killing civilians," he said.
See extract from story below. A Muslim from Australia went to Syria to fight and then went home dissillusioned.
(your link)
But relentless bloodshed, daily air raids on civilian areas around Aleppo and, most significantly, the descent into chaos and infighting by anti-Assad forces, have left him disillusioned. He also warned of the risks for well-meaning foreigners of becoming desensitised and sucked into bloody factional battles that were only worsening the conflict. "I just saw it was Muslims killing Muslims, and people killing civilians," he said.
Yes Bashar Al-Assad had some of his soldiers act as revolutionaries and made them do many crimes in the name of the revolution. I'm talking of course about a large portion of the Free Syrian Army. So don't be surprised if you'd see some of them being caught working for the regime in disguise.
Anyhow, we have yet another article in favour of Bashar Al-assad and against the Syrian revolution ignoring all the evil and satanic actions by the Alawite regime against the innocent civilians. It's like sitting on LiveLeak where everyone seems to be an Alawite hoodlum!
Turkey PM wants reformation of UN Security Council
04 February 2014 22:18 (Last updated 04 February 2014 22:24)
Recep Tayyip Erdogan says permanent members obstructing humanitarian aid from getting to Syria.
BERLIN
Turkey's prime minister called for reformation of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, saying that permanent members were obstructing humanitarian aid from getting to Syria.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan - talking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin - said that although the U.N. is the largest peace organization in the world, it could not take essential steps "primarily due to the inaction of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council."
"These permanent members are obstructed due to the wrong information which shows reformation is needed at the council. Unless it is reformed, the U.N. Security Council" will be at the mercy of a permanent member with veto power.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the situation in Syria was "inconceivable".
"We want to further advance the unity of international community of states, especially the UN Security Council," she said.
Erdogan - on a two day trip to Germany - mentioned the Anadolu Agency's joint exclusive which revealed 55,000 photographs of torture victims - allegedly at the hands of the Syrian regime.
"How can humanity watch this slaughter as if they are watching a football match," he said.
Erdogan said that Turkey houses around 700,000 Syrian refugees, that 220,000 of them live in tent and container cities, and Turkey has spent $2.5 billion providing for them so far.
"The United Nations has given US$130 million. Whether it aids or not, we will continue to host our Syrian neighbors with an open-door policy."
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