they are urged by the syrian people.took place at the time of a fragile, i recognize it, but by and large holding cessation of hostilities after syrian people. and why more besieged areas are being reached than ever before. not enough. not enough. but taking place. and people see that. the public statements are going to be showing and they have already done that there is much distance between the sides and in this sense these exist. and we are going therefore to proceed through the technique of proximity talks as we did previously and we will this time enhance it. the agenda is set. it is based on 2254 and within the framework as you know in the guidance, no question on that, of the geneva communication. spoilers will try to upset the talks by incidents, by whatever you will be seeing and we will be seeing and the secret will be to be bold, determined and have the international community and those i just mentioned keeping that type of capacity. public rhetoric will try to cast iron preconditions but this is a moment of t

and there have been 13.5 estimated syrian refugees, syrians who have been displaced.hat is close to 50% of an entire country. now to take a us moment of silence actually and think about those 300,000 syrian refugees from the lost their lives in the past few years. thank you. so, how did we get here? how did this happen? i apologize that i am taking you back to the beginning. but it really is the beginning of where we need to start. how did we get to this point? well, to start, let's talk about the players in syria. there are really four main players in syria. there are the russians, the iranians, hezbollah -- which we will call the government in syria -- and their goal is to break the back of the syrian revolution. and also they have been making , faster progress today than at any point since 2011. we will cover that later in the presentation. the second main group, which we will break down into three categories, are the complex makeup of the armed groups. this next slide will show you that make-up. as i said, you will see that one of the parties, the government of sy

nearly 5 million syrians have registered as worldwide refugees. >> back in 2011, syrians were inspired by that the revolutions in tunisia and egypt. they came out on to the streets demanding back then just reforms. want country had been ruled by one family for 40 years. they were backed by strong military regime and the vast intelligence network that speed on its own people. the government quickly responded to peaceful protests with violence, saying they were instigated by foreigners. >> with memories at vivid as their disappointments run deep, these syrians in turkey turn to books when they can, seeking comfort in their pages, solace in their chapters. an escape, albeit a brief one from the reality of a horrific milestone, five years of a war that brought with it the kind of unmitigated misery no one here could have foreseen. at the beginning, the arab spring had spread hope. >> what happened in tunisia, this is all the area go to the street. >> syrian artist opened pages bookstore and cafe as a refuge for fellow citizens tired of conflict and thirsting for culture. >> he fled damascu

there are many turkish-syrian refugees. many refugees have fled from syria outnumbering the 90,000 locals. and more on the way. every day, thousands of syrian refugees head for the border. but turkey, which is already taken a 2.5 million refugees, has begun building camps on syrian soil. the syrian presence in police is very visible -- kelis is very visible. many have used their savings to create -- for a long time refugees were welcome here of the central square, turks have been donating blood for wounded syrians. but slowly, the mood is shifting. >> hello. there has been no hostile activity toward syrians. as more arrive, this can change. >> the relatives have arrived at the office or the official marriage. but once again, the couple is sent away because a signature is missing. they are told to come back next week. it has been like this for the last three years now. he currently earns his living as a taxi driver. two years ago, he lost his job at a textile company. >> i earned about 700 euros, then the syrians came. they

led by the syrian ambassador for new york. i think this is rather uncomfortable to him potentially because not only has the russian military involvement been a game change are it also gives them diplomatic mat might aat these s and the ambassador should be pretty pleased at the announcement coming from moscow, the announcement by president putin himself. this is what he said. >> translator: i believe that the goal set out to the ministry of defense and the armed forces has overall been fulfilled and that's why i ordered the minister of defense as of tomorrow to start the pullout of the main part of our force he from the syrian republic. >> reporter: you've got to remember that the russians in many ways have been the trump card for the syrian regime throughout the conflict. which is coming up to the five year anniversary. first, they were at the security council they had that veto backed by china and they were able to support the assad regime whenever they needed to. and then the big game changer happened in september, of last

a syrian academic joining us here. despite the hoopla of vladimir putin saying "we're pulling most of our kit and gear out", the russian involvement is still woven through the fabric >> i don't think it's just russian advisers. we know russian special forces have taken part in this battle for palmyra. it is not only the air force, russian air force. so i think the russians did the, indeed, withdraw part of the forces in syria. i think they still have the special forces, they still have part of their air force in the air base and also another area. there have been supporting the syrian regime in a very significant way, in most of the battles that have been taking place against d.a.e.s.h. recently in other places too. i think this is somehow the russians are trying to say that we are going to actually achieve major outcome against d.a.e.s.h., we can do this more effectively than the united states because if we take the american company, which has been going on for the past 18 months, i think the russians are saying we ca

