Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al-Qaeda boss who became the “transitional” president of Syria after ousting dictator Bashar Assad, is reportedly looking for a joint defense pact with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Kurdish militias in Syria on Wednesday to either lay down their arms or be “buried.” On the same day, the Turkish military said it killed 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq – including members of the People’s Defense Units (YPG), the leading Syrian Kurdish force allied with the United States against the Islamic State.
Syrian Kurds find themselves in a difficult position after the fall of dictator Bashar Assad, as Islamists seize power in Damascus and Turkey seeks to carve out a slice of Syrian territory along its border.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is urging governments to rescind their terrorist designations of Syrian insurgents Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed Syrian militia group led by Syrian Kurdish forces, said on Tuesday that its fighters clashed with Syrian government troops and took control of seven villages near Deir al-Zor, potentially opening a new front against the regime of dictator Bashar Assad.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday he would oppose cooperation between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Israel unless a “comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be preparing for another military incursion into the border regions of Syria and Iraq to fight the PKK, a violent Kurdish separatist group seen by Erdogan’s government as the primary threat to Turkey’s security.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday declared a three-month state of emergency in ten provinces due to Monday’s devastating earthquakes. The focus on reconstruction did not prevent Turkish forces from bombing Kurdish militia positions in Syria.
Gen. Mazloum Abdi – top military commander for the Kurdish-led, U.S.-allied Syrian Defense Forces (SDF) – said on Wednesday his alliance must suspend operations against the resurgent Islamic State in order to prepare for a potentially massive Turkish invasion that could put hundreds of American troops in Syria at risk.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey’s airstrikes against Kurdish militia in Syria would soon be augmented by a major ground invasion. Meanwhile, Iran is launching missiles against Kurds living in the mountains of Iraq and using ground forces to crush protests in Iranian Kurdistan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday threatened to launch another military incursion into Syria, without warning, if he deems it necessary to neutralize Kurdish militia groups classified by Turkey as terrorists.
Turkey summoned Iranian Ambassador Mohammed Farazmand in Ankara on Sunday to complain about Iran’s criticism of Turkish military operations in Iraq. The complaint concerned demands by another Iranian ambassador, Iraj Masjedi in Baghdad, for Turkey to suspend operations and remove all of its forces from Iraqi territory.
Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the United States in remarks Monday to stop “siding with terrorists” for Washington’s continued support of Syrian Kurdish groups instrumental to defeating the Islamic State.
Kurdish governing authorities in Afrin, northeast Syria, condemned the Turkish government on Wednesday for enabling jihadist groups they say are responsible for killing over 40 people in a bomb blast in the city the day before.
The Turkish National Security Council issued a statement on Tuesday that “Operation Peace Spring,” the Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria, will continue despite cease-fire agreements brokered with the United States and Russia.
President Donald Trump praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, during his visit to the White House. “I’m a big fan of the president, to tell you that,” Trump said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that when he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, his agenda will include Turkey’s relationship with Russia, complaints about Syrian Kurdish militia forces remaining in the “safe area” Turkey wants to carve out near its border, and Turkey’s long-stalled extradition request for exiled cleric and Erdogan arch-enemy Fethullah Gulen.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused the United States and Russia of failing to keep the promises they made when negotiating a cease-fire between Turkey’s invasion force and Syrian Kurdish militia.
A humanitarian organization in northern Syria, the Free Burma Rangers, announced on Sunday the death of medic and cameraman Zau Seng.
U.S. troops used armored vehicles to conduct a patrol of the border between Syria and Turkey on Thursday, according to witnesses who saw American flags flying from the vehicles.
Tuesday brought the end of the cease-fire that halted Turkey’s invasion of Syria to drive Kurdish military forces away from the border. Despite some ominous rumblings from other Turkish officials, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pronounced the Kurdish withdrawal satisfactory and declared victory.
Diseased and wounded Islamic State terrorists under Kurdish custody in Syria are requesting to be returned home to the West, the Agence-France Presse (AFP) reported on Tuesday.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Monday that clashes with Turkish-backed Syrian militia groups continue despite the SDF withdrawing from the border region as demanded in the security agreement between Turkey and Syria’s patrons in Russia.
Iran’s state-run Fars news agency on Monday reported Syrian Army units advancing to the Turkish border region have skirmished with invading Turkish forces.
Turkey “is continuing its genocide war” in northern Syria despite an allegedly “permanent” ceasefire, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-allied coalition largely made up of Kurdish fighters, alleged on Thursday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday there is no fixed timetable for Turkish troops to withdraw from northeastern Syria, even though the objective of their invasion has ostensibly been met.
Christian persecution in Iraq and Syria has decreased dramatically in the aftermath of the fall of the Islamic State, a report published Wednesday revealed, in large part because the affected areas have been almost completely stripped of their Christian populations.
The Kremlin issued a warning to Kurdish forces on Wednesday that they must withdraw from the Turkish border region immediately, or else “Syrian border guards and Russian military police officers will have to pull back,” leaving the Kurds to be “run over by the Turkish military machine.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based NGO tracking abuses in the country, published a video Tuesday showing jihadis allied with Turkey shouting “Allahu Akbar” and kicking around the dead body of a Kurdish woman fighting the Turkish invasion.
Ilham Amhed, president of the Syrian Democratic Council, on Monday met with U.S. congressional representatives and pleaded with President Donald Trump to stop Turkey’s “massacre” and “ethnic cleansing” of Syrian Kurds.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he felt “serious sadness” at criticism against his country’s invasion of Syria from the Islamist regime in Iran on Tuesday, lamenting that President Hassan Rouhani did not “prevent” officials from condemning Erdogan.
Turkish journalist Can Dundar, onetime editor of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, on Sunday accused the Turkish government of “hosting ISIS for years” and “releasing their guerrillas” from captivity.
Kurdish civilians pelted a U.S. military convoy with tomatoes, stood in front of armored vehicles shouting “no, no!” and held up protest signs as troops moved out of Qamishli, northern Syria, video surfacing from the region showed on Monday.
Thousands of people in the German city of Cologne and in the French capital demonstrated Saturday against Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reported on Friday morning that Turkish forces violated the five-day ceasefire agreement announced on Thursday afternoon almost immediately, as Turkish-allied ground forces continued to attack the town of Ras al-Ain with Turkish air and artillery support.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad commented personally on Turkey’s invasion of Syrian Kurdistan on Thursday, warning that his military “will respond and confront” Turkey’s “terrorism … in all its forms in any region of Syrian territory.”
Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday in Ankara, Turkey, that the U.S. and Turkey had agreed to an immediate cease-fire in Syria that would allow Kurdish forces to withdraw from the border.
Why is Congress abandoning the Kurds when the War Powers Act gives them clear constitutional authority to not abandon the Kurds?
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a formerly U.S.-allied coalition largely made up of Kurdish fighters, accused the Turkish military and its proxies of genocide against the Kurdish people on Wednesday and using tactics “similar to ISIS.”
China’s Foreign Ministry called on Turkey on Tuesday to halt its invasion of Syria against Kurdish militias, urging Ankara to “come back to the right course.”
