PKK - Page 4

Contents: US will ‘quickly’ arm Kurdish militias in Syria, despite Turkey’s opposition; Turkish officials furious at plans to arm the Kurds

Turkish officials told Hurriyet Daily News on Monday they are planning to construct a wall along the Iranian border to keep out Kurdish separatists from the PKK terrorist organization.

In the latest incendiary comments from the Turkish government, a senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday of the possibility of future Turkish attacks on American forces operating in the region.

Contents: Kurdish forces in Syria take Tabqa city en route to Raqqa; US military moves to protect Syrian Kurds from Turkey’s military

Multiple reports have suggested an elevated American presence on the Syrian-Turkish border where clashes between the Turkish military and the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) have escalated in the past week.

Contents: Turkey’s warplanes strike Kurdish militias fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq; PKK conducts new terror attack in southeastern Turkey; US State Dept. says that it’s ‘deeply concerned’ about the Turkish airstrikes

Early Tuesday morning, a wave of Turkish airstrikes reportedly struck a headquarters building used by the Kurdish YPG militia in northeastern Syria. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 18 YPG fighters and media officials were killed in the attack.

Russia’s state-run Sputnik News ran a story on Monday that quoted Turkish “observers” warning President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he will be forced to choose between Assad and the Kurds when the war against the Islamic State in Syria concludes.

The State Department is trying to push members of the U.S.-designated terrorist group known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) out of northern Iraq’s Sinjar region where the outlawed Kurdish group claims it is protecting the Yazidi minority community. Fighters with the

Contents: Hundreds of American troops deployed to Syria in support of local forces; As more US troops enter Syria, the endgame becomes fuzzier

Turkish authorities announced the mass arrests of hundreds of individuals suspected of working to infiltrate Turkey with the Islamic State, 763 of which were arrested on Sunday alone.

According to The Washington Post, the Trump administration has decided to scrap the Obama White House plan for recapturing the Islamic State capital of Raqqa in Syria.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Marxist terrorist group, has reportedly formed a new, armed group made up of members of the Yazidi minority in Iraq, drawing sharp rebuke from the mayor of the Yazidi-majority Iraqi town of Sinjar.

The Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG), the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) that controls large swathes of northern Syria, has declared that it is “not bound” by any decisions made during the current Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan.

Turkey has arrested more than 1,600 people accused of being linked to the failed military coup in July 2016, including 1,218 suspected followers of the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Samil Tayyar, a deputy for the ruling AKP Party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denounced NATO as a “terror organization” in a weekend interview.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group the United States and other NATO allies designated a terrorist organization, claims its fighters will only leave Sinjar, Iraq, once it goes back to the control of the Yazidis, a minority group that calls the area its home.

An alleged lack of allied support for Turkey’s offensive in the Middle East has reportedly prompted officials in Ankara to reconsider American use of Incirlik Air Base for their bombing campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).

Turkish officials are blaming Kurdish militants for a car bomb and gun attack on a courthouse in the city of Izmir on Thursday. A police officer and a court worker were killed, while five others were wounded in the attack.

An opinion column in Yeni Şafak, a pro-Erdogan Turkish newspaper, accuses the United States of “leading” the Islamic State, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and the alleged terrorist group run by Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

On December 29, the Islamic State released another “Cubs of the Caliphate” training video in which child soldiers are shown murdering helpless prisoners.

The Islamic State has formally taken responsibility for the slaughter at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul, issuing an unusually direct official statement that hailed the still-at-large gunman as a “heroic soldier of the caliphate.”

Contents: Istanbul Turkey New Year’s terror attack compared to Paris and Orlando attacks; Terror attacks expose deep divisions in Turkey’s society

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims he has proof the U.S. and its allies gave material support to the Islamic State, but his contention repeated most loudly and insistently is that America armed the Kurdish militia in Syria, which Turkey considers an offshoot of the Kurdish separatists it has been battling for decades.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for cooperation between the U.S., Russia, Iran, and Turkey to “establish a stable and terror-free zone” in Syria.

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said in no uncertain terms that his government would consider deploying its Peshmerga soldiers against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who have refused to leave Iraq’s northern Sinjar region.

The Turkish government reportedly announced this weekend that it is monitoring 10,000 people who they believe may be using the internet for “terror-related activity.” The report follows a week in which over 1,500 people were arrested on terrorism charges, most for links to U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Contents: Man who shot Russia’s ambassador in Turkey was in security forces; Turkey and Russia blame Fethullah Gulen and the US for the assassination; Both Turkey and Russia stand to gain by blaming US for assassination

Contents: Russia’s ambassador to Turkey shot dead in Ankara; Large truck kills 12 driving into a crowded Berlin market

A debate over the arrests of dozens of legislators representing the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) triggered another fist-fight in the Turkish parliament this week, where the atmosphere has become increasingly volatile between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and minority members.

Contents: Furious Turkey vows revenge, as PKK/TAK takes credit for Istanbul bombing; Terror bombing of Coptic Christian church in Cairo Egypt kills 25; Europeans call Cairo bombing ‘terror’, but not the Istanbul bombing

Contents: A new terrorist bombing in Istanbul Turkey kills dozens; Erdogan says some Greek islands should really belong to Turkey; Greece delays extraditing Turkish officers implicated in coup attempt

Contents: Mediterranean migrant traffic to Italy and Greece continues, despite cold weather; Europeans wonder if Turkey will reopen the refugee floodgates

Contents: Terrorist car bomb in southern Turkey kills two; Turkey furious at EU parliament’s vote to end accession talks

The Turkish government has issued a warrant for the arrest of Salih Muslim, one of the leaders of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). The PYD’s military wings, the YPG and YPJ, are longtime American allies on the ground against the Islamic State in Syria.

The only Christian mayor in Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally, has been removed as part of a purge by the ruling Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following an abortive coup earlier this year.