it's interesting listening to the words used by the syrian state newsagency, that the syrian-russian parties - making it sounds like they came together, as opposed to vladimir putin saying what he was planning to do, what is your analysis of all of this. do you think russia is distancing itself from bashar al-assad? >> look, if we give vladimir putin the benefit of the doubt, and i'd probably have to go wait out of my way do that, to give the russians the benefit of the doubt, clearly the mission for the last six months served its purpose which basically means maintaining the stability of the country, meaning not allowing it to escalate down or spiralling into a civil war. isil is going nowhere as a result of the syrian - the russian presidents, and the russian bombardment. third, i think it's clear that there has been a deal between vladimir putin and president obama, in that famous phone call that led to the ceasefire on february 2011 allowing the forces to take place. i imagine vladimir putin would not give up the presence they have for free. and there would be a bargaining on the

boss's position is not up for discussion. >> president bashar al-assad has nothing to do with the syrian-syrian indirect talks. the references of our talks do not indicate anything, do not give any indication whatsoever with regard of the issue of the president of the syrian arab republic. so this is something that is already excluded from the scene. >> reporter: it's clear these talks have so far made very little progress on the key issue of political transition, but these negotiations are part of a process that is making a difference on the ground in syria. the cessation of hostilities has been in effect now for almost a month. the u.n. estimates as many as 3,000 lives have been saved >>> that reduction in violence that james mentions in his report has been felt in aleppo. on that our correspondent reports on life to residents there about what they think of the talks in geneva. >> reporter: it is almost a month since the start of the truce which appears to be holding. leaving this city of aleppo busy with people and scenes of relative ease. talks in geneva for a political solution have adjour

july 20, the syrian kurds. the first that in here because it is important to recognize that the kurds have been playing heree -- i'd put that in because it is important to recognize that the kurds have been playing a role. 30, i ran grants syria a credit line. iran grants syria a credit line. this is the turning point, really. it became a turning point in the syrian war where we began to see the balance shift towards the regime winning over the opposition. too,hat happened there, the middle opposition was weakening and you saw an opportunity for the extremist opposition to come in and begin fighting against the middle opposition. they were actually attacking moore the middle -- more the middle -- we call them rebels -- the moderate opposition worthy target primarily in august 2013 -- were the target primarily in august 2013. fighting asarted you will see in 2014. they break their ties with isis. on august 14, the extremists the isis rebels out. out.sh the rebels hundreds die in a chemical attack. the discussion

june 25, syrian death toll tops 100,000 syrians, now killed by june 25, 2013.that was almost two years ago. so july 13, the u.s. alleges chemical weapons -- you will see that there is a lot of different discussions as to whether chemical weapons happened. it was confirmed that there were. the western powers came to an agreement that there were. there was a lot of discussion happening. july 16, a militia kills a reconciliation team. again, intensifying attacks against u.n. officials and people working in private diplomatic circles. july 20, the syrian kurds plan a self-government. i have placed that in a because it is important to recognize that the kurds have been playing the role in the conflict as well. the resolution to the conflict has to involve a resolution that involves the kurds. on july 30, iran grants syria a $3.6 billion credit line. that was, again, another show that the iranians are helping support the syrian regime. in the syrian war where we began to see the balance shift towards the regime winning over the opposition. and what happened there, to

the operations backed by russian and syrian air strikes. >> the pictures broadcast on syrian state television showing an advance. syrian government troops fighting to ley take palmyra from isil. state media showed war planes and helicopters as soldiers approached on the ground. there has been no independent confirmation, the syrian observatory for human rights reported fighting continued outside the city after the army moved to the city outskirts on wednesday. isil captured the city, including a u.n.e.s.c.o. world heritage site and began a campaign of mass executions. strategically situated between damascus and bell azar, it is important for the armed forces and allies. russia withdraw most of its forces, the government of syrian president bashar al-assad made advances in rebel-held territory. the offensive coinciding with talks in good afternoon as the u.n. attempts to negotiate a solution to the war. a ceasefire between government forces and rebel factors reduced violence, the sessionation of hostilities excludes both. isil that has taken over wide swaths of territory is under attack on two

between the syrian regime and the russians, and between the syrian opposition, there are so many fronts against d.a.e.s.h. the syrian opposition is fighting d.a.e.s.h. in the north and is trying to give the impression that they are a force to be reckoned with. >> this strengthens the hand of the regime in its argument. >> i think both sides are trying, as i said, to give the impression that they might be the force which can actually achieve this ultimate objective. especially the americans have been trying to reach over the past couple of years. since the fall of mosul. at the end of the day, what the americans and russia are trying to do is trying to get both sides, the regime and the moderate syrian opposition fighting d.a.e.s.h. and i mean that was - that was the main objective, i think of the americans from the beginning, now the russians are trying to state that on the ground. trying to state the under inns. >> the american goals are or some of the powers involved. it is to have a syrian in which bashar al-assad is no longer in power. how much is the dynamics of the peace process a

