Q&A
Question:
Less than two weeks had passed since the fighting began in Aleppo on 2016/11/26 before talk of withdrawal and evacuation for civilians and fighters started... Then, not a week later, the eastern part of Aleppo was nearly empty of its civilian residents, fighters, and their families: (Beirut-Amman "Reuters" - Thousands gathered in a square in eastern Aleppo, Syria, waiting for buses to transport them out of areas under opposition control as part of an evacuation process that the International Committee of the Red Cross hopes will resume on Sunday... Residents say an estimated 15,000 people gathered in the main square in the al-Sukari neighborhood of Aleppo, most of whom are civilians remaining in the last pocket controlled by the opposition, mostly families of fighters and other civilians, while there are a few fighters. Organizers gave a number to each family to allow them to board the buses when they arrive... Reuters Arabic and International 2016/12/18). What caused this acceleration in "handing over" East Aleppo to the regime, even though previous reports said that Aleppo could resist the regime for at least a year? Is the reason the weakness of the fighters, or the conspiracy of the conspirators? Thank you.
Answer:
Aleppo was subjected to a brutal and fierce onslaught managed and planned by America and executed by Russia, Iran, and their followers and cronies. Although these attacks were heavy enough to weigh down firm mountains, Aleppo resisted, stood firm, and wounded those crowds in a way that pained and bloodied them, and it could have continued for a long time... However, America’s order to Turkey to enter the Aleppo line by conspiring with Russia and by abandoning the factions associated with it and pressuring them to retreat and repeatedly withdraw is what created the turmoil and subsequently what resembled the "handing over" of Aleppo. Turkey was entrusted with implementing the American plan in coordination with the Russians to enable the regime to enter East Aleppo... Thus, what caused Aleppo to fall into the hands of the regime was not the strength of the regime, but the conspiracy of the conspirators according to a plan agreed upon between Russia and Turkey under American supervision. Putin revealed this matter and did not cover for his partner Erdogan, but rather exposed him in front of everyone at a press conference! Putin said in a press conference that what happened in Aleppo was a translation of what was agreed upon with Erdogan during his visit to St. Petersburg: (Russian President Vladimir Putin dropped a political bombshell when he revealed that the process of evacuating militants from East Aleppo had been reached during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to St. Petersburg last August... The Russian President said in a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo today "yesterday" Friday, that Moscow agreed with Ankara on Turkey's contribution to removing those militants who would agree to lay down their weapons in order to protect civilians above all else. He added, "Judging by what I see, what is happening is exactly what we agreed upon with the Turkish President during his visit to St. Petersburg...") (Elaph, 2016/12/16, Sputnik News, 2016/12/16).
I could have concluded the answer with Putin's statement, but I will clarify further how Ash-Shahba Aleppo, the Aleppo of heroism and pride, was stabbed in its vital spot by Turkey—which used to consider it a "red line" but then turned it into a fluid line melting in its own blood... Likewise, it was stabbed by those factions by turning their backs on the day of battle due to their dependency on the "dirty money" they were being fed from the doors of those countries that are treacherous to Allah (swt), His Messenger ﷺ, and the believers... Therefore, I will clarify this matter further:
First: The revolutionaries in and around Aleppo were never so weak that it could be stormed in such a short period! In a period of about two weeks starting from 2016/11/26, the forces of the regime and its allies entered the Hanano neighborhood, the largest neighborhood in the city of Aleppo, and advanced, taking over Sakhour, then Sha’ar, and the surroundings of Old Aleppo. The advance of those forces was unexpectedly easy, as they did not find the resistance they would have faced had it not been for Erdogan's intervention. After a two-day break, the regime forces began to advance on the southern axis of the city, occupying the Sheikh Sa'id neighborhood. During that period, they were advancing with a frenzied campaign from air and land without respecting any sanctity of civilian blood or the destruction of homes, even burning them. Massacres and campaigns of terror took place, and all of this was intentional to cast terror into the hearts of the fighters who refused to leave Aleppo, in order to force them to leave the city quickly... Since the beginning of the military campaign on Aleppo, Turkey had been moving frantically with Russia regarding the Syrian arena. The BBC mentioned on 2016/12/02: (Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey is consulting with Russia and Iran, Assad's allies, and also with Syria and Lebanon in order to reach a solution to the Syrian crisis. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the Syrian issue by phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at least 3 times in the past week, while Çavuşoğlu met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Turkey on Thursday to discuss the same subject). These movements were to implement the bloody massacre in Aleppo step by step, after its details were drawn up with Washington, and then the Turkish and Russian parties and their affiliates set out to implement it.
