Turkey's
military operation in Syria: All the latest updates.
Monday, October 14 EU nations 'condemn' Turkish offensive into Syria- European Union nations have unanimously "condemned" the Turkish offensive into northeast Syria and called on all member states to halt arm sales to Ankara.
Trump: 'Kurdish-led forces may be intentionally releasing ISIL militants' - US President Donald Trump has said that Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria may be releasing captive Islamic State [ISIL] fighters to lure US troops back to the area, adding that they could be easily recaptured.
NATO's Stoltenberg defends approach to Turkey's Syria offensive - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has defended his stance on Turkey's military operation against Kurdish armed groups in northeastern Syria, saying that the military alliance should not lose its unity in the fight against Islamic State [ISIL].
Kremlin: 'We don't want to consider possibility of clash with Turkey in Syria' - The Kremlin has said it did not want to think about the possibility that Russian and Turkish forces might clash with one another in Syria, adding that Moscow was in regular contact with Ankara, including at a military level.
Syrian government forces deploy to Ain Issa in northern Syria - Syrian government forces have deployed to Ain Issa in northern Syria, Syrian state media and a war monitor said.
US diplomatic team leaves northeast Syria - A United States diplomatic team that was working on stabilization projects in northeast Syria has left the country, a US official said, a day after Washington said it was withdrawing 1,000 troops from Syria. The official told Reuters news agency that the troops were still in Syria but early phases of the withdrawal had started, without giving details. Two US officials said on Sunday the United States is considering plans to withdraw the bulk of the troops from northern Syria in the coming days.
Syrian army deploys to town near Raqqa, says state media - Erdogan says US Syria withdrawal 'positive' - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has welcomed the announcement a day earlier by Washington that it was pulling out 1,000 troops from northern Syria. "This is a positive approach," Erdogan told reporters, when asked about the statement from US Pentagon chief Mark Esper.
Erdogan signals imminent entry of Turkish-backed forces into Kobane and Manbij - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he does not expect there will be problems with President Bashar al-Assad's main ally Russia, after Syrian government troops deployed to the country's northeast. "There would be no problem in Kobane. We are coordinating with Russians. We are decisive about Manbij. We will about to enter with the opposition forces," said Erdogan.
Syrian army deploys to town in country's northeast after Kurdish deal - Syrian army troops have entered the town of Tal Tamer in northeastern Syria, state media reported.
France: EU must consider Turkish arms embargo - France says securing military in Syria as US begins withdrawal - France has said it was taking measures to ensure the safety of its military and civilians in northeastern Syria as the United States begins to withdraw forces from the area. France has been one of the main allies in the US-led coalition fighting ISIL.
Sunday, October 13 - Kurds announce deal with Damascus - Syrian Kurds 'agree to allow Assad troops into Kobane'.
The Turkish
president says Ankara would implement its plans for the Syrian border town of
Manbij and settle Arabs there. Heavy fighting continues as Turkey presses ahead with its military
operation against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, now in its sixth day.
President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan says the offensive aims to remove the Kurdish-led forces from the
border area and create a "safe zone" to which millions of Syrian
refugees can be returned.
The move came after the
United States announced it was withdrawing its troops from the area, leaving
the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), its main ally in the battle against the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) armed group, without US
military support.
Turkey's defense ministry
confirmed the first death among Turkey's soldiers on Friday, while heavy
clashes between Turkish forces and the SDF are under way in Syrian border
towns. Here are the latest updates:
The statement came after France's
foreign minister reiterated calls on EU foreign ministers to condemn Turkey's
offensive in Syria ahead of meeting with his counterparts in Luxembourg.
The Turkish onslaught in
northern Syria has raised concerns that ISIL fighters and their families held
by the Kurdish-led forces long allied with Washington may escape and revive the
group. Scores have been said to have escaped already.
"Kurds may be releasing
some to get us involved. Easily recaptured by Turkey or European Nations from
where many came, but they should move quickly," Trump said in a series of
posts on Twitter.
Splits in the military
alliance have emerged after NATO member Turkey began its offensive in Syria
last week, with EU governments threatening sanctions against Ankara.
Stoltenberg visited Istanbul on Friday.
