Syria and Russia agree to reorganize presence in Tartus and Hmeimim
Syria and the Russian Federation — an aggressor state — have signed a memorandum on reorganizing the Russian presence at the naval facility in Tartus and the Hmeimim air base near Latakia International Airport. According to the Jerusalem Post, after approximately 18 months of negotiations, the facilities are to be transferred to Syria’s civilian administration, while the military infrastructure is planned to be reformatted into joint Syrian-Russian training and professional development centers.
Inspection of facilities
On August 9, Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the signing of the memorandum. Shortly afterward, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaybani, together with an official delegation, visited the port of Tartus and the Hmeimim base, established in 2015 under an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria’s then-president Bashar al-Assad.
Syria’s state agency SANA described the trip as an inspection of the facilities covered by the new agreement. Official Syrian reports on the visit did not mention Russian representatives.
On August 11, Reuters reported a statement by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which described the memorandum as an important step for developing bilateral cooperation in the military sphere. A Syrian source also told Reuters that some Russian military personnel would remain at the new joint training centers.
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According to the Jerusalem Post, on August 12 Russian personnel were leaving buildings near the commercial pier in Tartus, which had previously been controlled by Russian forces. Syria has already begun using this pier for civilian shipping.
The situation involving Turkey
The author of the publication notes that Hmeimim was the center of Russian air operations in Syria and supported Moscow’s broader military activity in the region. Previously, Israel and Russia had a mechanism for coordinating air operations over Syria, under which the sides notified each other in advance about planned actions.
The article also discusses the strengthening of military ties between Syria and Turkey. On August 18, shortly after a Turkish delegation visited the Abu al-Duhur air base, Israel carried out strikes on the facility. The Israeli side stated that it sought to prevent a possible deployment of Turkish forces there, while Damascus condemned the attack as a violation of Syrian sovereignty.