Second: During the period preceding the implementation, Turkish officials were making strange and unprecedented statements regarding the expulsion of "terrorists" from Aleppo. (Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called for a halt to the clashes in Aleppo in northern Syria, and called for the immediate exit of Jabhat Fath al-Sham - formerly Jabhat al-Nusra - from Aleppo...) (Al Jazeera Net, 2016/10/27). This was after the Lausanne meeting led by America regarding Syria. During that period, America was preparing the field with the Turkish side, the most sensitive player in it. The following day, the intensity of Turkish statements increased significantly. Etihad Press reported on 2016/10/17: (Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said, "Aleppo must be cleansed of Nusra terrorists immediately, and the Syrian opposition must separate from them," just one day after the meeting that brought together the foreign ministers of "Russia, America, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan" in addition to the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, in the Swiss city of Lausanne. This position is considered the first of its kind from Turkey towards Jabhat al-Nusra, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the United Nations). As for the agreement between Russia and Turkey, Turk Press mentioned early on 2016/10/31, quoting the Turkish newspaper Yeni Şafak from undisclosed sources: (That an understanding was reached between Turkey and Russia, and according to the new Turkish-Russian project, the conditions in Aleppo, rural Latakia, Idlib, Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa would be returned to what they were before the start of the Syrian war, taking into account the demographic structure of these areas). Subsequently, Erdogan's Turkey moved very quickly and in close coordination with Russia to implement the terms of the "handover" of Aleppo agreement!
Third: America hid slightly behind the curtain, while Erdogan appeared in the spotlight on the Syrian stage. Simultaneously with the start of the attack on Aleppo, Turkey suddenly announced negotiations taking place between the Russian criminals and an opposition negotiating delegation that included (Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Mujahideen, Faylaq al-Sham, and factions of the Shamia Front...) (Turk Press, 2016/12/08). This delegation fell into Erdogan's trap that was prepared in Washington. These negotiations were the window through which Russia and Erdogan threw shocks at the Aleppo scene. Russia demanded the exit of "Fath al-Sham" from Aleppo at the start of the ground battles. Although it had been a declared Russian demand for a long time, presenting it in Ankara in the presence and under the sponsorship of Turkish officials sent a strong message to the armed opposition that Turkey wanted their separation from the "terrorists!" Negotiations continued amidst massacres and terror in Aleppo. Then, the next day, Russia demanded the exit of all fighters from Aleppo. When the negotiators for the armed opposition realized that this Russian demand was also a Turkish demand, they pressured the opposition in Aleppo to withdraw and leave—meaning, to hand over the city to the regime and its allies. At that point, it became clear that the negotiating delegation in Ankara representing the armed opposition was the one spreading the poison of abandonment (takhdheel) inside Aleppo during the terror being carried out by Russia, Iran, and the regime by land and air... When this became clear, the revolutionaries from inside the city of Aleppo informed the negotiating delegation that they would not withdraw from the city and would defend it, and the formation of the "Aleppo Army" was announced.
Fourth: Russia began broadcasting news showing that part of the revolutionaries had complied with Turkish pressure, especially since their military and political leaderships were the ones negotiating with Russia and Turkey in Ankara. Russia Today announced on 2016/12/6: (Rudskoy stated that about 3,500 of the moderate opposition militants laid down their weapons and surrendered, and 3,000 of them were pardoned). Russia reported similar news during the battles... meaning that this was a process of early exit from the city by elements loyal to Turkey and handing over the neighborhoods they were in to the army and its allies, as well as to the Kurdish factions allied with the regime. Thus, those factions responded to the Turkish abandonment and complied with the direct pressure from Turkey or through the negotiating delegation or through their military and political leaderships residing in Turkey, who wallowed in the "dirty," poisoned money provided by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and others. When those factions abandoned the fighting in Aleppo—whether by leaving in a scene of "handing themselves over" to the army with Turkish guarantees, or by withdrawing to the rear in a scene of defeat and abandonment of the remaining factions, especially in southern Aleppo—the process of "handing over" Aleppo actually took place. Without these scenes, the criminal's army would not have been able to gain rapid control over Aleppo, the fortress of the revolution in northern Syria and the major thorn in America's side. Military estimates indicated the resistance's ability in Aleppo to hold out for an entire year. Similarly, Asia News reported on 2016/12/07: (Opposition pages reported leaks from their leaders, described as "treachery against the revolutionaries," confirming the news that some leaders of the armed factions in Aleppo held talks with Washington to surrender and evacuate the entire city, starting from Wednesday morning, which they described on their pages as a "Russian-American agreement that forced the leaders to hand over Aleppo to the Syrian government and Iran").
