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Disinfo: European Council wants to starve the Syrian people

Summary

[The extension of sanctions] is a continuation of the anti-Syrian campaign that the European Council has resorted to since the beginning of the terrorist war on Syria, using the Syrian chemical file as an excuse to continue spreading lies about Syria.

[The extension] falls within the framework of … starving the Syrian people and undermining their steadfastness.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about sanctions against the Syrian regime trying to portray them as illegal and targeting the Syrian population.

The EU sanctions do not target the Syrian population but individuals and entities who are involved with a political regime that has committed war crimes, avoiding negative impacts on the population. See EEAS video here for further details.

It should be noted that the restrictions include exemptions for humanitarian needs and purposes.

EU sanctions for chemical weapons, imposed since 2018, respond to the regime’s involvement in the proliferation and use of chemical weapons.

EU sanctions for chemical weapons were renewed recently for one year until 16 October 2021.

The goal of these measures is to support the global prohibition of chemical weapons as laid down by the Chemical Weapons Convention.

They are part and parcel of the EU’s wider approach to the Syria crisis, as outlined in the EU strategy on Syria.

See a similar case that EU sanctions against Syria are illegal, that it targets people for merely doing business in Damascus.

The same article contained another disinformation claim alleging that Syria does not possess any chemical weapons.

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publication/media

abrag.akwadon.com (Archived)
akhbar1.com (Archived)
akhbaralyawm.com (Archived)
alamalmal.net (Archived)
alkawthartv.com (Archived)
almarsad.co (Archived)
almasryalyoum.com (Archived)
alsabahalyemeni.net (Archived)
ansarollah.com (Archived)
farsnews.ir (Archived)
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  • Reported in: Issue 216
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14/10/2020
  • Language/target audience: Arabic
  • Country: Syria
  • Keywords: EU, Chemical weapons/attack, European Union, Syrian War, Sanctions

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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Syria does not possess any chemical weapons 

[Syria] does not possess any chemical weapons, as part of fulfilling its obligations with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

October 16, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative absolving the Syrian regime of responsibility for chemical attacks in general.

The declared Syrian chemical weapon stockpile was reported to be completely destroyed in 2014. However, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) weapons inspectors could only authenticate that declared chemical weapons had been destroyed, even though there were suspicions in the West that Syria had hidden as much as 10% of its stockpile.

The coup in 2013-2014 is the root cause of the war and other problems in Ukraine

Ukrainian politicians still do not want to admit that the unconstitutional seizure of power in Kyiv was the root cause of the upheavals in the country.

Instead, the so-called “Maidan victors” decided to use force to suppress the dissenters in various regions of Ukraine. They imposed an almost complete ban on the Russian language, initiated lustration, the liquidation of parties and NGOs, the closure of oppositional media, and the lifting of restrictions on the propaganda of neo-Nazi ideology. And the Western mediators – France, Germany, and Poland, who acted as guarantors of the agreement of February 21, 2014 – in fact, withdrew from fulfilling the promises.

Almost seven years later, Kyiv is still afraid to face the truth and admit guilt for the tragic consequences of the bloody coup. They prefer to hide their fear behind anti-Russian and Russophobic rhetoric.

October 16, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign against Ukraine, containing multiple disinformation narratives regarding the Euromaidan, the war in Ukraine and Ukrainian statehood.

There was no coup in Ukraine seven years ago. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called "Maidan", or "Euromaidan" –  were a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych's last-minute U-turn when, after seven years of negotiation, he refused to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and halted progress towards Ukraine's closer relationship with the EU.

Turkey considers Crimea to be Turkish

For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Crimea is neither Ukrainian nor Russian. For Erdogan, Crimea is Turkish.

October 16, 2020
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Crimea.

Turkey has repeatedly stated that it does not support the Russian annexation of Crimea and supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Turkey has no claims to the Ukrainian peninsula, however, the Turkish leadership has repeatedly helped the Crimean Tatars, whose rights Russia is massively violating in the temporarily occupied Crimea.