already we heard from the syrian government and, in fact, the syrian delegation arrived in the last hourin geneva. they say they will not negotiate about the role of president assad these days. meanwhile the negotiation and high negotiation of the high negotiation has been telling al jazeera that they have a red line and that is president assad and he must go. >> translator: there is a simple rule in this universe, in this whole existence, at the end of the day no one can trade the will of the entire syrian people for a gang of criminals and mass murders. the people are the only one to determine the fate of future and it's clear when the russians stopped bombing and people down to the streets about the regime and want to topple the regime after five years of killing and barrel bombs and heavy shelling. >> reporter: james expecting a press conference in about 15 minutes and what can we expect with john kerry meeting foreign ministers in paris? >> i think he is going to be optimistic, optimistic because they got to this stage of getting both sides back to geneva and this time both sides ha

the brussels refugee plan concern syrians.hat has left non-syrian refugees questioning what could be in store for them. reporter: tensions are boiling over in this migrant camp. this afghan man is being taken to the hospital after clashes between a group of afghan and syrian migrants. scuffles have also broken out over the limited supplies available. is is brussels proposing that migrants arriving in greece should be sent back to turkey, those who have crossed into europe remain in limbo. here14,000 people stranded are closely watching the goings-on with brussels talks the tween the eu and turkey where their fate hangs in the balance. >> we do not know what to expect. they have to solve this issue for us. they have to. them to taket pictures of us and put us in newspapers to remind people that we exist. we need an end to this. each family needs to know it's fate. the idea that syrian refugees sent back to turkey will be put in camps there was some resettled directly from turkey to europe. however, migrants from other countries

at targeting the syrian opposition.king about the moderate opposition. whereas russia now is saying that it carried out most of its objectives, and the main objective was to eliminate isis, and that has not happened. -- isis has spread even further, because key areas are being targeted. those front lines were never a target, but it is significant now. this comes on the 14th of march, and this is the 15th march, which is the five anniversary. just a few days ago on friday there were over 130 protests that took place across syria, in rebel-held areas. the majority of the people participating are rebel groups that are considered moderate groups. this is important because this means they are resisting to groups such as al-nusra and isil and are trying to uphold those values of what we now can say again is the revolt that has gone on for five years. >> if russia has been so effective in taking out what you call these moderate forces, where does it leave them now if assad is clearly there to stay? >> reporter: if assad is cle

the syrian national coalition and an affiliate with the free syrian russian. russia wants the kurds to be involved but they have not been invited. a meeting needs to take place without any preconditions. >> reporter: putting up preconditions contradict the fundamentals we came upon. it is an all syrian meeting without any foreign intervention and without preconditions >>> i'm joined by our senior political analyst. the en special envoy says he wants to talk about the feature of bashar al-assad but even before the talks begin, so how would you rate anything positive coming ou this time? >> staffan de mistura is giving himself a lot of latitude and time. we're talking about 18 months on the overall. i think in this context of what has been seen since the first geneva and the third geneva, anything is sacred. at the end of the day convening with each delegate separately will discuss whatever he seems necessary and in so many ways for the time being he is backed by moscow and washington. that's why for our viewers to know that staffan de mistura might walk the tal

half of all syrian refugees are children. many of those fleeing the fighting in syria have taken refuge in jordan. we went to one of the camps housing them. >> when the first syrian refugees arrived in jordan, they never dreamed they would be here this long. five years later, a new generation has been born here. in february, rima became the 5,000th baby delivered in the u.n. hospital in jordan's biggest refugee camp. most of the refugees here in the camp are from dara province, just across the border from jordan. it's where the uprising began with protests against the arrest and torture of syrian teenagers. nearly half a million more refugees are in jordan cities, straining the country resources. the government has closed hundreds of kilometers of its border with syria to refugees except for the wounded. >> there are a lot of wounded. they include children and the fathers and mothers whose lives are forever altered. >> we were in the battle, the plane hit us. we were about 10 people, six were killed and the rest injured. i wa

