In all the hand-wringing that critics and commentators have done since President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, one of the common refrains emphasises the breach of trust between Washington and its Kurdish militia partners.

Some scholars of international relations put little stock in trust. Countries are selfish, after all.

Others see trust in impersonal terms, embedded in the rules, norms, institutions and alliances that bind countries to each other.

It turns out, though, that trust does matter in international relations. And in the Middle East, trust is often seen in personal terms.

For the American personnel who worked, ate and lived with the Syrian Kurds, trust-building was also a deeply personal experience. Trust underpinned the crucial intelligence cooperation between the US and its Kurdish partners. That cooperation helped plan and execute the raid that led to the capture killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

As one former American special operator has written, “Trust is a powerful commodity that has saved many lives in shadowy battlefields across the Middle East. But it takes a long time to build and can be gone in an instant.”

By contrast, mistrust, even if it is based on perception alone, can linger for decades, thwarting Washington’s foreign policy goals.

Defeating the Islamic State

I observed the long-term consequences of broken trust next door to Syria, in Iraq.

I served as a US diplomat in the southern Iraqi city of Basrah during 2015 and 2016, the height of the war against the Islamic State group, also known as IS.

At the time, after years of sectarian strife, dishonest governments and their broken promises, Iraqis seemed united around the common purpose of defeating IS. The corrupt and sectarian regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been ousted. And the US was leading an international coalition to help the Iraqi government in the fight against IS, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance.

You might think that a war that the US was fighting on behalf of the Iraqi people, a war that was truly an existential one for the majority Iraqi Shia, would have produced at least some goodwill toward the United States.

Instead, when I arrived in Basrah in 2015, I discovered that many Iraqis, including the majority Shia Muslim population among whom I lived, believed that the United States was somehow in cahoots with the Islamic State.

Mistrust for decades 
 
The Middle East is rife with conspiracy theories. But this one was particularly jarring given that the United States was then engaged in a costly and very public effort to defeat the Islamic State, a terrorist group which declared the Shia apostates and said they must be killed.

Over time, I began to understand the roots of these attitudes. Disinformation and propaganda, especially from Iran, fueled them to some extent.

But there were deeper issues at play.

“The United States defeated Saddam’s armies in a matter of weeks,” incredulous Iraqis I met would say to me. “So how is it that you can’t defeat a ragtag army of jihadists in two years?”

Iranian disinformation campaigns blaming the US for the Islamic State were effective because of a deep gulf of mistrust between the US and Iraqis, which led to widespread cynicism among ordinary Iraqis about US motives.

The origins of this mistrust go back decades, from tacit US support for Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, when Washington turned a blind eye to the dictatorship’s atrocities against Iraqi Kurds.

The lack of trust helps explain why the US had such a hard time stabilizing Iraq after 2003, despite toppling a feared despot and despite investing billions of dollars in the country.

Roots in betrayal

Iraqi Shia are the largest Muslim sect in the country, but have less political power than Sunni Muslims. The Shia in particular have painful memories of an event that they see as a massive breach of trust between them and the US.

In 1991, encouraged by then-President George HW Bush, the Shia rose up against Saddam, only to be abandoned by the US.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia were slaughtered.

I visited a memorial to the victims of Saddam’s suppression of the uprising, where I saw a leaflet displayed that was dropped by US and coalition aircraft calling on Iraqi soldiers and civilians to “fill the streets and alleys and bring down Saddam Hussein and his aides.”

“We thought this meant that the Americans would help us,” my guide at the museum told me. &nbsp;Many Iraqis I met also recalled the devastating 1990s sanctions on their country that were championed by the United States. Others talked of Washington’s failure to stabilize the country after 2003. Then there was the perception that the Obama administration came late to the war against the Islamic State.

Other Iraqis I met – young ones – told me of their resentment at US&nbsp;support for a political class in Baghdad that is seen as deeply corrupt. Some of them are no doubt protesting in the streets and squares of Iraqi cities today.

I attended lots of meetings with Iraqi Sunni tribal leaders in the south. They saw the Obama administration’s 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops and general disengagement from Iraq as a betrayal of trust. They saw it as handing over Iraq to Iranian influence, which they fear.

Ultimately, Iraqis did not see the US as a credible, consistent or committed partner. Some turned to Iran for assistance, while turning against the United States. Perhaps it is no surprise that polls taken at the time I worked in Basrah showed that Iraqis saw Iran and Russia as more favourable security partners.

