Russian President Vladimir Putin told the world on Monday, March 14 that his forces will be withdrawing from the front line of Syria’s bloody civil war.
Stating that they had accomplished most of their objectives there, Mr Putin added that some Russian forces would remain at the Hmeymim airbase in Latakia Rif and in the port of Tartus and although he gave no specific numbers or totals of troops that would entail.
As the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) notes, Russia’s military intervention in Syria is roundly opposed by neighbouring Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This opposition has found expression in the relatively press of those countries.
One of the forms of opposition to Russia’s involvement has come in the form of newspaper and magazine cartoons that caricature Russia in general and Mr Putin in particular.
Some of the harsher ones show Russia and Mr Putin as murderers of the Syrian people and destroyers of their country, who serve the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as they claim to fight terrorism.
For its part, Russia’s defense ministry said on Friday that conditions had been created for a complete defeat of Islamic State forces in the Syrian city of Palmyra and Russia’s air force is continuing air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria at a rate of 20-25 sorties per day,
MEMRI has collated some of those cartoons and as it notes, they paint Russia and the Assad regime as working to thwart the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva as well as the temporary ceasefire in Syria, which came into effect on February 27, 2016. Other cartoons showed Russia as the true sovereign of Syria, and portrayed the international community as impotent against Russia’s crimes against Syria, even accusing the UN of authorizing Putin to murder the Syrian people.
Following are some of the cartoons published recently in the Gulf press. They have been curated by MEMRI under various categories:
Russia Does Not Fight Terrorism In Syria – It Destroys The Country And Kills Its People
“Russia fights terrorism!!!” (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, February 7, 2016)
“Russia” with bloody paw crushes “Syrians” (Al-Iqtisadiyya, Saudi Arabia, February 7, 2016)
“Russia” rests atop a pile of the skulls of Syrians it has murdered (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 15, 2015)
Putin takes aim at “terrorism!!” (Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, December 5, 2015)
Putin nurtures Syria with “terrorism” (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 27, 2015)
Russian bear picks its teeth with the bones of Syrians (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, February 13, 2016)
Fighting ISIS Terrorism – Putin’s Pretext For Russian Military Intervention In Syria
“Putin” uses “ISIS” to justify his intervention in Syria (Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, February 19, 2016)
Putin’s puppet show – “Russia” “combatting the terrorism” of “ISIS” (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 24, 2015)
Putin plays a “combatting terrorism” tune as the “ISIS” crow sings and Russia and Israel do a dance of destruction on Syria (Alaraby.co.uk, January 16, 2016)
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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