YPG - Page 2

The mainstream media have begun to acknowledge that some Kurdish forces in the Turkey-Syria border region are a legitimate national security concern for Turkey, after a week of criticism of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal.

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 Turkish government is cracking down hard on internal dissent at the same time it lashes out against foreign criticism of “Operation Peace Spring,” its invasion of Syria to attack the Kurds.

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.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “defaming Turkey” in a speech this week in which he reportedly defended a free media in Turkey and urged Ankara to take in more migrants.

Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to either impose global nuclear disarmament or establish laws that allow any nation to develop nuclear weapons, as the status quo breeds “inequality.”

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.

The Turkish Interior Ministry announced on Monday that Turkey and Iran carried out a joint operation against Kurdish separatist militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with full results yet to be announced. The operation was apparently conducted in the Qandil mountains of Iraq’s Irbil province, about 25 miles from the Turkish border.

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

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Friday in what Graham described as an effort to defuse tensions between Turkey and the United States regarding the Syrian Kurds.

A senior Republican senator on Saturday urged U President Donald Trump to slow down the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria until jihadists were defeated to avoid a “nightmare” for allies Israel and Turkey.

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.

President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to “devastate Turkey economically” if Turkish forces attack the Kurds in Syria after the United States withdraws.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in a statement on Syria published Friday that he “looks forward” to soon meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia on Wednesday reported the capture of eight more foreigners fighting for the Islamic State, including a 16-year-old American identified as Soulay Noah Su.

Turkey’s foreign minister claimed that the United States was struggling to withdraw troops from Syria because it had complicated the battlefield with its support of “terrorist” groups and that only severing ties with the Syrian Kurdish groups Turkey opposes could fix the problem.

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.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to meet with U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton before he departed Ankara on Tuesday, claiming a scheduling conflict but assailing Bolton’s defense of Syrian Kurdish militias in remarks the same day.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said in remarks during his trip to Israel Sunday that President Donald Trump does not intend to withdraw troops from Syria until he is satisfied with security guarantees for the Syrian Kurdish militias fighting there, which have played a key role in the defeat of the Islamic State.

Erdogan’s empowerment in the framework of the U.S. withdrawal from Syria is by far the largest negative consequence of the move.

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.

Time will tell whether Trump’s decision to remove U.S. forces from Syria was a prelude to disaster for U.S. allies and a boon for America’s enemies, or whether the opposite is the case. But what is clear enough is that move is not entirely negative.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), reportedly took back the last town held by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) on Friday, further cementing the complete fall of the group’s so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon on Wednesday urged Turkey to suspend its planned operation into territory in northeastern Syria controlled by Kurdish militias fighting the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) with the support of the United States.

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.

A German man has been convicted in Turkey of membership in a banned Kurdish organization and sentenced to six years and three months in prison.

Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdogan reportedly issued a “final warning” on Friday to U.S.-backed fighters to pull out of areas in northern Syria east of the Euphrates river.

An American military patrol in the Syrian region of Manbij took fire from Turkey-allied forces in the area on October 15, Military Times reported this week.

Kurdish fighters in Syria say they have captured around 900 Islamic State fighters from various European countries and are now calling on those countries to take the jihadis back.

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.

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.