Can’t escape the past

Iraq is by no means a perfect analogy for the shattered trust between Washington and its Syrian Kurdish allies. Yet the Iraqi experience shows that distrust of the United States has deep roots in past US actions.

In Syria, too, the US has left a legacy of mistrust since 2011, from Obama’s failure to follow through on his call for Assad to step down, to his failure to impose meaningful costs on the Syrian regime for its use of chemical weapons. Trump’s withdrawal is just one episode in a longer story.

Despite breaches of trust, Iraqis continued to need US support. But that need paired with a lack of trust makes things difficult for American diplomats in Iraq. For me, it was often overwhelming to be at the receiving end of the immense disappointment, frustration and more rarely, hope, that the Iraqis have in the United States.

The Syrian Kurds, like the Iraqis, will still need the United States and continue to work with Washington. But the breach of trust will complicate cooperation, as it did in Iraq.

Not everything that Iraqis blame the United States for is fair. And it would be impossible for even the best-crafted US policies to satisfy all of Iraq’s diverse people.

At times I tried to remind my unfailingly hospitable Iraqi interlocutors, especially those in the government, to be a bit more introspective about their own failings and responsibility for Iraq’s post-Saddam ills. I tried to remind them that the United States invested a lot in Iraq, with limited results.

In the end, the credibility of the message was undercut by a lack of trust in the messenger.&nbsp;

(Mieczysław P Boduszyński is Assistant Professor of Politics, Pomona College)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/broken-trust-how-iraqis-lost-their-faith-in-washington-long-before-the-kurds-did-125636">original article</a>) 
&nbsp; 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

In all the hand-wringing that critics and commentators have done since President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, one of the common refrains emphasises the breach of trust between Washington and its Kurdish militia partners.

