Russian party urges international military aid for Syrian govt

A leftist Russian party has prepared a parliamentary motion calling for immediate military, technical and humanitarian aid to the governments of Syria and Iraq in their fight against Islamic terrorists.

The Fair Russia party wants the State Duma to call on the international community to unite in fighting the growing terrorist threat in the Middle East.

“The situation in Syria and Iraq has sharply declined after the surge in activities of terrorist groups leading to cruel and mass killings among religious and ethnic minorities,” the motion reads.Russian MPs express special concern about the “bloody terror” conducted by the Islamic State group (also known as ISIL and ISIS) against the Kurdish people.

“The State Duma calls upon the international community to immediately join efforts in order to stop the tragedy of the Kurdish people and insists that it is necessary to render sufficient military, technical, and humanitarian aid to Syria and Iraq after due coordination with the Syrian and Iraqi governments,” the draft address reads.

“This situation must be addressed as an obligation of all UN members to prevent a crime against humanity,” the document reads.

Russia has acknowledged the threat of Middle East terrorist groups and promised to support countries and groups fighting against them. However, when US Secretary of State John Kerry said in September that in his view Russia must join the international fight against the IS terrorists, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for New Challenges and Threats, Ilya Rogachev, replied that the country “did not expect any invitations and was not going to buy entry tickets,” into the US-led anti-IS coalition.

Rogachev added that Russia was ready to help all IS opponents, including members of the coalition being formed by the US, but under the condition that they stop using double standards and remain within the framework of international law.

In mid-October MPs from the nationalist-populist party LDPR asked Russian prosecutors to block Islamic State’s propaganda films on Russian websites and social networks to prevent the spread of radical Islamist ideas, along with citizens’ involvement in terrorist activities.

In September the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, told reporters that his special forces intended to hunt down and kill IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. At the time Kadyrov claimed the Islamic State “was acting on orders from the West and Europe.”