the syrian army has done something unprecedented in the syrian war. the syrian army had to have a large-scale operation such as this one. they will have to reallocate forces and take units from certain front lines undermining the area. we have seen surveillance equipment to interfere and to tap into i.s.i.l. communication. i think this explains why this is the first battle for the army with a large number of i.s.i.l. movement. a source told me this morning that they have a body count of i.s.i.l. of over 380 which is a very high number >>> australia has a tough policy to deter refugees who arrive by boat. some of them are making a valuable contribution to the country. andrew thomas reports from noble park near melbourne. >> reporter: every summer parts of australia go up in blames, in hot windy conditions wild bushfires are common. containing them and stopping them from destroying homes or lives genally falls to volunteer firefighters. not many from iran but this woman and her husband are refugees that came to australia by boat. >> the hose is heavy, e

again, the syrian government under pressure there. then there's a third area that was laid out in the u.n. security council resolution that set out this process that had to happen before the talks took place and nothing has happened and, again, i think the pressure is on the government. that's with regard to detainees, particularly women and children being held by the government in their cells. we understand in staffan de mistura, the mediator, he is adding that task, a third way that the government is coming under pressure >>> thank you for that update. the kurdistan freedom falcons or t a.k. have claimed responsibility for a car bombing in the turkish capital on sunday. that explosion at a busy transport hub killed 37 people. the p a.k. made the announcement on their website saying their attack was in retaliation to a security crackdown by the kurdish government in kurdish areas. a splinter group of the kurdistan workers party also in turkey, bee understand the consulate in istanbul has been closed over security concerns. in south a

i see new communication devices with syrian officers and syrian soldiers, and it seems reports about the syrian army getting more equipment and technology from the russians accurate from what i'm seeing right here. >> isil reportedly -- particularly, if one sort of buys into what their pr says, they are reportedly very good at guerrilla warfare, urban warfare, how good are they today at resourcing this and organizing it? >> reporter: well, they are very good. and where isil excels it's not only urban farwear it is when it comes to desert warfare, it's where they can advance quickly and [ inaudible ] raising attention of their enemy. they are very good at advancing itself. but the syrian army have accumulated a large deal -- or a great amount of expertise in the past five years, and today the soldiers who have been fighting here for the past year indeed, are very well aware of the geography, of the terrain, and they are dealing with this accordingly. it is true that isil has the expertise that you just mentioned, of course, but i don't think isil expertise will be able to hold the cit

there was no syrian war. he said, look, this thing is going to radicalize and weaponize and regionalized. we looked at that. this could have been analysis from the researcher, but it was the president of the republic saying this is what i'm going to do. that we helped him, we come other world, the west, etc. so these prophecies became self , mistakes,prophecies inability, everything that might just talked about. i think everything was written on the wall since the start. this is the playbook that assad wanted to put in motion. and by doing nothing or by doing the wrong thing or by having the wrong analysis, willingly or unwillingly, we have this reality taking shape. and then this reality becomes a reality and took it as a pretext not to do anything. if you remember the debate in washington in 2012, if we go there, we will radicalize it. if we go there, we will weaponize it good if we go there, we will enhance the regional conundrum. the buy nothing desperate by not going there, we made this true. now where w

omar al saleh is there, near the syrian border. >> syrian where officials say syrian officials are nearey describe the situation as very tense and the fightings is fears. fierce. people are called to leave palmyra. earlier in the month they start he the campaign to regain palmyra which fell to i.s.i.l. last year. the importance of palmyra, aside from the historical aspect and the archaeological side, to the north is raqqa and that's a i.s.i.l. strong hold. to the east is are deir ez zor, so the road between them, is tremendous key for i.s.i.l. . >> the move the retake palmyra comes days after ar russia pulled its forces out of syria. u.n. envoy says he's aiming at restarting peace talks next month. but the biggest idea is a political transition from the assad regime to a diplomatically based government. james bays from geneva. >> reporter: these talks have been underway for element two weeks and the key issue, no progress at all, the syrian government has not properly engaged the opposition says on that issue. now u.n. special envoy will announce a next date for these talks. we're told

syrian government forces fighting to recapture the historic city of palmyr from i.s.i.l.tate media showed planes and helicopters flying overhead as soldiers were on the ground and human rights said many civilians fled after i.s.i.l. told them loudspeakers that fighting was drawing near but i.s.i.l. is resisting claims it's losing control of palmyra and the video shows the fighters driving around parts of the city as syrian government troops advance. some believe the syrian advance will be a moral booster. >> the bad news in europe and focus on i.s.i.l., this focuses on i.s.i.l. as a military operation as a failed state at this point in time and the u.s. and russia are working closely together in terms of air strikes and diplomatic channels of geneva and this is a setback for i.s.i.s., not the end yet but seems to me to be the beginning of the end. >> reporter: it includes a unesco world heritage site and i.s.i.l. captured the historic city in may and began mass executions and destroying sites. it's strategically located between damascus and the i.s.i.l. stronghold. govern

