Syria's Assad tours Idlib frontline near rebelsOctober 22, 2019 - 16:02 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian President Bashar al Assad on Tuesday, October 22 denounced Turkey’s leader as a thief for attacking the northeast of his country and reiterated a pledge to retake all areas lost to Damascus in years of civil war, state media reported, according to Reuters. Assad made the remarks as he made a rare visit to a frontline of Syria’s conflict, touring an area in war-torn northwestern Idlib province close to the last major bastion of Turkey-backed rebel forces. Assad was seen surrounded by army commanders and soldiers in the town of Hobeit, which the army took in August as part of a Russian-led offensive to capture Idlib and its surroundings.”Erdogan is a thief and is now stealing our land,” state media quoted Assad as saying, referring to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey this month began an assault against its Syrian Kurdish militia enemies in Syria’s northeast with the help of rebel forces who control swathes of territory north of Idlib. With the war now in its eighth year, capturing the Idlib area would be an important victory for Assad, who has steadily recovered control of rebellious areas with Russian and Iranian support. “We said and continue to say that the Idlib battle is the core to decisively end chaos and terrorism in all of Syria,” Assad was quoted as saying. Idlib enjoyed a lull in air strikes after Damascus and its ally Moscow declared a ceasefire on Aug. 31 following five months of bombing which the United Nations says killed hundreds of people Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakh Foreign Minister arrives in Armenia Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu on Monday, March 18 arrived in Armenia for a two-day trip. Aliyev touts “good chances” for normalizing ties with Armenia Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has declared that there are “good chances” for normalizing relations with Armenia. Top Armenian, Indian defense officials discuss cooperation The discussions primarily focused on enhancing cooperation in the defence sector between Armenia and India. IDBank unveils three sad stories about fraudsters IDBank has unveiled three scenarios of card fraud that have been happening more and more often in Armenia. |