In all the hand-wringing that critics and commentators have done since President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria, one of the common refrains emphasises the breach of trust between Washington and its Kurdish militia partners. Some scholars of international relations put little stock in trust. Countries are selfish, after all. Others see trust in impersonal terms, embedded in the rules, norms, institutions and alliances that bind countries to each other. It turns out, though, that trust does matter in international relations. And in the Middle East, trust is often seen in personal terms. For the American personnel who worked, ate and lived with the Syrian Kurds, trust-building was also a deeply personal experience. Trust underpinned the crucial intelligence cooperation between the US and its Kurdish partners. That cooperation helped plan and execute the raid that led to the capture killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As one former American special operator has written, “Trust is a powerful commodity that has saved many lives in shadowy battlefields across the Middle East. But it takes a long time to build and can be gone in an instant.” By contrast, mistrust, even if it is based on perception alone, can linger for decades, thwarting Washington’s foreign policy goals. Defeating the Islamic State I observed the long-term consequences of broken trust next door to Syria, in Iraq. I served as a US diplomat in the southern Iraqi city of Basrah during 2015 and 2016, the height of the war against the Islamic State group, also known as IS. At the time, after years of sectarian strife, dishonest governments and their broken promises, Iraqis seemed united around the common purpose of defeating IS. The corrupt and sectarian regime of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been ousted. And the US was leading an international coalition to help the Iraqi government in the fight against IS, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian assistance. You might think that a war that the US was fighting on behalf of the Iraqi people, a war that was truly an existential one for the majority Iraqi Shia, would have produced at least some goodwill toward the United States. Instead, when I arrived in Basrah in 2015, I discovered that many Iraqis, including the majority Shia Muslim population among whom I lived, believed that the United States was somehow in cahoots with the Islamic State. Mistrust for decades The Middle East is rife with conspiracy theories. But this one was particularly jarring given that the United States was then engaged in a costly and very public effort to defeat the Islamic State, a terrorist group which declared the Shia apostates and said they must be killed. Over time, I began to understand the roots of these attitudes. Disinformation and propaganda, especially from Iran, fueled them to some extent. But there were deeper issues at play. “The United States defeated Saddam’s armies in a matter of weeks,” incredulous Iraqis I met would say to me. “So how is it that you can’t defeat a ragtag army of jihadists in two years?” Iranian disinformation campaigns blaming the US for the Islamic State were effective because of a deep gulf of mistrust between the US and Iraqis, which led to widespread cynicism among ordinary Iraqis about US motives. The origins of this mistrust go back decades, from tacit US support for Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, when Washington turned a blind eye to the dictatorship’s atrocities against Iraqi Kurds. The lack of trust helps explain why the US had such a hard time stabilizing Iraq after 2003, despite toppling a feared despot and despite investing billions of dollars in the country. Roots in betrayal Iraqi Shia are the largest Muslim sect in the country, but have less political power than Sunni Muslims. The Shia in particular have painful memories of an event that they see as a massive breach of trust between them and the US. In 1991, encouraged by then-President George HW Bush, the Shia rose up against Saddam, only to be abandoned by the US. Tens of thousands of Iraqi Shia were slaughtered. I visited a memorial to the victims of Saddam’s suppression of the uprising, where I saw a leaflet displayed that was dropped by US and coalition aircraft calling on Iraqi soldiers and civilians to “fill the streets and alleys and bring down Saddam Hussein and his aides.” “We thought this meant that the Americans would help us,” my guide at the museum told me. Many Iraqis I met also recalled the devastating 1990s sanctions on their country that were championed by the United States. Others talked of Washington’s failure to stabilize the country after 2003. Then there was the perception that the Obama administration came late to the war against the Islamic State. Other Iraqis I met – young ones – told me of their resentment at US support for a political class in Baghdad that is seen as deeply corrupt. Some of them are no doubt protesting in the streets and squares of Iraqi cities today. I attended lots of meetings with Iraqi Sunni tribal leaders in the south. They saw the Obama administration’s 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops and general disengagement from Iraq as a betrayal of trust. They saw it as handing over Iraq to Iranian influence, which they fear. Ultimately, Iraqis did not see the US as a credible, consistent or committed partner. Some turned to Iran for assistance, while turning against the United States. Perhaps it is no surprise that polls taken at the time I worked in Basrah showed that Iraqis saw Iran and Russia as more favourable security partners. Can’t escape the past Iraq is by no means a perfect analogy for the shattered trust between Washington and its Syrian Kurdish allies. Yet the Iraqi experience shows that distrust of the United States has deep roots in past US actions. In Syria, too, the US has left a legacy of mistrust since 2011, from Obama’s failure to follow through on his call for Assad to step down, to his failure to impose meaningful costs on the Syrian regime for its use of chemical weapons. Trump’s withdrawal is just one episode in a longer story. Despite breaches of trust, Iraqis continued to need US support. But that need paired with a lack of trust makes things difficult for American diplomats in Iraq. For me, it was often overwhelming to be at the receiving end of the immense disappointment, frustration and more rarely, hope, that the Iraqis have in the United States. The Syrian Kurds, like the Iraqis, will still need the United States and continue to work with Washington. But the breach of trust will complicate cooperation, as it did in Iraq. Not everything that Iraqis blame the United States for is fair. And it would be impossible for even the best-crafted US policies to satisfy all of Iraq’s diverse people. At times I tried to remind my unfailingly hospitable Iraqi interlocutors, especially those in the government, to be a bit more introspective about their own failings and responsibility for Iraq’s post-Saddam ills. I tried to remind them that the United States invested a lot in Iraq, with limited results. In the end, the credibility of the message was undercut by a lack of trust in the messenger. (Mieczysław P Boduszyński is Assistant Professor of Politics, Pomona College) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

How Iraqis lost their faith in Washington, long before the Kurds did

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/key-developments-in-turkeys-offensive-in-syria-256638">Turkey's military incursion in Syria</a> has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year.

The operation in northeast Syria came after months of stagnant approval ratings for Erdogan, who had appeared vulnerable after his AK Party (AKP) lost control of Turkey's two biggest cities for the first time since he took power in 2003.

Opposition lawmakers told Reuters they suspected Ankara's decision to launch cross-border attacks on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia was taken largely to revive Erdogan's political fortunes at home. The government denies any such motive.

Erdogan's popularity had come under pressure after last year's currency crisis caused a recession that sent unemployment soaring, and also from criticism by former prominent AKP members who are expected soon to launch new parties.

But some three-quarters of Turks support the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eight-killed-in-bombing-in-turkish-controlled-northeast-syria-261218">Syrian incursion</a>, launched on October&nbsp;9, polls show, despite international condemnation, including by Ankara's NATO allies.

Erdogan's own approval rating rose last month to 48 per cent, a Metropole survey showed, its highest since shortly before the height of the currency crisis last year. His disapproval rating was at its lowest since a coup attempt in 2016.

Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist group with links to Kurdish militants at home. It has struck deals with Moscow and Washington to push back from the border region YPG fighters, who for years were US&nbsp;allies in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

The incursion put the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in a bind: its conditional support for the action put it at odds with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) that helped it win the Istanbul and Ankara mayoralties.

The leftist HDP, mainly backed by Kurds who make up some 18 per cent&nbsp;of the population, is the only major party opposing the mission.

Earlier this year the HDP offered outside support to an alliance of the secularist CHP and the nationalist Iyi Party, who oppose what they see as Erdogan's authoritarianism and handed him stinging losses in March and June local elections.

Any splintering between these parties would be a further boon for Erdogan, though one CHP lawmaker said he expected their cooperation to continue.

"It is clear that the aim (of Erdogan)... is to demolish this democracy alliance that the CHP has formed... and to weaken the relationship that it has formed with Kurdish voters," said Sezgin Tanrikulu, who opposes the Syria operation.

"It has created a disenchantment but in my opinion, this is not irreparable. The period ahead of us will be a period in which... the relationship of trust will be established again."

Commenting on Erdogan's improved ratings, Lutfu Turkkan, deputy group chairman of the Iyi Party, said polling firms were confusing support for the troops with support for the president.

"The soldiers have succeeded but the politicians and diplomats have yet to achieve something (in Syria)," he said.

But Turkkan also dismissed the HDP's criticism of the incursion. "The HDP's rhetoric on this has no meaning for us" because removing terrorists from Turkey's borders is a matter of national survival, he said.

The CHP and Iyi Party have 139 and 39 seats respectively in Turkey's 600-seat parliament. They both backed a mandate extending military operations in Syria and Iraq while the HDP, with 62 seats, opposed it as a violation of international law.

The opposition cannot afford to splinter if it hopes to challenge Erdogan on a national level given roughly half of Turks have strongly backed him for years.

A source close to Erdogan's AKP said&nbsp;"it will be extremely important who sides with whom" in the next election, adding "there is a warming" between the Iyi Party and the AKP.

Iyi Party chairwoman Meral Aksener has previously denied the two parties were getting closer.

The incursion has deepened a sense of alienation among Turkey's Kurds, especially after Ankara ousted some HDP mayors and arrested dozens of people in the country's southeast.

Underlining the CHP's dilemma, a poll shared among its members and seen by Reuters showed some 46 per cent&nbsp;of its voters either disapproved of the Syria operation or were undecided. The CHP backed the mission even while it carved out policy differences from the AKP including calling for dialogue with Damascus.

"This support (from the CHP) was a lifeline for the AKP. That was what they wanted and they got it," said HDP lawmaker Meral Danis Bestas, adding that her party would now have to decide on its future cooperation with other parties.

Turkey's military conducted two other operations in northern Syria over the last three years. Shortly after each, Turks were sent to the polls for a referendum in 2017 and for nationwide elections in 2018.

"This pattern suggests this was the main motivation for the mission," said Unal Cevikoz, the CHP's deputy chairman.

Turkey's military incursion in Syria has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year.