>>> syrian forces reclaim the ancient town of palmyra. you're watching al jazeera. coming up in the next half hour: >>> protestors are pushed out of central brussels. police use water cannons to disperse them. we'll have a life update. >>> refugee protest at the greece-macedonia border demanding it be reopened to them. >>> one of the world's great art museums reinventing itself to be more contemporary and modern. that story, coming up. >>> syrian president bashar al assad's army has taken full control of the ancient town of palmyra. government forces have advanced into isil held territory over the last days. there has been heavy fighting in historic center and residential areas. the syrian army backed by russian air power has captured the citadel with the unesco world heritage site. the group retaliate by launching a suicide attack on army positions. we have this update from the circumstancish-syrian border. >>> the observatory for human rights confirmed that the syrian army is in control of the town, however said the group was fighting in the eastern parts of the c

he condemned the syrian regimes demands. the delegation arrived in geneva and is insisting that the removal of the president bashar al assad is a red line. u.s. secretary of state john kerry met his european counterparts in paris. they admitted the talks will be difficult, but they're pushing to end the conflict that has additional placed 10 million syrians and fueled an exodus of refugees into the region and beyond into europe. >> here's what the u.s. secretary of state john kerry had to say a short while ago. >> there isn't a person standing here who doesn't understand how difficult that is, witnessed the comments made just yesterday by the foreign minister of syria clearly trying to disrupt the process, clearly trying to send a message of deterrence to others. >> the syrian opposition has criticized the united states. the senior negotiator described u.s. policy as confused. >> it's not even clear to their allies. in their statements, the americans are speaking of geneva one as a foundation and territorial integrity of syr

>> undoubtedly the syrian government is in a stronger position and what the syrian government and its allies have been trying to do is to use the strategic efforts made on the ground as diplomatic leverage. now we have heard putin's announcement. many say this will help the peace process. the white house said that the russian's military intervention made it more difficult to bring about the political transition. so a lot of people are seeing this as a message, really. first, to the west international community. this is not going to be an open-ended conflict. we don't want another afghanistan. a few weeks ago the russian u.n. envoy staffan de mistura told the syrian president when he said he wanted to recapture the whole country, he said this is not in line with our policies. is russia saying we don't want a military solution, but a political settlement. it needs to be flexible. it is about political transition, something the government does not want to discuss, but the government has been saying from day one, this is a fight against terrorism. we have to remember this is not an end to

no russian, not real, not -- but syrian people should decide. or let them do this, if the candidates and other candidates. >> sergei russian foreign policy expert, very food to get your views on the program. still to come, we will report from ohio the mid western swing state, that's picks the candidate who has ended up in the white house every time since 1964. back in court, norway's mass murderer claims he is being held in conditions that breech his human rights. a country with big plans for it's cricketing future. the shoot out happened during a raid in november. which left 130 dead and hundreds injuries. police have blocked off roads in the southern suburb, where events are still unfolding. and has this update on the situation. >> shots were fired this afternoon is there there were two people hiding in h the building. the security perimeter was set up and then the security forces arrived. operations are still on going. >> the situation is calm, there is a police presence and the local residents have been staying indoors. there's a pressure ne

the occurred are part of the syrian people, like everyone else. what if the jews and others say they want their own state. it is unacceptable >> reporter: the kurdish delegations claims their block will be a home for turk men or arab citizen just like others. for once the people of aleppo and the governments in damascus and ankara have something to agree about. they all insist that partitioning syria is a mistake which could make things worse still than they have been >>> the kurdish party pushing for autonomy has not been invited to the talks in geneva. this has sent ripples through the various factions. james bays has more. >> reporter: as the talks that geneva continue, a group that has not been invited have forced themselves onto the agenda. staffan de mistura decided to exclude the pyd from the process for now under pressure from turkey which common assaults the kurdish party-- calls the kurdish party a terrorist group. he said the question of federalism was an issue to be decided by the representatives of the syrian people at the talks. >> t

a syrian academic and writer joins us here live. would the cessation of hostilities held as well as it has held if the russians hadn't pulled out 60/07% of their gear that was involved in that theater of conflict? >> i think without russian, whether it was pulled out or not, it is my the issue, sloppings the russians are having the main say right now in the syrian conflict because we all know that - i mean, they have told the regime that they must abide by this agreement. the cessation of hostilities agreement, and annoy for sure that there have been trying to put huge pressure on the regime in order to not violate, but i think they're trying to show that they can actually pressure their allies in order to respect the agreements which had been reached with the americans over the past actually few weeks, whether concerning the situation on the ground or concerning the political talks in gen ooech a >>> if the russians are driving this, will they drive it as far as saying to bashar al-assad, your day are numbered, this is a lose-lose

