U.S. government and military leaders have begun the mission to convince the government of Turkey that cooperating with Syrian Kurdish militias, which Ankara considers terrorist elements, is the only way to defeat the Islamic State in its self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa.
“I don’t care if they call me a dictator or whatever else,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a defiant speech this Sunday, objecting to those who have called the mass arrests of opposition legislators an alarming challenge to the nation’s democratic institutions.
After repeatedly accusing its members of being “supported by a terrorist organization” and “backing suicide bombers,” the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally arrested the senior leadership of the Kurd-friendly People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in a midnight raid.
27-year-old Mohamad Jamal Khweis of Virginia has been indicted on charges of joining the Islamic State. Kurdish forces captured him in Iraq after he changed his mind and fled Mosul in March, making him possibly the first American captured on the battlefield charged with joining ISIS.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told reporters on Thursday that Islamic State “Caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had fled Mosul shortly following the release of an audio message in which al-Baghdadi demanded his jihadi fighters not flee their largest stronghold in Iraq.
On Friday’s Breitbart News Daily, SiriusXM host Alex Marlow asked former Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince for his take on the “happy talk we’re hearing” about the operation to liberate Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State (ISIS).
Islamic State “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has released a new audio message encouraging his jihadis not to flee the battlefields of Mosul, the terrorist group’s last major stronghold in Iraq. The message follows reports that Baghdadi may be in danger himself as he has chosen to hide in Mosul, not the Islamic State “capital” of Raqqa, Syria.
As the operation to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul of Islamic State terrorists continues, the civilians freed through the work of the Kurdish Peshmerga and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) did little to hide their joy at being rid of their oppressive regime.
Two weeks since announcing the start of the operation to liberate the city of Mosul from the Islamic State, the Iraqi army has crossed the city limits, and authorities claim troops are progressing steadily in capturing the city’s dense urban neighborhoods.
A Reuters report has confirmed that Shiite militias closely aligned with the Iranian government and the terror group Hezbollah are actively participating in the liberation of Mosul, Iraq, from the Islamic State, following repeated denials from the Pentagon.
Turkey has been anxiously following the Iraqi government’s efforts to liberate the city of Mosul from extremist factions and re-establish its authority there, an Arab intelligence official said.
Contents: Shia militias in Iraq may or may not be attacking Tal Afar near Mosul; ISIS using tens of thousands of men, women and children as human shields in Mosul; Conflicts among ethnic groups lead to chaos in Mosul operation
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has announced that the battle to retake Mosul, the nation’s second-largest city, from the Islamic State has reached “an advanced stage.” Following the Kurdish Peshmerga announcement Tuesday that they had completed the mission Baghdad approved for them, however, the Iraqi army has stumbled on its way to the urban center.
Authorities from the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq have reportedly forced about 250 displaced Sunni Arab families to leave Kirkuk after Sunni sleeper cells were accused of helping Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists carry out an attack in the Kurdish-controlled city.
The government of Turkey has warned that it is prepared for a ground invasion of northern Iraq if the Marxist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) does not vacate its camps in Sinjar. Turkey, present in Iraq against the wishes of Baghdad, has been training Kurdish Peshmerga militia units near Erbil, south of Sinjar.
Contents: In Iraq, Turkey’s artillery and possibly its jets are helping recapture Mosul from ISIS; In Syria, Turkey attacks both Kurds and ISIS near Aleppo
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters have closed in to within five miles of Mosul, the Islamic State’s capital in Iraq, despite fierce ISIS counterattacks.
Both the Turkish government and Kurdish Peshmerga forces say the Turks participated in the liberation of Bashiqa, a town eight miles from the regional Islamic State (ISIS) capital of Mosul. The Iraqi government has vehemently denied a Turkish role in the Mosul operation.
Turkey’s airstrikes against Kurdish targets north of Aleppo have not been received well by the Syrian regime. On Thursday, the Syrian Defense Ministry accused Turkey of “flagrant aggression, which targeted innocent civilians” and warned that Turkish forays into Syria are a “dangerous development that could escalate the situation.”
