
Hostility between Russia and Turkey is still simmering, as demonstrated by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accusing Russia of “trying to make ethnic cleansing in northern Latakia to force out all Turkmen and Sunni population who do not have good relations with the regime.”
by John Hayward10 Dec 2015, 10:11 PM PST0

The Turkish government has arrested two generals and a retired colonel on terrorism charges for involvement in the ordered inspection of trucks allegedly sent to Syria by Turkey’s intelligence agency to aid anti-Assad Turkmen rebels.
by Frances Martel2 Dec 2015, 8:01 AM PST0

Contents: France demands that Russia target only ISIS in Syria; Putin’s Syria intervention hobbled by weak Russian economy
by John J. Xenakis1 Dec 2015, 6:12 AM PST0

Russian planes have been bombing ethnic Turkmen in Syria, escalating tensions between Moscow and Ankara.
by John Hayward29 Nov 2015, 9:52 AM PST0

Contents: Russia and Turkey move closer to the brink of war; Turkish analysis of downing of Russian warplane; Quote without comment
by John J. Xenakis26 Nov 2015, 7:24 AM PST0

Tuesday was filled with conflicting news about the fate of the Russian pilots shot down by Turkish forces over Syria. At various points during the day, it was said that both had been killed – possibly riddled with bullets by Syrian rebels as they came down in their parachutes – and that both were alive, and in enemy hands.
by John Hayward25 Nov 2015, 9:20 AM PST0

On Tuesday morning, two Turkish F-16 fighters engaged a Russian Sukhoi-24 warplane and shot it down with an air-to-air missile, somewhere north of the Syrian port city of Latakia.
by John Hayward24 Nov 2015, 5:57 AM PST0

Turkmen groups in western Syria, close to the border with Turkey, are working to create an independent militia to combat both the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) and any advances made by the Kurdish YPG forces, which have been the only group to enjoy success in keeping ISIS from sweeping through Syria’s border towns.
by Frances Martel7 Jul 2015, 9:13 AM PST0