Fifth: On the military side, in parallel with the frenzied campaign in Aleppo, Turkey began launching another campaign in the city of Al-Bab against the Islamic State. This was the other poison spread by Erdogan to complete the handover of Aleppo, because he was thereby creating a justification and a call for the necessity of accelerating the exit of fighters from Aleppo due to his need for them in the city of Al-Bab, coinciding perfectly with the frenzied campaign on Aleppo. Protecting and defending Muslims in Aleppo meant nothing to Turkish President Erdogan; rather, he was keen on implementing America's projects, indifferent to the consequences in this world and the Hereafter... With the intensity of Turkish abandonment of the loyal factions and its heavy pressure to join the battle of Al-Bab in "Euphrates Shield," this weakened the Aleppo front. The abandonment reached its peak on 2016/12/08 with the fighters defending the Sheikh Sa'id neighborhood south of the city. This neighborhood, which the army and its allies had been unable to advance in, and which the revolutionaries had been strongly repelling for the past two weeks... but the withdrawal of some factions loyal to Turkey under the pretext of fighting in Al-Bab confused and weakened the front. Consequently, the remaining neighborhoods under the control of the revolutionaries narrowed until they were confined to the southwest, such as parts of Salah al-Din and al-Sukari, in a small area after large numbers of civilians fleeing from other neighborhoods were packed into them. Here, with a shock no less terrifying, Turkey announced that it had reached an agreement with Russia to evacuate militants and civilians from Aleppo. (Syrian opposition sources confirmed that an agreement was reached with the Assad regime for a ceasefire and the evacuation of the besieged neighborhoods in East Aleppo of civilians and militants, and that implementation would begin Wednesday morning. Agence France-Presse quoted an official in the Nour al-Din al-Zenki group as saying that the agreement was mediated by Russia and Turkey and would begin to be implemented in the coming hours. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced today that his country will intensify its contacts with Russia to reach a ceasefire in Aleppo, especially to allow room for civilians to leave...) (Akhbar Al-Aan, 2016/12/13). The horror of this shocking scene was such that it was initially announced that implementation would be extremely fast, between five and seven in the morning. The intention was for feelings of defeat to dominate in a shocking way, preventing thinking of any other option... all of this wrapped by Turkey in the necessity of "saving civilians!"
Sixth: The armed factions loyal to Turkey began withdrawing from Aleppo in a scene of abandonment that no Muslim would accept, and Russia boasted about it: (The Russian General Staff announced on Friday, December 16, the completion of the process of separating the moderate opposition in East Aleppo from the terrorists). Earlier on Friday, the Russian Coordination Center for Reconciliation in Syria (Hmeimim Center) announced: (The end of the operations to evacuate militants and their families from East Aleppo. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the Syrian army is destroying pockets of extremists in East Aleppo...) (Russia Today, 2016/12/16). Here, the scale of the Turkish conspiracy against the Syrian revolution began to become clear, as the factions loyal to Turkey were removed, leaving behind the people of Aleppo with a small number of sincere fighters. This was so that Russia, Iran, and the regime could isolate them and eradicate them because they are "terrorists" according to the previously mentioned statements by the Turkish Foreign Minister as well as the Russian Hmeimim Center statement... Faced with these explicit Russian announcements of cornering a group of fighters in preparation for capturing or eradicating them, without any regard for the large number of civilians who remained cornered with them in that corner, Turkey announced that the evacuation operations were continuing, despite their cessation. This was because it had become in an extremely embarrassing position before the armed factions loyal to it that had been rushed out of Aleppo—those factions that agreed to withdraw as part of a comprehensive evacuation process for everyone. Now they find themselves trapped by Erdogan's Turkey to implement what America and Russia desire in what they call separating the "moderate" opposition from the "terrorists"... Thus, a new reality was created in Aleppo, where it is easy to target the sincere revolutionaries. America, Russia, and also Erdogan boasted about the success of the American plan, only to announce that the stage of events would then move to a distant place: Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan!.
