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Bases shift to Damascus
Syria said on Sunday it reached a deal with Russia on the fate of its two bases in the country, with the Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base to be turned into "joint training and capacity-building centres" under new arrangements.
“Hmeimim airbase and Tartus naval base would be turned into "joint training and capacity-building centres"”
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the memorandum of understanding set a time limit of no more than three months to complete the process, while civilian facilities at both bases would be handed over to Damascus.
AP reported that under the new agreement Russia’s forces in Syria will give up control of two strategic bases on the Mediterranean coast, with Syria taking control of the Hmeimem air base and the commercial berth at Tartus port as part of its civil administration.
Reuters said the Syrian state would take over management of civilian facilities, including Hmeimim airport and the commercial berth at Tartous port, and that military facilities would be repurposed as joint training and qualification centres with the transition to be completed within three months.
Voices: sovereignty and leverage
Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from Damascus, said the deal is being used to send "a clear message that the central government in Damascus is in control of all assets that belong to Syria and are part of Syrian territory."
In the same Al Jazeera report, Hitto said Damascus is affirming that "its national sovereignty is not up for negotiation," as Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited the sites on Sunday to inspect facilities included in the memorandum.
Arab News quoted International Crisis Group senior Syria analyst Nanar Hawach saying the memorandum’s significance is what it reveals about leverage, because "a transitional government has renegotiated the terms of a great power’s presence and secured, at least on paper, its demotion."
Arab News also quoted Hawach saying Moscow’s readiness to trade privileges for presence suggests access itself has become Russia’s core objective in Syria, adding that it would give Damascus room on every file the two sides touch next.
What changes next
The agreement described by Reuters includes Syria taking over commercial sites previously operated by Russia at Tartous port, including Pier No. 4 and its associated warehouses and facilities, with the hub Reuters reported Russia was seeking to establish to remain under Syrian control.
“including Pier No. 4 and its associated warehouses and facilities”
Reuters also reported that Russia was seeking to establish a commercial logistics hub at Tartous port using Pier No. 4, a restricted zone outside the naval base, and that any activity there would be subject to approval by Syria’s General Authority for Ports and Customs.
CNN said the deal ultimately ends Russia’s use of the two Mediterranean coastal bases as military outposts for Moscow, with Syria taking control of the Hmeimem air base and the commercial berth at Tartus port as part of its civil administration.
France 24, citing Syria’s foreign ministry, said the remaining military facilities would be converted into joint training centres, while the new arrangements represent a "reorganising of the Russian presence" along Syria’s coast.
