While Washington mourns about the Russian ‘intervention’ in Syria, the Syrian Army encourages establishment of Russian permanent military base in the port city of Tartus.
Establishment of Russian permanent military base in the port city of Tartus would allow the Syrian Army to achieve more success in the war against terrorism, Brigadier General of the Syrian Armed Forces, Samir Soleiman, said.
“Establishment of this military base [in Tartus] will increase the power of the Russian and Syrian troops, as well as their allied forces in their war against terrorists in Syria,” the Fars news agency quoted his words.
Soleiman also stressed that establishment of the military base was needed in order to confront terrorists, supported by foreign states.
On October 10, plans of Russian military to expand its supply base in Syrian port of Tartus and to turn it into a fully-fledged permanent naval base were announced by Russian Deputy Defense Minister, General Nikolay Pankov.
“We are going to have a permanent Navy base in Tartus. We have prepared the paperwork, which is now being reviewed by other government agencies. The documents are pretty much ready, so we hope to submit them to you for ratification soon,” Pankov told the Russian Federation Council.
Last week, an advanced anti-aircraft missile system was delivered to Tartus in order to protect facilities of the port and mooring warships from potential missile attacks and airstrikes. The move was made, amid media reports about plans of the Pentagon to carry out a massive cruise missile attack on Syrian airfields in order to deprive Damascus of aerial capabilities.
The Russian facilities were deployed in Tartus in 1977 in order to resupply Russian warships during its missions in the Mediterranean Sea. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the facilities continued to be used for replenishment and repairing of Russian warships, but has never been used as a permanent base for any of them.