Tag: Turkey

Turkey ready to intervene in Syria?

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Although first reports could look suspiciously biased, several sources on the ground said the same thing: Turkish soldiers  are entering Jarablus, Northern Syria.

And it is a big deal.

Jarablus, currently in ISIS hands, is exactly across the border from Turkey. Next to the town, on the East, the Euphrates river. On the other side of the river SDF — Syrian Democratic Forces — were planning to advance and unify Rojava — the Kurdish controlled area — with Afrin and therefore control all the north border of Syria with Turkey.

Besides ISIS, the Kurds have also encountered political (and some more) resistance  to this  “independence” dream.

Turkey is the first opponent to this project, as the Kurds in Turkey will make more claims on an autonomous region. The President Recep  Erdogan pushed with the anti-ISIS International coalition for a buffer zone, 40-mile wide, 68-mile-long, west  of the Euphrates. And he made a deal with the United States about it, or so reported the Washington Post.  The area  would potentially haven to the estimated over 2 millions of Syrians who have crossed the border . And of course, it will end the unification dream of Rojava.

The deal was reached in July. Since then a lot have changed on the ground.

On October 30, 2015, Russia started an airstrike campaign aiding the Bashar al-Assad and the regime, Turkey’s enemy. On November 24, Turkey shot down a jet that invaded its airspace for 16 seconds, creating a deep friction amongst the two countries. Moscow accused Turkey to aid ISIS. Erdogan denied.

Turkey grew more and more isolated and found itself to be fragile. The government had to start facing great internal problems: the end of the ceasefire with the PKK, the uprising of the southern cities, mainly populated by Kurds, and the latest suicide bomber in Istanbul, killing 10 tourists.

In the meantime the United States ally with the SDF, which is mainly composed by the YPG — the Kurdish militia of Rojava — and some FSA units, Christian and Armenian militias. The plan pushed by the US is to cut off ISIS supply routes pushing from the newly conquered Tischrin Dam on the west and from Hasakah province, where the US took control of an airfield. The plan is then to try and take Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Islamic State.

The creation of the buffer zone might disrupt this plan. Although they strongly deny this possibility using mainly military and strength logic, Kurds might start fighting Turkey on Syrian soil.

In any case, this area will not be possible without Russian agreement, which bombing campaign has hit the area several times.

As for what is happening on the ground, witness say Turkish troops entered Jarablus, while “ISIS was all unresponsive to the activity of Turkish soldiers.” Too soon to understand if this is actually happening. #StayTuned

 

Jacky Sutton, the story of a cover up that might end badly

Jacqueline Sutton Linkedin profile https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jacky-sutton-llm/10/339/980

The journalism and humanitarian world is weeping for the sudden death of Jacky Sutton, 50 year-old. She was a well respected researcher and journalist. She travelled throughout the world, looking for the truth and trying to help people in need. Nobody who knew her believe she committed suicide and everybody is asking for an international investigation. I wrote about it in the paper edition of Corriere della Sera.

Let’s start with what we really know: Jacky Sutton died at Ataturk airport, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday early morning. She was found with shoe laces around her neck by three Russian tourists in a bathroom. She was passing by the Turkish hub, on her way to Erbil, Iraq, from London. Her plane landed at 10 pm and her connecting flight was at 12 am. For some unclear reasons she lost it.

Conveniently enough the CCTV were not working in the area where she was waiting and around the bathroom where she died. But others filmed her while passing security and with a black bag while walking around the airport. From the footage I have seen, it’s impossible to determine anything about her shoes. Although the footage can say very little, at first she doesn’t seem in distress.

 

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Dear Turkey, do you really need water cannons on refugees?

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While Islamic State militants are sizing more and more villages in Syria, at least 130,000 refugees escaped into Turkey over the weekend. Many more are expected. On Friday reporters pictured men and women praising for help and implored Turkish border patrollers to open the fences  and just let them go through. Through the UNHCR, the UN agency dedicated to refugees, they finally got the access into the country. But as soon as they got in, some troubles started, since on Sunday they closed the borders again.

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Why nobody talks about PKK fighters?


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This map has been published by the Institute for the Study of War on August 26. It is a report on Iraq. Airstrikes and major clashes are happening between Mosul and Erbil, claims the institute.  Pashmerga are fighting IS, with the help of “unknown gunmen.”  Everybody talks about the Kurdish fighters and of course about ISF – Iraq Security Forces. Very few people recognize the Kurdistan Workers Party aka PKK as a legittimate force on the ground, which is not just fighting but also rescuing civilians attacked by ISIS. It happened on Mount Sinjar, where, according to sources on  the ground, they were the only ones who pushed back IS and opened a safe passage for families and innocents to escape.

 

“We are alive just because of them. The Pashmerga left us there alone without even shooting a bullet,” said Faris, a 27 years old engineer, who is helping to set up a camp by the Iraq border with Turkey. Most of the Yazidi praise the PKK and some join their fight. About 2,000 of them are still on Mont Sinjar where US airstrikes are happening and coordinated with the help of some team on the ground . In the meantime PKK fighters are pushing back IS forces in Al Malakia, just at the border with Syria. The PKK is not fighting along side Pashmerga. The Kurdish soldiers are protecting Erbil while the PKK is on the field.

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Benedetta Argentieri

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