After an encouraging start, Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers on the ground have begun protesting that the Iraqi military is too slow and weak to effectively liberate Mosul, and that their penchant for flying Shiite militia flags makes ethnic Kurdish and Arab Sunnis fear they may impose themselves once the Islamic State has been eradicated.
The Islamic State’s news agency, Amaq, has produced an online video of “interviews with civilians,” one of which declares, “It is safe and life is normal. Satellite channels are lying. All their reports are lies.”
The battle to recapture Mosul from the Islamic State has entered its second day, with the Iraqi government reporting that 20 villages surrounding the regional capital have been liberated, but the gates of the metropolis itself remain far from participating militias.
The government of Iraq announced at 2AM local time Monday that the initiative to eradicate the Islamic State from Mosul, the nation’s second largest city, has begun.
The news of an impending military initiative to liberate Mosul, Iraq from the Islamic State reportedly led a high-ranking jihadist commander to attempt a mutiny against the terrorist organization, one that failed and left dozens of jihadists dead.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted on Tuesday that Turkey’s infantry will participate in the liberation of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, from the Islamic State, despite repeated demands by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that Turkey stay out of his country.
The latest WikiLeaks document dump on Hillary Clinton includes an August 18, 2014 email she sent to John Podesta, who is currently her campaign chairman, but was a counselor to the Obama White House at the time.
Turkey appears to be thawing its previously challenging relationship with Russia just as disagreements about the role of the Syrian Kurdish militias in the fight against the Islamic State have become a point of contention with the United States.
A Kremlin spokesman said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is finalizing plans to visit Turkey in October, a nation with whom relations have been tense following repeated violations of Turkish airspace that resulted in the downing of a Russian jet over Turkey.
During the course of an interview on MSNBC, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking through a translator, was asked by interviewer Ayman Mohyeldin: “If Donald Trump becomes President, would you advise Turkish citizens, or recommend to Turkish citizens, no longer to come to the U.S., since he’s calling on a ban of Muslims coming into the United States?”
President Barack Obama is reportedly considering directly arming the Syrian Kurds who are fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), a move that is certain to further strain or perhaps even fully disintegrate the relationship between the United States and its NATO Ally Turkey.
Hurriyet Daily News describes Thursday’s meeting between Russian Chief of Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov and Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar as “a visit which signaled a new term of cooperation between the two countries, as they worked to mend strained ties gradually.”
Retired Navy SEAL and former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince thought it was “shocking indeed that Matt Lauer asked any question that wasn’t pre-scripted from the Clinton team” during Wednesday night’s national security forum.
Turkey is seeking a greater role in fighting the Islamic State in Syria, even hoping to collaborate with the U.S. military to liberate Raqqa, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The declaration has alarmed Russia, which is expressing “concern” at an expansion of Turkey’s military action in the region.
The bodies of three Americans who died fighting the Islamic State alongside the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia are being repatriated to the United States.
The Turkish military has begun directly targeting Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) in Syria as part of Operation Euphrates Shield, initially billed as an assault on the Islamic State.
Contents: Turkey’s invasion of Syria continues, bombing Kurdish targets; America may be forced to choose between Turkey and Kurds
Turkey has been shelling the United States’s most effective allies in Syria, the Kurdish YPG, and demanding they withdraw east of the Euphrates or face even stronger actions — a threat backed up by Turkish tanks rolling across the Syrian border, to the consternation of Damascus.
Earlier this week, Turkey made a highly publicized demand for the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG and YPJ) to retreat east of the Euphrates after successfully conquering territory from the Islamic State. The YPG agreed, but Turkish troops shelled YPG locations on Friday anyway.
The battle going on inside Iraq is intensifying between Iraqi forces and Islamic State jihadists. On Tuesday, Iraqi forces reported making major progress in their fight against ISIS by taking Iraq city of Qayyarah.
Turkey’s operation “Euphrates Shield,” intended to curb the expansion of both the Islamic State and Kurdish militias in Syria, follows rumors spread by Russian officials that Turkey offered them the use of its Incirlik Airbase, also home to U.S. military assets.
