A Russian naval task force, led by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, has left the Syrian port of Tartus after a three-day visit, Russia’s Northern Fleet said in a statement on Tuesday.
The task force called on the Syrian port on Sunday amid ongoing bloody protests in Syria against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Some media reports said the visit of the Russian warships was a signal of Russia’s support for Assad’s regime but the Russian military denied any connections of the visit with the
political situation in the country.
“The naval task force has completed its visit to the Syrian port of Tartus with the aim of replenishing [food and water] provisions. The warships left the Syrian territorial waters on Tuesday afternoon and continued on their route in accordance with their schedule,” the statement said.
Syria’s SANA news agency reported earlier that it viewed the visit of the Russian warships as a sign of solidarity with Syria saying that the country “highly respects Russia’s honorable stance in support of the Syrian people.”
The Russian Defense Ministry repeatedly stated that the purpose of the visit at the Syrian port was to replenish water and food supplies during the naval task force’s long-term training mission in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Russia maintains a Soviet-era naval maintenance site near Tartus and it is the country’s only military foothold in the Mediterranean. Moscow is planning to modernize the facility to accommodate large warships, including missile cruisers and even aircraft carriers after 2012.
Syria is facing profound political reforms. Their essence is the extension of the number of political parties and the establishment of real opposition in the country which would protect people’s interests, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared on Tuesday.
The Syrian president said that the parliamentarians had prepared bills stipulating reforms in political and social institutions. These reforms will require changing the Constitution and only the Syrian people will decide if this is necessary. Bashar al-Assad promised to organize a referendum on introducing changes to the Constitution in March. He expressed readiness for talks with the opposition but doubted if the opposition was ready for a dialogue. At the same time, the president repeated his words that the crisis in the country occurred as a result of a plot arranged by external forces. He also criticized the League of Arab States (LAS) whose decision to suspend Syria’s participation in it resulted in a split in the Syrian society. Bashar al-Assad remembered the words of former Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser who called Syria the heart of the Arab world. “How can the heart live without the body?” the Syrian president asked. At the same time, al-Assad added that Syria was leaving the door open for any Arab efforts and aspirations in case they did not violate Syrian sovereignty. The Syrian president meant, in particular, the activities of the LAS mission. He reminded the audience that its presence in the country was his initiative.
On Sunday the LAS headquarters decided to increase the number of observers in Syria to 300 people. The aim of the mission is monitoring the situation and stopping the violence. The head of the mission is Sudanese General Mohammad Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi who is a man of principle. Starting to perform his duties, he declared that the mission’s effort would take time to yield results. This position certainly does not suit those who are in favour of active outside interference in Syria’s internal affairs. In particular, Prime Minister of Qatar Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani proposed to include foreign consultants in the mission, who would not be subordinated to the LAS. Damascus rejected this proposal as an attempt to internationalize the Syrian internal crisis.
Observers are based in conflict areas in the provinces of Hama, Homs, Idlib, Dera’a and around Damascus where disturbances are continued by groups of militants who are mostly former servicemen who have deserted from the army.
The Syrian opposition, in its turn, believes that the observers are not working effectively enough. The bloodshed continues and the authorities are not meeting their obligations. However, the main point is that the mission observes neutrality and analyzes the situation without interfering in Syria’s internal affairs.
Now it is imperial for Syria to escape the Libyan scenario and settle its internal crisis through a dialogue between the authorities and protesters. This is the view held by Russia and China.
It is significant that in this difficult situation of instability in Syria and the whole of the Middle East, Moscow is flying its flag in the Mediterranean Sea. A division of Russian ships has already been carrying out exercises there for a month. The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft-carrier and The Admiral Chebanenko submarine-hunter are at the head of the manoeuvres. They have visited the supplies and service station of the Russian Navy in the Syrian port of Tartus. Damascus regarded this visit as a demonstration of solidarity and an act of moral support for the Syrian people. In any case, this visit of Russian ships to the Syrian port should relieve the tension around Syria, believes Vladimir Sotnikov, an expert in Oriental studies.
“If a country is suffering from an internal crisis, any visit of ships to that country’s ports can always be considered a support, even though it is not advertised. I think that the presence of the Russian Navy will help to clear the air. Russia would not like a repetition of the Libyan scenario, this is obvious. I believe that Syria will manage to escape it because President Bashar al-Assad has made some concessions to the opposition and the LAS mission is making evident progress.”
Apart from the pacifying role, the presence of the Russian unit in the Mediterranean Sea is also important for preventing religious extremists from growing too active in Syria, like they earlier did in Libya and Egypt.
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