Regional geopolitics

[Vrej1915]

Breaking: Russian troops withdraw from Afrin ahead of Turkish invasion

By Leith Aboufadel
-
20/01/2018



BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:45 P.M.) – The Russian military has withdrawn from the Afrin Canton in northwestern Aleppo, government sources reported this afternoon.

The Russian troops left their posts near the Mennagh Airport prior to the Turkish Air Force’s heavy bombardment of this area near the Afrin Canton.

With the Russian withdrawal, the Turkish military now has the green light to launch their long-awaited offensive to kick out the People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the Afrin Canton.

The Turkish Air Force is currently bombarding several areas in the Afrin Canton, including many densely populated towns.

[Vrej1915]

Syria: Turkey war planes launch strikes on Afrin

• BBC

Image copyrightAFP Image captionTurkish war planes hit Kurdish positions on the Syrian side of the border on Saturday
Turkish war planes have launched air strikes on Kurdish positions in northern Syria, in a move likely to cause tensions with the US.

Turkey wants to oust these Kurdish fighters from Syria's Afrin region, which lies near its southern border.

It considers them a terrorist group. But some were US allies in the battle against the Islamic State group.

Turkey had been shelling the area for two days, ahead of its declaration of a military operation on Saturday.

Russia - a key military figure in the region - says it is concerned by the development, and has relocated some of its troops based in the region. Officials earlier said Moscow would not interfere in the conflict.

Syria has previously warned against any operation and said it would shoot down Turkish planes.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey has notified all actors involved - including the Syrian government - about the offensive. What is happening in Afrin?

On Saturday, the Turkish army announced that a new air and ground campaign, dubbed "Olive Branch", had launched at 14:00 GMT, targeting the Kurdish YPG (Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units) and Islamic State (IS) group jihadists.

The operation would be carried out "with respect for Syria's territorial integrity", it added. A later statement, reported by Reuters, said 108 targets belonging to Kurdish militants had been hit.

Pro-Turkey rebels, known as the Free Syrian Army, also began moving into the area, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
A spokesperson for the YPG told Reuters a number of people had been injured in the strikes on Afrin city and villages around it, but it is not yet clear how many.

Turkey's military has been shelling the area since Thursday, a move which it said was in response to fire coming from the area.

On Saturday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - an alliance against IS of which the YPG is a member - accused Turkey of using the bombardment as a smokescreen ahead of launching an offensive. A spokesperson for the group told Reuters news agency that it would have no choice but to defend itself if attacked.

Rizan Habou, of the Syrian Democratic Council in Afrin, told BBC Arabic that residents were seeking shelter.

"The YPG and the civilians will defend Afrin to the last moment," he said.

---

Risks of opening new front 'huge'

Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent, near border with Syria

In mid-afternoon the Turkish air strikes began, with plumes of smoke rising above Afrin. On the ground, Syrian rebel fighters backed by Turkey moved in, the military incursion rather inappropriately named Operation Olive Branch.

President Erdogan has vowed to wipe out a corridor, first Afrin and then the nearby town of Manbij, from where the YPG has failed to withdraw. Nobody can object when what we do is necessary, he said. We will get rid of these messy terrorists trying to invade our country.

But the risks are huge - the offensive pits Turkey against its Nato ally the US, which backs the Kurdish militia against IS, infuriating Ankara. Russia, which has troops in the area, has urged restraint - an MP in Moscow says it will be discussed at the UN.

The Syrian regime warned it would be seen as a violation of Syria's sovereignty. An estimated half a million people have been killed in the Syrian war. With this new front, the danger is that number will rise again.

---

Why is Turkey's targeting US-backed groups?

The YPG has been a key part of the battle against IS in Syria, and has been backed by the US.

Turkey, however, believes the group has links to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and has for several months been threatening to clear Kurdish fighters from Afrin and another city, Manbij, which lies 100km away.

Turkey's military plans seem to have been accelerated by an announcement from the US that it will help the SDF alliance build a new "border security force" to prevent the return of IS. Image copyrightREUTERS Image captionSaturday's air strikes raise the prospect of deeper strains between Turkey and the US
The YPG and SDF deny any terrorist links - a claim backed by the US government.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the border force a "terror army".

