– Opposition oppose Russia’s draft proposal; Iran says resolution should not focus solely on Assad
– At least 100 fighters killed in Syria during storming of besieged airbase
– UN launches app to help feed Syrian refugee children
– Turkey’s Erdogan puts Syria, Iraq on G20 leaders’ agenda
– Seven children among fourteen dead in migrant boat sinking off Turkey
– Iraqi Kurds reach Sinjar road, cutting ISIS supply line

Opposition oppose Russia’s draft proposal; Iran says resolution should not focus solely on Assad
Russia circulated a document on ending the nearly five year-old Syrian conflict that calls for drafting a new constitution in up to eighteen months that would be put to a popular referendum followed by an early presidential election. It calls for UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura to launch a political process between the Syrian government and “a united delegation of the opposition groups” to establish a transitional governing body for Syria with full executive powers leading to elections. Syrian opposition figures dismissed the draft proposal, saying Moscow aims to keep Assad in power and marginalize dissenting voices. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that any resolution of the Syrian conflict must focus on the need for strong government in Damascus and not only on the fate of Assad. An official Syrian newspaper said any talk about a transitional period, amending the constitution, or early presidential elections is “premature.” [AP, Reuters, 11/12/2015]

At least 100 fighters killed in Syria during storming of besieged airbase
At least 100 soldiers and fighters were killed in northern Syria in just over twenty-four hours of fierce fighting as pro-government forces reached an airbase that had long been besieged by the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL), the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday. Most of those killed were ISIS militants, followed by government forces and its allies, the monitoring group said. The breaking of the siege was the most high-profile military victory for Syria’s government since Russia intervened in the conflict with an air campaign. On Tuesday, government troops reached the Kweires airbase in the northern province of Aleppo, where soldiers and officers had been besieged for nearly two years and were able to retake the airbase. [Reuters, 11/12/2015]

UN launches app to help feed Syrian refugee children
The UN launched a new app on Thursday that will allow people about to begin a meal to “share” it virtually with a Syrian refugee. The first of its kind, the app developers hope to transform the way people connect to those in need. Called “ShareTheMeal,” users of the app can send 50 US cents or more to the World Food Programme (WFP) at the touch of a button on their smartphone, effectively providing a Syrian child in Jordan’s Zaatari refugee camp with at least a day’s worth of food. Tested in Germany since July, the app has already been heralded as a game-changer in connecting the public with refugees, picking up one of the country’s leading media awards as startup of the year and named “one of 15 ideas for a better world” by Wired magazine Germany. [WFP, France24, 11/12/2015]

Turkey’s Erdogan puts Syria, Iraq on G20 leaders’ agenda
On Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he wanted world leaders to discuss conflicts in Syria and Iraq at a G20 summit in Turkey this weekend and is ready to take “stronger steps” in the region after polls this month strengthened the Justice and Development Party (AKP). President Erdogan renewed a call for the creation of a no-fly zone in Syria that would allow refugees to return to their homeland. He said the plan would create a safe zone cleared of “terror” where refugees would be able to settle. He added that Turkey would rapidly construct housing and meet other needs. [AP, Reuters, 11/11/2015]

Seven children among fourteen dead in migrant boat sinking off Turkey
A wooden boat carrying dozens of migrants sank off the Turkish coast on Wednesday, killing fourteen people including seven children stuck inside the vessel’s cabin. Turkish coast guards rescued twenty-seven others after the boat went down off the town of Ayvacik on its way to the Greek island of Lesbos. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed a call on Western nations to share the refugee burden. “This morning another fourteen refugees died. Should there be another Aylan for the world to take notice?” Erdogan said, referring to the three year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi whose dead body washed up on a Turkish beach in September. [AP, 11/12/2015]

Iraqi Kurds reach Sinjar road, cutting ISIS supply line
Kurdish Peshmerga forces have started clearing parts of the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar and have established positions along an ISIS supply route between its two main strongholds in Iraq and Syria, the coalition said on Thursday. Backed by US-led coalition air strikes, the Kurds launched an offensive in the early morning designed to cordon off Sinjar, take control of strategic routes, and establish a buffer zone to protect the town from artillery. The Kurds have captured three villages and penetrated parts of a supply route between the Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq ISIS strongholds. The coalition said twenty-four air strikes were carried out over the past day, striking nine militant tactical units, nine staging areas, and destroying twenty-seven fighting positions, among other targets. Various Kurdish militias on Sinjar’s edge, including the Turkey-based Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), the Syria-based People’s Protection Units (YPG), and Yazidi-led forces known as the Sinjar Resistance, have been fighting guerrilla battles with ISIS for months. The Sinjar operation has stalled over the past few weeks, as both the PKK and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) vie for control of the area. [AP, Reuters, 11/12/2015]