brokered talks aimed at ending the syrian conflict gets underway in geneva. you're watching al jazeera live from doha. also ahead, a powerful car bomb in turkey's capital ankara kills at least 34 people and injuries more than one hundred. al-qaeda says it carried out an attack on a beach resort on the ivory coast. 16 people are dead. trees are worth more in gold in hong kong >>> a new round of talks to try and end the syrian conflict are due to get underway in geneva in just a few hours. diplomats are hoping to build on a truce that has been in effect since february. the syrian government has agreed to attend but the foreign minister says the post for president is not up for discussion. there will only been an accepting of the government in 12 months. russia wants ethnic kurds included in the talks but they have not been invited. i.s.i.l. and the armed group al-nusra front also been excluded. syrian i can't's-- syria's ambassador says there should not be conditions >> translation: the meeting happened in geneva is an all-syrian meeting without any foreign int

a serious dialogue for all syrians. key phrase, which i think will reverberate was when he used the phrase without preconditions, that's very probably of course a direct reference to what people like the hnc, the opposition group, their line in the sand, of course is that the syrian president, mr. assad has to go, or at least has to sign up to some sort of process that ends with him no longer being in power in any substantive way in the capitol, damascus. i dare say we will be talking to james bayes before then of the hour if we can. and you can get more on the website, aljazeera.com. now let's take you back to our top story, as to when is a chief of staff not in chief of staff, when he has been put into the cabinet in brazil, of course we're talking about lula da silva, dilma rousseff's predecessor in brazil. margo is working that story for us. margo have we had any word from either of the two key players as this drama continues to unfold? >> well, it seems overnight that lula da silva released a letter, he said he has

our correspondent is near the syrian border with more. >> reporter: syrian state television said syriany soldiers are inside palmyra mainly from the western side. however, those reports were denied by activists inside palmyra. they say the fighting is fierce. isil has called on the people inside palmyra to leave because the fighting was approaching to the center. now the government sent enforcements about three days ago. earlier in the month, they started to regain palmyra which fell to isil last year. the importance of palmyra, aside from the historical aspect, it's location is very key. to the north is raqqa, and that's an isil strong hold. to the east another province in syria which is mostly controlled by isil and its neighbors iraq, so the road between them is very key to isil. >>> john kerry says he wants to see further reduction in violence and more humanitarian assistance flowing into syria. he is pressing sergei lavrov during a meeting in moscow. he is also expected to discuss the future of president assad during talks later with president putin. hoda abdel hamid is following t

it has proved that it does not care about the lives of syrians. it has sold the country to whoever supports it. it has proved it does not belong to its people. displacement is pain and hardship, but syrians will not forget the sufferings and the destruction it has brought to the country. the people are determined to complete the part of the revolution until the regime is toppled. >> as a govern of aleppo, i could he hali have entered turkey. i left in the last hours after it was taken over by regime forces. many friends offered me places to live in, but i have chosen to stay in the camps to live their lives and look at their needs and to feel their sufferings. if i left to go to turkey or lived in a house, i would not feel the sufferings of displaced people in the camps. >> fighting continues in the yemen city of taiz days after government troops launched a campaign to recapture the city. houthi rebels have had control of taiz and its suburbs since july. we have this report. >> troops loyal to president adou rabbo mansour hadi on the offensive. th

and it's not only the turks, and not only the syrian regime, the syrian opposition in general againstd of move being made by the kurds in northern syria. >> thanks very much. >>> plenty more ground still to cover for you here on the al jazeera news hour, including these stories, e.u. leaders arriving in belgium to discussion the refugee crisis. plus morocco cuts its support for the u.n. mission in western sar -- sahara. >>> and south africa denies claims that it paid brides to host the 2010 world cup. ♪ >>> the e.u. summit is meeting. it's taking place with turkey. they are set to take place within the hour. leaders have been arriving in brussel over the past two hours. they will focus on the refugee crisis. turkey has agreed to take back the refugee that leave in exchange for certain political stipulations. the most controversial proposal is a deal to send new refugees and migrants arriving in greece back to turkey. for each syrian refugee returned to turkey, one other syrian refugee in turkey will be accepted into the e.u. for resettlement. now in return, turkey has asked for the e.