Disagreement over the Kurdish fighters has created a sharp division between the Nato allies.

The US state department has appealed for calm, and attempted to downplay portrayals of a new "border force", instead characterising the new development as security training. How are Russia and the US reacting?

Russia's foreign ministry says it is concerned by news of the offensive, and is urging restraint.

Russian senator Frants Klintsevich - who is the deputy chairman of the defence and security committee - earlier told Interfax news agency that Moscow will only respond if Russian bases in Syria are threatened.

He said that Russia has been placed in a difficult situation, as it has "good relations with both Damascus and Ankara".

Turkey's military and intelligence chiefs had been trying to get Russia's agreement to allow Turkish planes to use the Russian-controlled airspace above Afrin.

Such consent is seen as essential for any Turkish operation. Moscow is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has a contingent of soldiers at the airport in the centre of Afrin.

It is not yet clear if Russia's claim that it will not interfere precludes allowing use of its airspace.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has reportedly discussed the military offensive with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as did Turkey's chief of military staff with his US and Russian counterparts.

However, no details of the conversations have been provided.

[Vrej1915]

Breaking: Turkey will launch invasion of Afrin – MoD

By Leith Fadel
-
19/01/2018

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:40 A.M.) – The Turkish military will conduct the invasion of Aleppo’s Afrin Canton against the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Turkish Minister of Defense, Nurettin Canikli stated on Friday.

“The threat level against Turkey is increasing day by day. This operation will be carried out and we will combat terrorism,” Canikli said, as quoted by the Hurriyet Daily News.

Canikli told the Turkish newspaper A Haber that Russia will withdraw its military assets from the Afrin Canton in order to avoid any potential hostilities between the two nations.

According to a recent report from Turkish state owned Anadolu News Agency, an estimated 8,000-10,000 YPG fighters are currently inside the Afrin Canton.

No date has been set for the invasion.

[Azad]

Good luck idiots!

"Turkey Wants to Link Its F-35 Computer Brains to Networks That Will Include Russian Systems"

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...ussian-systems

[Azad]

Aboush! NATO is the United States.

"Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on NATO to take a stance against the United States, a fellow ally, over its plans to form a 30,000-strong Kurdish-led border security force in Syria."

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/erdogan-nato-stance-us-border-force-52373566

[Azad]

In desperation the sultan is now taking on Russia.

"Azerbaijan, via its state energy company SOCAR, is ready to engage in Bulgaria’s gasification at its own expense.

More than ten years ago, Bulgaria was the first EU country to commit to buy 1 billion cubic meeers of Azeri gas per year (bcm/y) as soon as the Southern Gas Corridor will come upstream, possibly in 2020. This represents roughly one third of Bulgaria’s annual consumption. So far Russia’s Gazprom has a de facto monopoly on Bulgaria’s gas supply."

http://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/azerbaijan-ready-to-invest-in-bulgarias-gasification/

[Azad]

Chances are the US and Russia had plans to split up Syria years ago.
For few months turkey was relived from that fear (potential kurdish region), till the US announced "30,000-strong U.S.-backed force in Syria". Erdogan is now falling apart.
We are mid Jan. if turkey will start some monkey business against a NATO partner (US), maybe by April the US will recognize the Armenian Genocide?

"Russia says zone for U.S.-backed rebels could end up splitting Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday the formation of a zone controlled by U.S.-backed rebels could lead to the partition of Syria.
Russia started to withdraw its forces from Syria last month, but Moscow has said it would keep its Hmeymim air base in Syria’s Latakia Province as well as its naval facility at Tartous “on a permanent basis”.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-lavrov-syria/russia-says-zone-for-u-s-backed-rebels-could-end-up-splitting-syria-idUSKBN1F40SW

[Azad]

^^ Things are working perfectly.
Most of the country is free of the monkeys under the Russian/Iranian influence.
All of the North is under Kurdish/US influence. Literally all of the turkish border will be harassed by kurds under the US protectorate (not sure for how long).
Let us hope turkey will finally get bloody.