Seventh: As for America, although it was hiding behind a curtain for a purpose necessitated by the short time remaining for the Obama administration, and its reassurance of the existence of the Turkish player who proved great loyalty to it, despite this, it was never far from the scene. It peeked out to show its great joy:
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he discussed the situation in Syria and Iraq with US President Barack Obama in a phone call on Thursday. Erdogan said Turkey would continue to monitor the evacuation of civilians from Aleppo. (Reuters, 2016/12/15).
President Obama expressed his thanks to President Erdogan for his country's efforts in mediating the ceasefire in Aleppo to allow the safe evacuation of the opposition and civilians. (US State Department Twitter, 2016/12/16).
The US Secretary of State came out on 2016/12/15 and issued a statement about the evacuation process from Aleppo, showing the extent of America's satisfaction with this result, which was a big dream for it during the "truce break" it implemented with blood or what preceded it in past years. Kerry said: (What we want in Aleppo now and before moving forward is an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities. Negotiations are the only way to end the war, and the opposition has shown its desire to return to negotiations...) (US State Department Twitter, 2016/12/16).
(Al-Qabas learned from high-level official sources who attended part of the meeting that took place last Saturday in Paris at the level of foreign ministers regarding the situation in Aleppo and Syria in general, that what US Secretary of State John Kerry said during the meeting "certainly amounted to a demand for the political and armed Syrian opposition to surrender completely to Russia, Iran, and Bashar al-Assad." The source said in exclusive statements to Al-Qabas that during the meeting, Kerry demanded the removal of all fighters from Aleppo, and pushing the Syrian opposition to go to the negotiating table in Geneva without any conditions... The source adds that the participants were somewhat shocked when they asked about the options that could be adopted to pressure Assad and his allies, and Kerry answered bluntly, "My President - meaning President Obama - decided to go to war to fight ISIS only...") (Al-Qabas Newspaper website, 2016/12/13).
Eighth: So this is the bloody play, and those were its tools, and that is what the President of Turkey, Erdogan, did after the blood of Muslims in Syria became cheap to him in exchange for America's satisfaction with him, and the waterfalls of blood shed in Aleppo, and the slaughters and massacres... All these poisons that were spread into the body of the city of Aleppo were because of the "dirty money" earned by the leaders of the factions from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others. It bowed their necks and weakened their resolves, after they had previously claimed they would not sell a people or blood. Here they are today in the slave markets of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, wandering aimlessly after the first part of the sale deal was completed, and its destructive results appeared. Is there any who will take heed? And is there anyone who does not see that accepting political money is suicide itself?!
As for the remaining scenes of the Aleppo play after the end of the American "truce break," they are no less humiliating and shameful than what preceded them. Whoever has any bit of shame left is required to shed it in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. Churkin, Russia's delegate to the UN, said that the primary mission in Syria, after liberating Aleppo, is the "complete cessation of hostilities and the resumption of negotiations between the Syrian parties." (Russia Today, 2016/12/16). Putin had previously announced, according to Russia Today on 2016/12/15, that he agreed with Erdogan to offer a proposal to the Syrian regime and representatives of the armed factions for negotiations. As Turk Press reported on 2016/12/16: (Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he would meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Kazakh capital "Astana" to discuss consolidating the ceasefire in Syria. Putin stated in a statement before his departure to Japan that the Geneva negotiations agreements on Syria, which took place through the UN, would be implemented. The Russian President pointed out that the next step would be a ceasefire across all of Syria. Putin indicated that he had agreed with the Turkish President to offer a proposal to the parties to the conflict in Syria to start new negotiations. The Russian President added that he had exerted intensive efforts with his Turkish counterpart until the realization of the ceasefire in the city of Aleppo was completed and the process of evacuating the besieged was facilitated).
