Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey’s airstrikes against Kurdish militia in Syria would soon be augmented by a major ground invasion. Meanwhile, Iran is launching missiles against Kurds living in the mountains of Iraq and using ground forces to crush protests in Iranian Kurdistan.
Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria to drive the Kurds away from the Turkish border is bringing more Western attention to the Kurds than they received during the long and bloody Syrian civil war, where they played a key role in defeating the Islamic State. Here are some important things to know about the Kurds.
The United States will not allow NATO member Turkey to attack U.S.-allied Kurds in Syria, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper declared this week.
President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to “devastate Turkey economically” if Turkish forces attack the Kurds in Syria after the United States withdraws.
The Turkish government continued its crackdown on criticism of “Operation Olive Branch,” Turkey’s invasion of Syria to attack Kurdish positions, by arresting 474 people for “promoting” the Kurdistan Workers’ Party of Turkey (PKK) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) of Syria.
WASHINGTON, DC — Russia urged Syrian Kurds to “hand over” the Afrin region to Moscow-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad “one day” before the ongoing Turkish assault on the territory, confirmed an official of the self-declared autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Syria.
Turkey’s National Defense Ministry claims that Secretary of Defense James Mattis has promised Ankara that American officials are only lending, not giving, weapons to Syrian Kurdish militias fighting the Islamic State and plan to retrieve those weapons following the liberation of Raqqa.
The Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), a coalition of anti-Islamic State militias largely comprised of Kurdish fighters, has confirmed that the battle to liberate Raqqa, the capital of the ISIS “caliphate,” has begun.
Turkey summoned U.S. ambassador John Bass in Ankara on Monday to complain about “aggressive and unprofessional” actions taken by American security personnel against Turkish bodyguards in Washington D.C. last week.
Contents: Washington shocked as Turkey’s security forces attack peaceful protesters; Turkey’s Erdogan leaves empty-handed from meeting with Trump
The Turkish military actively engaged in gunfire with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), long considered among the most successful militias on the ground fighting the Islamic State.
Syrian Kurdish fighters belonging to a ground coalition known as the Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) say the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State has provided them with unprecedented weapons support, expressing optimism that President Donald Trump will help their struggle more than the Obama administration did.
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.
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).
At a press conference in Ankara Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed he has “confirmed evidence” that the U.S.-led coalition in the Middle East has given support to the Islamic State.
Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists have claimed this week that they kidnapped two Turkish soldiers in northern Syria.
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 U.S.-allied Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), despite objections from Turkey, are expected to soon join the ongoing U.S.-backed offensive to retake Raqqa, considered to be the de-facto capital of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.
America’s NATO ally Turkey launched airstrikes against Kurdish fighters allied with a U.S.-backed militia in Syria, a testament to the growing rift between Ankara and Washington over the war against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in the Middle East.
The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned it will not participate in a U.S.-led coalition offensive to push the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) out of Raqqa, its de facto capital in Syria, if the Syrian Kurds are also involved in the operation.
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.
The co-leader of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which controls large swathes of northern Syria, has solicited help from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.
Intensifying clashes in northern Syria between Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels, who have received military assistance from America, and the U.S.-allied Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), are a testament to the quagmire of perpetual chaos the Obama administration has worked itself into in the Middle East.
Fighting has erupted in northern Syria between two US allies on opposing sides of a Turkish military offensive — the now Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Contents: Kurds, Assad forces, US and ISIS converge in Hasaka, alarming Turkey; Turkey launches rebel army to fight both ISIS and Kurds in Syria
An American who was fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Syria alongside U.S.-backed Kurdish forces became the sixth foreign volunteer and the second U.S. citizen to be killed by the terrorist group.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-Arab alliance, has recaptured the city of Manbij, located in northern Syria, from Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) jihadists.
The Egyptian government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has provided funds and weapons to the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Marxist-inspired guerrilla group listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the rest of NATO, according to a Turkish intelligence report.
A Manhattan resident, identified as an anarchist-communist, has snuck into war-ravaged Syria to join the Marxist People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia that receives military support from the United States in its fight against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), reports New York City’s progressive newspaper The Village Voice.
Dictator Bashar al-Assad, seemingly ignoring President Barack Obama’s push to advance a political solution to the Syrian conflict, has reportedly vowed to “liberate” every inch of Syria.
Photos of U.S. special forces wearing the insignia of the Syrian Kurdish Protection Units (YPG) drew ire from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has repeatedly accused the militia of being linked to the terrorist group known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Kurdish and Arab forces – including U.S.-backed Iraqi troops, Shiite militias linked to Iran, Peshmerga troops, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – have launched offensives targeting three major Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) strongholds in Iraq and Syria.
The Pentagon has seemingly changed its position on U.S. special operations troops wearing uniform insignia linked to the armed group of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Some Christian Assyrians have reportedly accused the Obama administration-backed Kurdish Democratic Party (PYD) in northern Syria of imposing revisionist education curricula on the Christian Assyrians and Arabs that changes the Old Testament.
Turkish warplanes have renewed airstrikes against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq, Reuters has learned from military sources.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) stands against “any terrorist group” that attacks Turkey, a Pentagon spokesperson indicated to Breitbart News.
The U.S.-backed Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria is aligned with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a terrorist organization, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter told a Senate panel, echoing Turkey’s position on the relationship between the two groups.
Kurdish forces have been fighting pro-Bashar al-Assad militiamen in northeast Syria, killing 21, according to a Syrian Kurdish official.
A pro-government news outlet in Turkey has accused the U.S.-backed Democratic Union Party (PYD) of attacking other Kurdish groups in Syria and promoting communist ideology.
President Masoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq echoed Turkey’s position and said the terrorist group known as the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and the U.S.-backed Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria “are exactly one and the same thing.”