[Vrej1915]

Syria war: Turkey denounces US 'terror army' plan for border

• 2 hours ago

Related Topics

• Syrian civil war

Image copyrightAFP Image captionAbout half of the border force will be made up of Syrian Democratic Forces fighters
Key powers involved in Syria's civil war have criticised US plans to help an allied Kurdish-led militia set up a 30,000-strong "border security force".

Turkey's president vowed to "suffocate" efforts to begin training members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and create what he called a "terror army".

Ankara considers Kurds fighting for the SDF to be part of a terrorist group.

Syria's government decried the "blatant attack" on its sovereignty, and Russia warned it could lead to partition.

With the help of air strikes from a US-led coalition, the SDF has captured tens of thousands of square kilometres of territory from Islamic State (IS) militants.

In October, the alliance took full control of the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the "caliphate" declared by the jihadist group in 2014. Since then, SDF fighters have been advancing south-eastwards along the Euphrates river valley. Why is the US creating the border force?

BBC

News of the coalition's plan to work with the SDF to train a new Syrian Border Security Force (BSF) was first reported on Saturday by The Defense Post, which quoted a spokesman as saying that 230 individuals were currently participating in the "inaugural class".

The coalition said on Monday that its goal was to create a force with about 30,000 personnel "over the next several years". About half will be Kurdish and Arab SDF fighters and the other half new recruits.
The BSF will be tasked with securing the long sections of Syria's northern border with Turkey and eastern border with Iraq that are under SDF control, as well as parts of the Euphrates river valley, which effectively serves as the dividing line between the SDF and Syrian pro-government forces.

"A strong border security force will prohibit Daesh's freedom of movement and deny the transportation of illicit materials," the coalition said, using a different term for IS. "This will enable the Syrian people to establish effective local, representative governance and reclaim their land."

• Who are the Kurds?
• IS and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps

Why is Turkey concerned?

Turkey has consistently opposed the coalition's support for the SDF because the force is dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Ankara considers the YPG an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades. Washington disagrees and insists the YPG has been vital to the battle against IS.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the US had acknowledged it was "in the process of creating a terror army on our border". Image copyrightAFP Image captionThe US-led coalition against IS has been advising and arming YPG fighters in Syria
"It is for us to suffocate this terror army before it is born," he said.

Mr Erdogan added that preparations were complete for a Turkish military operation against the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in north-western Syria, and that it might start "at any moment". Troops deployed at the border were already hitting YPG positions inside Afrin with heavy artillery, he noted. What do other countries say?

The Syrian government called the creation of the SDF border force "a blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity and unity of Syria, and a flagrant violation of international law".

"What the American administration has done comes in the context of its destructive policy in the region to fragment countries... and impedes any solutions to the crises," an official at the foreign ministry was cited as saying by the Sana news agency. Image copyrightAFP Image captionIn October, SDF fighters took full control of the northern city of Raqqa
The source warned that Damascus considered any Syrian fighting for militias sponsored by the US to be "a traitor to their people and nation".

Russia, which backs the Syrian government, said the US move might lead to the "break-up of a large territory along the border with Turkey and Iraq". "This is a very serious issue that raises concerns that a path towards the partition of Syria has been taken," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

[Vrej1915]

Kurdish forces in Syria receive surface-to-air missiles from US as part of secret deal: Reports

By Andrew Illingworth
-
15/01/2018



BEIRUT, LEBANON (12:20 P.M.) – Kurdish forces have received a shipment of shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile systems (commonly abbreviated as MANPADS) from the United States per a backdoor agreement according to oppositions sources.

In what opposition sources are referring to as an ‘independent secret deal,’ the US has supplied Kurdish forces in the Afrin region of Syria’s Aleppo province with heat-seeking man-portable surface-to-air missiles.

The transfer of the sophisticated weapons systems by the US to Kurdish militias is claimed to have taken place some time last week.

Opposition reports say that the arms transfer is part of an exclusive agreement between the US and Kurdish forces, having been outside the authority of the collective decision-making apparatus of the anti-ISIS coalition.

If true, then the weapons are undoubtedly to be used to give Kurdish militias some kind of air defense capacity in the event of an attack against their forces throughout Afrin by Turkey-led rebel groups.