This path—the path of surrender and consolidating the Assad regime after its restoration—is what Erdogan's Turkey is leading the armed opposition factions toward, in its specific part of the American plan. If the chambers of sincerity have been completely drained from the hearts of the faction leaders, then they are heading to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to put Syria and themselves on the gallows for a miserable price. However, if some of those chambers remain with them, they must immediately jump from Erdogan's ship and sincerely unite with the people before the people reject them—and they have already started... As for the sincere ones in those factions, they must return their leaders to the path or change them. For how can a revolution of an Ummah be sold by faction leaders for a few million dollars to their enemy Russia and America?! Thus, without being ashamed before Allah, His Messenger, and the believers! As for the people of Syria, Allah has decreed these trials upon them to distinguish the wicked from the good in a land that is the best of the dwellings of Muslims, and in it is the heartland of His Deen.
لِيَمِيزَ اللَّهُ الْخَبِيثَ مِنَ الطَّيِّبِ وَيَجْعَلَ الْخَبِيثَ بَعْضَهُ عَلَى بَعْضٍ فَيَرْكُمَهُ جَمِيعًا فَيَجْعَلَهُ فِي جَهَنَّمَ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
"In order that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good and place the wicked one upon another and heap them all together and put them into Hell. It is those who are the losers." (QS Al-Anfal [8]: 37)
Ninth: Finally, and not least, we remind Erdogan and everyone who conspired against Aleppo and contributed to its surrender and the abandonment of the fighters to please the enemies of Allah (swt) and His Messenger ﷺ; we remind him of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih from Al-Qasim, from Aisha, Mother of the Believers (ra), that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
مَنْ أَرْضَى اللَّهَ بِسَخَطِ النَّاسِ كَفَاهُ اللَّهُ، وَمَنْ أَسْخَطَ اللَّهَ بِرضَا النَّاسِ وَكَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ
"Whoever pleases Allah by the displeasure of the people, Allah will suffice him against the people. And whoever displeases Allah by the pleasure of the people, Allah will entrust him to the people."
And here he has seen and heard how people speak of him with anger. In fact, even his friend Putin did not cover for him but exposed him in front of everyone in a press conference! There is no harm in repeating what we mentioned at the beginning:
(*Russian President Vladimir Putin dropped a political bombshell when he revealed that the process of evacuating militants from East Aleppo had been reached during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to St. Petersburg last August... The Russian President said in a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo today "yesterday" Friday, that Moscow agreed with Ankara on Turkey's contribution to removing those militants who would agree to lay down their weapons in order to protect civilians above all else. He added, "Judging by what I see, what is happening is exactly what we agreed upon with the Turkish President during his visit to St. Petersburg..."*) (Elaph, 2016/12/16, Sputnik News, 2016/12/16). This is in addition to the painful punishment that Allah has prepared for everyone who committed crimes against the Islamic Ummah or contributed to the loss of Islamic land:
سَيُصِيبُ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا صَغَارٌ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ وَعَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَمْكُرُونَ
"There will afflict those who committed crimes debasement before Allah and severe punishment for what they used to conspire." (QS Al-An'am [6]: 124)
As for those wicked ones, I repeat to them what we have said before: (With all this, no matter what destruction befalls Aleppo, it will rise again. The land of Ash-Sham in general and Ash-Shahba Aleppo in particular will remain a poisoned dagger in the throat of America, Russia, and their followers and cronies, disturbing their sleep and killing them by their crimes. They will not enjoy a victory they claim; for not being able to enter a country except after destroying it is an illusory victory... and not being able to overcome a fighter except after his martyrdom is the victory of the defeated... and to mobilize destructive missiles, explosive barrels, and organized armies against hundreds or a few thousands, and yet they cannot confront them except with aerial bombers and warships, then this is the victory of the coward who is terrified of meeting men who are real men, and the fate of this victory is to vanish... America, Russia, the alliances, the cronies, and the followers want by their brutal crimes to repeat the history of their brothers before them, the Crusaders and the Mongol Tatars, in what they committed of crimes in Iraq and Ash-Sham. But these have not taken heed from the fate of those; for the Muslims uprooted them from their lands and rose again, and the pride of Islam and Muslims returned, and their Khilafah grew strong, and they conquered the city of Heraclius and it became the city of Islam "Istanbul," and they approached Moscow and knocked on the doors of Vienna. The days are in turns, and indeed, tomorrow is near for the one who awaits it.)
وَسَيَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا أَيَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبُونَ
"And those who have wronged are going to know to what [kind of] return they will be returned." (QS Ash-Shu'ara [26]: 227)
19th Rabi’ al-Awwal 1438 AH 2016/12/18 CE