"We must not put in
jeopardy the gains we have made against our common enemy," Stoltenberg
said at a session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in London, in answer to
questions from French and Italian delegates who had challenged what they
described as his conciliatory approach to Turkey. "Turkey is important for
NATO ... We risk undermining the unity we need in the fight against Daesh
(Islamic State)."
The Kremlin's comments came
after Syrian Kurdish leaders said that a deal with the Syrian government,
brokered by Russia, centered for now on Syrian army troops deploying along the
border with Turkey. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow
had already warned all sides in the Syrian conflict to avoid any action that
could escalate the situation or damage a fragile political process.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said that the deployment took place to the frontlines of territory
where Turkish forces have mounted an invasion since last week.
Syrian state television
showed broadcasts of what it said was the entrance of Ain Issa, where residents
were seen welcoming the arrival of Syrian government troops.
The Syrian army has deployed
to the town of Tabqa near Raqqa, Syrian state television reported. The move
restores the state's foothold in an area that is home to a major hydroelectric
dam.
Backed by the United States,
the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battled for weeks to take Tabqa
and the nearby dam from Islamic State in 2017. The deployment followed an
agreement between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led forces for the
Syrian army to deploy into the area.
The developments came after
Damascus reached an agreement on Sunday night with the Kurdish-led forces
controlling the region to deploy into the area to counter an attack by Turkey.
The developments come after
Damascus reached an agreement with the Kurdish-led forces controlling the
region to deploy into the area to counter an attack by Turkey.
Tal Tamer is on a
strategically important highway, the M4, that runs east to west. Turkish forces
said they had seized the highway on Sunday. Tel Tamer is 35 km (20 miles)
southeast of Ras al-Ain, one of the focal points of the Turkish assault.
France's foreign minister
has reiterated calls for European Union foreign ministers to condemn Turkey's
offensive in Syria.
Jean-Yves Le Drian also
called for an arms embargo on Ankara and requested that the United States hold
a meeting of the coalition against the Islamic State [ISIL]. "This
offensive is going to cause serious humanitarian devastation," Le Drian
said as he arrived for a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.
"France expects from
this meeting ... a specific demand to end the offensive ... a firm position on
arms exports to Turkey and ... that the United States holds a meeting of the
international coalition (against Islamic State)," he told reporters.
"Measures will be taken
in the coming hours to ensure the safety of French military and civilian
personnel present in the zone as part of the international coalition fighting
Islamic State and humanitarian action," the French presidency said in a
statement after an emergency defense cabinet meeting. It did not provide
further details.
A regional diplomatic source
told Reuters on Thursday that Paris was preparing to pull out its several
hundred special forces. They are operating closely with Kurdish-led forces, who
are now the target of Turkey’s offensive in northern Syria. French aid workers
are also in the zone.
The Kurdish administration
in northern Syria announced a deal with the Damascus government on a Syrian
troop deployment near the border with Turkey to confront Ankara's offensive.
"In order to prevent
and confront this aggression, an agreement has been reached with the Syrian
government... so that the Syrian army can deploy along the Syrian-Turkish
border to assist the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)," the Kurdish
administration said in a statement on its Facebook page.
In their statement the Kurds
said that the agreement struck with the Damascus government "paves the way
to liberate the rest of the Syrian cities occupied by the Turkish army such as
Afrin", a majority Kurdish enclave in the northwest.
General Ismet Sheikh Hasan,
an official in Kurdish-controlled Kobane, told the Russian news agency RT that
Syrian Kurds have reached an agreement with Russia to allow Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad's troops into Kobane.
Hassan, the minister of defense
of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava,
said Russian and Syrian government troops could enter Kobane and Manbij by
Sunday night to help secure the cities from a Turkish-led offensive in northern
Syria. "We agreed with the
Russians and the [Assad] regime to enter Kobane tonight," Hassan told RT.
"We did everything we
could," he said. "We have called upon the West [and] the Arab League
but no one is coming to help, so we have no one other than ourselves to defend
[Kobane]. "We agreed with the regime and the Russians to come to
Kobane," he added. Neither the SDF nor Russia have confirmed such an
agreement exists.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment