The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) group, led by the Kurdish YPG but boasting a variety of Arab and Christian militias, is signaling that it can capture the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State with support from the United States and pointedly without help from Turkey.
Contents: Hundreds of American troops deployed to Syria in support of local forces; As more US troops enter Syria, the endgame becomes fuzzier
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry warned that Ankara would not hesitate to bomb the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) should it seek to remain in the city of Manbij following the eradication of the Islamic State from that area. The YPG has been a longtime American ally, and the Pentagon is working to assert that it does not pose a threat to Turkey.
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.
Contents: Investigation reveals depraved new atrocities by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; Epicenter of Syrian conflict moves from Aleppo to Idlib and al-Bab
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).
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that a ceasefire between the Syrian government and opposition forces, brokered and guaranteed by Russia and Turkey, would go into effect at midnight.
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.
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.
Contents: Turkey, Syria, Kurds, ISIS converging on a major military confrontation in al-Bab; Syrian airstrike on Turkish forces threatens wider war
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.
U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian forces have announced the start of a campaign to retake the Islamic State’s de facto capital of Raqqa from the extremist group.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
Contents: Turkey presses to establish a ‘no-fly zone’ in northern Syria; Turkey’s forces and Kurdish forces set to clash in Manbij; US and Russia once again announced a peace deal in Syria
Contents: Turkey sends more tanks into Syria in ‘New Phase’ of military action; Syrian rebels capture 14 villages near Hama in four days; Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian army once again close to collapse
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 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).
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.
American officials have confirmed that Syrian Kurdish troops have agreed to stay east of Iraq’s Euphrates River, a demand imposed by the Turkish government. The Turks’ public concerns over Syrian Kurdish expansion come as the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, visits Ankara to reaffirm his solidarity with Erdogan.
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 Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London has published a report asserting that over 100 Americans are fighting alongside anti-ISIS militias in Iraq and Syria, making up over a third of the foreign recruits for those militia groups.
Actor Michael Enright, whose resume includes Pirates of the Caribbean, walked away from Hollywood to join Kurdish forces in battle against the Islamic State last year, at the age of 51.
TEL AVIV – An American Jew was killed fighting Islamic State militants in the battle for Manbij, a city in northern Syria.
An Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself up outside a bakery in the Kurdish northern Syrian province of Hassakeh as Ramadan was ending late Tuesday, killing as many as 30 people and injuring dozens more.