syrian people.eralism might be the start of the division. >>> the syrian courts are an important component of the syrian people. we are proud of them. they are proud of us. we have established our -- our state together for centuries. so betting on creating any kind of divisions among the syrians will end -- will be a total failure. >> well, lawrence lee is in the region, on the border in turkey with reaction from there. >> translator: well, it's a only day three of geneva and there is still no shortage of absolutely shock announcement. that's kobani over there, which the kurds managed to expel isil from, and the yellow flag of the ypg now flies over the town. the kurdish proposal, if you take it at face value would put together the autonomous regions like kobani and join them all up, in a federal groups, which would stretch all the way to the iraqi border, and join up with the kurdish enclave in though north as well. the turks are extremely concerned. they have long accused of the ypg of acting in c

bashar al jaffari. >> lawrence lee has the latest there the turkish syrian boat. >> the syrian town of kobani was almost fought off. which would stretch all the way to the border with iraq. on the turkish side of the border, there's support for the ypg. just as much backing for kurdish awm. all. autonomy. not on just day 3 in geneva have the kurds even though they weren't invited managed to insert themselves back into the talks. the announcement also comes just a few days before kurdish new year. could it be the kurds want to announce autonomy in syria as new year's celebrations? in aleppo many said partitioning of the kurdish area went entirely against the aims of the revolution as one syria for alll irrespective of one side side oe other. >> this is really bad. the cushedz ar kurds are part on people like anyone else, what if the druds or the alawites say they want their own territory? it's unacceptable. >> turkmen or arab citizens just like kurds and their federalism could be a model for them to follow. but for once those in aleppo and in damascus have something to agree about. they

syrians asking us, not only what is useful, what are the syrian asking us.y have been asking us for a reduction of islands you remember and therefore the priority in mind to protect is the cessation of hostilities and the second priority in mind to protect because they have been asking us and they continue asking us even being demonstrating in favor of that is the humanitarian access, not enough but that is what they have been asking for, cessation of hostilities, not perfect but has been asking for that. so that is what we need to protect. but now comes the next concept in our own strategic approach. you can't sustain a cessation of hostilities in a conflict like the syrian one five years of horror and you can't therefore sustain the humanitarian aid which is linked to the access thanks to the reduction of violence unless there is a political process. and you can't have a political process which is credible unless there is a vision and a horizon of a political transition as bear 2254. so that is the context in which we are working. and when you look at the

we have seen syrians doing all kinds of nonviolence resistance. two days ago, in a small - in a small besieged area, 170 people came out for voting for the human rights committee of the local council. 170 people. activists were disappointed that this is a small number. it's huge, in that people are still, to this day, going out and practicing these - whether that's protest or the local governance initiatives, and the initiatives to promote human rights in their communities. it's not doing that, they are not just protesting against the regime, against the injustice and the violence of extremist groups as well. >> i should imagine you see people do amazing things - excuse me interrupting you. is there a longer term for possibility of development in the country? >> i think while the priority is on humanitarian - whether it's protection or relief, there are the beginnings of longer term - there are the beginning of what would be a longer term development process. so you have, as i was saying, the local councils, or the civil society groups that are wo

run by the maram foundation, a syrian ngo who tries to relieve the sorrow of the syrian children. most of the city of homs has hos been bombed to the ground. teachers tell me wets his bed regularly and rarely manages to sleep through night without waking up screaming but he still desires for a better future. >> when i grow up i want to be an architect. >> i asked him what do you want for your future? >> translator: you tell us you want to liberate us. >> she now finds it difficult to speak. her eyes tell a story by itself. at child forced to grow up way too quickly. it's tough to get the sound of explosion out of her head. >> translator: life used to be so beautiful but assad and his soldiers destroyed everything with their weapons. >> just listening would be enough to make anyone want to bring an toned this war immediately. not only has this war robbed these children of their parents, the more and more it kills their future. >> the orphanage puts emphasis on education. now all of this is under threat. funding for orphanage has stopped. these or fan orphans may find themselves wit

many syrian soldiers and officers defected early on but the kraegts of the free syrian army had limited success in response to the government's brutal actions. more organised groups like al-nusra were able to take large parts from government forces. dozen of other groups have sprung up including some declared as terrorist organizations. those who left syria joined others in exile to form a diplomatic front. committees documented the casualties, joined by a syrian national council, faced with criticism of not being inclusive enough another body called the syrian national coalition was formed under the pray electronage of gulf around western countries. none of those so-called embral agroups in sway over the fighting on the ground. then the hnc was formed. even that did not manage to bring together all the fighting groups. the opposition says while their friends have meetings the syrian rays send fighters to support bashar al-assad. is as soon as partial truce gave syrians a chance to come out, they used it to remind the world there is still opposition against the oppressive regime >>> the

