Kurdistan - Page 3

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Sunday reported large demonstrations in western Syria against both “Turkish aggression” and the continuing presence of U.S. troops on Syrian soil, a somewhat ironic set of positions given that the U.S. presence was supposedly the only thing preventing Turkish aggression until now.

Ironically, when a diplomatic and political solution to the Kurds’ dilemma presented itself, few bothered to support it. Now that Turkey has crossed the border, many are reacting solely out of political concerns.

Kurdish activists in France are protesting against the Turkish incursion into northern Syria across several French cities after tense scenes unfolded between Kurds and police in Paris.

Over 60,000 civilians in northern Syria have been displaced during the first 36 hours of Turkey’s invasion, the London-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Thursday.

Russia will urge Kurdish authorities in northern Syria to open talks with Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday amid an ongoing Turkish invasion of Kurdish-controlled areas.

Kurdish officials in Syria on Thursday accused the invading Turkish army of shelling the Chirkin prison, which is filled with captive Islamic State jihadis from 60 different countries. The Turkish government did not immediately respond to the allegation.

The Iranian Islamic regime and its proxy government in Damascus issued statements Wednesday condemning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for planning an invasion of Syrian Kurdistan.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in Turkey has “effectively canceled the results of the March local elections” by removing three Kurdish Mayors from office, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch.

A report from i24 News on Tuesday evening claimed Iranian officials secretly met with representatives of the U.S. government in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan.

An angry mob featuring a member of Turkey’s Islamist ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attempted to beat and “lynch” secular opposition party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu during a soldier’s funeral Sunday.

The Iraqi government has allegedly tortured hundreds of children on suspicion of ties to the Islamic State, according to a report from the watchdog Human Rights Watch.

A spokesman for the Turkish presidency insisted on Monday that Ankara does not recognize Bashar al-Assad as the legitimate leader of Syria after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly admitted his government maintains diplomatic ties with the Assad regime. Erdogan has

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again attempted to convince American counterpart President Donald Trump to allow Turkey to control Manbij, a region in northern Syria under the auspices of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), in a phone call Sunday.

A representative for the Syrian Kurdish militia and political community in northern Syria rejected the idea of a Turkish-run “safe zone” in the region on Tuesday following U.S. troop departures, instead suggesting the United Nations should play a role.

The ardently pro-Turkish government newspaper Yeni Safak reported Monday that Ankara has prepared 80,000 troops to invade the Kurdish region of northern Syria in anticipation of the United States’ withdrawal from the area.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan penned a New York Times opinion column published Monday in which he offered Turkey’s guidance in rebuilding the government of northern Syria without the presence of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), America’s closest battlefield ally in the country.

Kurdish news agencies report on Friday that a map of greater Kurdistan – featuring territory belonging to Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria – no longer appears on Google Earth, replaced by a message stating that the map violated “our Terms of Service and/or policies.”

Turkey’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority [BTK], an agency overseeing mass media, confronted Google about the presence of a map detailing the borders of “Kurdistan” including Turkish territory, reports revealed on Tuesday.

Dramatic developments over recent days appear to mark a turning point for the U.S. and allies in the war on the Islamic State (ISIS) — almost certainly a drastic turn for the worst.

An “expert” quoted in Chinese state media Friday suggested that the U.S. presence in Syria was the only thing keeping the war from ending and that the distinct possibility now exists for the Syrian Civil War to become history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday for deciding to withdraw American troops from the battlefield in Syria, alleging that the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has been defeated and thus there is no compelling reason for American military action there.

Turkey is “ready” to “trample” U.S.-backed Kurds in northern Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Tuesday.

A deadly attack on Syrian Kurdish forces launched by the Islamic State (ISIS) over the weekend has prompted the U.S.-backed fighters to step up its fight against the jihadist group, Reuters reported Monday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed threats on Friday to expand his country’s military operations into northern Syrian territory controlled by the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The Trump administration is “now driving to make sure” America’s “great partners” in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), the Syrian Kurds, participate in discussions to determine the future of Syria, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week.

The agreement between Turkey and the United States to push U.S.-allied Kurdish militiamen out of Syria’s Manbij region is delayed, “but not completely dead,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on Thursday.

Iranian authorities executed a former child bride this week on charges of murdering her abusive husband after she gave a false confession under torture, according to reports.

Turkey intends to completely clear northern Syria of Kurdish militiamen from the U.S.-allied People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ), considered by Ankara to be affiliated with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) terrorist group, Turkish officials indicated this week.

Syrian rebels pushed out of the eastern Ghouta region near Damascus by the Russian and Iranian-backed forces loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad are “reorganizing and rearming” to fight regime troops and a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia, a Turkey-allied opposition group commander told Reuters this week.

Turkish authorities continue to arrest members of the U.S.-allied Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) for responding to Ankara’s invasion of the predominantly Kurdish city of Afrin in northern Syria.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in New York Wednesday, President Donald Trump responded from questions from multiple Kurdish reporters, who sought details in how the Trump administration would help Kurdish governments in Iraq and Syria protect themselves from radical Islamic groups and hostile neighbors.

Iranian Kurdish insurgents reportedly vowed this week to intensify their fight against Iran in response to the missile attacks against Kurdish positions in Iraqi Kurdistan claimed by the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) this month.

Iraq needs up to $100 billion to rebuild the city of Mosul alone following the devastation at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against the jihadi group told reporters on Tuesday.

Pro-Kurdish protesters attacked Iran’s embassy in Paris on Friday. Iran says that 15 Kurdish activists burned the Iranian flag in front of the embassy.

A representative for one of the two Iranian Kurdish parties operating in Iraq who the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bombed this week urged the United States on Wednesday to intervene and support their right to exist freely.

CONTENTS: In a major escalation, Iran’s missiles strike Kurdish targets in northern Iraq; Iran’s missile attack displays the rising power of the IRGC in Iran.