syrian government representatives are talking to mr.an de mistura and is it today and tomorrow? is there sort of a vague timeline on this? >> no, they are relatively short meetings and meet so far and we had two days of this for just about an hour and a half normally, we had the first meeting between the government side of jeffrey and mr. staffan de mistura on monday, then on tuesday we had the meeting between the hnc delegation and mr. staffan de mistura and now it's the second meeting with the government. in many ways this is it because the first meetings were each side presenting their case. now because this is the second round of meetings started, mr. staffan de mistura i'm sure will present the opposition's plans or parts of them to the government's sides and we are starting to get an exchange of ideas. we know that both sides have presented papers to mr. staffan de mistura and he is looking through those ideas which eventually he may come up with his own u.n. paper of some of the ideas that actually both sides agree on. and i'm su

where members of the syrian army inside palmyra. the government for the last three days sent force trying to advance toward palmyra. act visits inside palmyra have told us that he denied basically that he was coming from the syrian television saying the fighting is outside and that outside of the city, and that the isil fighters are still positioned in palmyra, but described the fighting as very fierce. now why palmyra is important, of course always the historical aspect are sight--sites. to the east of it is it borders iraq and most of little under isil control. i think it's key both for the government of syrian president bashar al assad as well as the russians to achieve something in that area, because the russians, when they entered syria' e. said it was targeting isil. >> the u.s. secretary of state john kerry said he wants to see further reduction in violence and greater humanitarian assistance flowing into syria, so kerry is pressing his russian counterpart over a political transition in as her i can't during a meeting in mosc

the vast majority are syrian. can anyone tell me why the syrians are fleeing? albert. civil war, absolutely. would anyone else like to talk? meredith. [indiscernible] >> people are just getting killed publicly. the infrastructure, health care. [indiscernible] ms. garcia: absolutely correct, all of you. thank you. the country has been locked in a bloody civil war for the past four years that has displaced one third of its population, 7 million out of 21 million people. 4 million people have been forced to cross international borders mostly to neighboring countries like jordan and lebanon. they are fleeing enormous devastation. last month, the obama administration announced it would increase the annual refugee quota over the next two years to it us -- to assist with this crisis. the annual quote a set at 70,000 to 80,000 will increase to 100,000 by the end of 2017, presumably to accommodate a greater share of syrian refugees. within our immigration bureaucracy, there are several tracks for admission. we have discussed some of those tracks of admission. we are going to di

they say they've attacked a number of syrian army positions, including a checkpoint. earlier, after the syrian army said it was in full control, isil's media group claimed that it carried out two suicide attacks in the western part of the town, so clearly isil remains there in different parts of the town, but i will describe them on the outskirts. however in the center and the wider area, i think the government is in control. we have president assad even speaking to a visiting did he go allegation who praised the results of the attacks and also you have a spokesman for the military, for the syrian military saying this is the beginning to defeat isil. >> palmyra isn't just known as a unesco world heritage site, it's also very significant in terms of a strategic location for the syrian army. talk us through how significant it is. >>> it's very significant for them primarily because of its location. it connects owe open the boys is located in the center of syria and connects all the prance portation closing to the east and then to the north and west, for the syrian army

this is only a phase in the syrian revolution and it will go away. those who don't belong here will eventually leave our land. >> reporter: as well as foreign fighters there are many different opposition groups. they all agree that president bashar al-assad has to go but disagree on how to get there. >> there is not one unified position. there are thousands of different groups that comprise this opposition. there are deep divisions among the main ones over whether they should participate in a peace process or not. >> reporter: rebels are blaming each other for the fallout in idlib. disagreements on just one side of the fighting in syria's deeply complex war >>> at least 17 suspected al-qaeda fighters have been killed in air strikes in yemen. security officials say the strikes were a second stage to freeing the southern area. there have been several attacks on local security officials in the area. libya's u.n. backed presidential council is attempting to push through the new unity government without parliament's approval. the council nominated a unity

this restaurant and cafe is where many syrians gather. these opposition activists have differing political views, but they all share deep mistrust towards international communities. >> if the international community hadn't left the assad regime killing syrians to today, there would have been no isil or other fanatic factions. >> if you ask any young syrian man in the street, is america able to remove bashar al assad, they'll say yes, in one phone call. we hope the international community wakes up and doesn't look for their incident he rests. it's in their hands to stop the bloodbath. >> the truce has reduced the level of violence and bombardment. crucially, it's also restored regular peace protests. >> the revolution's anniversary came at a time where the civil activity of the revolution was restored after we lost it. the truce gave it a little lifeline. i fear it won't last long. >> the war, the truce and the talks are likely to drag on. most syrians are resigned to watching through the haze. they know their five will ultimately be decid