Turkey's military incursion in Syria has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year. The operation in northeast Syria came after months of stagnant approval ratings for Erdogan, who had appeared vulnerable after his AK Party (AKP) lost control of Turkey's two biggest cities for the first time since he took power in 2003. Opposition lawmakers told Reuters they suspected Ankara's decision to launch cross-border attacks on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia was taken largely to revive Erdogan's political fortunes at home. The government denies any such motive. Erdogan's popularity had come under pressure after last year's currency crisis caused a recession that sent unemployment soaring, and also from criticism by former prominent AKP members who are expected soon to launch new parties. But some three-quarters of Turks support the Syrian incursion, launched on October 9, polls show, despite international condemnation, including by Ankara's NATO allies. Erdogan's own approval rating rose last month to 48 per cent, a Metropole survey showed, its highest since shortly before the height of the currency crisis last year. His disapproval rating was at its lowest since a coup attempt in 2016. Ankara says the YPG is a terrorist group with links to Kurdish militants at home. It has struck deals with Moscow and Washington to push back from the border region YPG fighters, who for years were US allies in the fight against Islamic State in Syria. The incursion put the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in a bind: its conditional support for the action put it at odds with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) that helped it win the Istanbul and Ankara mayoralties. The leftist HDP, mainly backed by Kurds who make up some 18 per cent of the population, is the only major party opposing the mission. Earlier this year the HDP offered outside support to an alliance of the secularist CHP and the nationalist Iyi Party, who oppose what they see as Erdogan's authoritarianism and handed him stinging losses in March and June local elections. Any splintering between these parties would be a further boon for Erdogan, though one CHP lawmaker said he expected their cooperation to continue. "It is clear that the aim (of Erdogan)... is to demolish this democracy alliance that the CHP has formed... and to weaken the relationship that it has formed with Kurdish voters," said Sezgin Tanrikulu, who opposes the Syria operation. "It has created a disenchantment but in my opinion, this is not irreparable. The period ahead of us will be a period in which... the relationship of trust will be established again." Commenting on Erdogan's improved ratings, Lutfu Turkkan, deputy group chairman of the Iyi Party, said polling firms were confusing support for the troops with support for the president. "The soldiers have succeeded but the politicians and diplomats have yet to achieve something (in Syria)," he said. But Turkkan also dismissed the HDP's criticism of the incursion. "The HDP's rhetoric on this has no meaning for us" because removing terrorists from Turkey's borders is a matter of national survival, he said. The CHP and Iyi Party have 139 and 39 seats respectively in Turkey's 600-seat parliament. They both backed a mandate extending military operations in Syria and Iraq while the HDP, with 62 seats, opposed it as a violation of international law. The opposition cannot afford to splinter if it hopes to challenge Erdogan on a national level given roughly half of Turks have strongly backed him for years. A source close to Erdogan's AKP said "it will be extremely important who sides with whom" in the next election, adding "there is a warming" between the Iyi Party and the AKP. Iyi Party chairwoman Meral Aksener has previously denied the two parties were getting closer. The incursion has deepened a sense of alienation among Turkey's Kurds, especially after Ankara ousted some HDP mayors and arrested dozens of people in the country's southeast. Underlining the CHP's dilemma, a poll shared among its members and seen by Reuters showed some 46 per cent of its voters either disapproved of the Syria operation or were undecided. The CHP backed the mission even while it carved out policy differences from the AKP including calling for dialogue with Damascus. "This support (from the CHP) was a lifeline for the AKP. That was what they wanted and they got it," said HDP lawmaker Meral Danis Bestas, adding that her party would now have to decide on its future cooperation with other parties. Turkey's military conducted two other operations in northern Syria over the last three years. Shortly after each, Turks were sent to the polls for a referendum in 2017 and for nationwide elections in 2018. "This pattern suggests this was the main motivation for the mission," said Unal Cevikoz, the CHP's deputy chairman.

Turkey's Syria operation reveals cracks among Erdogan's political foes

Turkey removed four more mayors on Wednesday as part of a widening government crackdown on the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-starts-repatriation-of-captured-islamic-state-militants-report-261349">pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party</a> (HDP), bringing to 20 the number of mayors who have been dismissed after being elected earlier this year.

President Tayyip Erdogan and his government accuse the HDP of having links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, leading to prosecutions of thousands of its members and some leaders. The HDP denies such links.

Turkey's interior ministry appointed local governors in place of the mayors in the two districts of Diyarbakir, the largest city in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast. Two mayors from districts of Sirnak and Tunceli provinces were also removed.

The HDP governs many cities in the southeast of Turkey and typically appoints one male and one female co-mayor to promote gender equality.

The former co-leaders of the HDP have both been jailed since 2016 on terrorism charges, with several other prominent members accused of supporting terrorism over what the government says are links to the PKK.

The moves against the HDP come amid a Turkish military <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eight-killed-in-bombing-in-turkish-controlled-northeast-syria-261218">offensive in neighbouring Syria </a>against the YPG Kurdish militia, which Ankara also accuses of ties to the PKK.

The HDP is the only party in the Turkish parliament that opposed the offensive in northeast Syria that began on October&nbsp;9.

Turkey removed four more mayors on Wednesday as part of a widening government crackdown on the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), bringing to 20 the number of mayors who have been dismissed after being elected earlier this year.

Turkey removed four more mayors on Wednesday as part of a widening government crackdown on the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), bringing to 20 the number of mayors who have been dismissed after being elected earlier this year. President Tayyip Erdogan and his government accuse the HDP of having links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, leading to prosecutions of thousands of its members and some leaders. The HDP denies such links. Turkey's interior ministry appointed local governors in place of the mayors in the two districts of Diyarbakir, the largest city in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast. Two mayors from districts of Sirnak and Tunceli provinces were also removed. The HDP governs many cities in the southeast of Turkey and typically appoints one male and one female co-mayor to promote gender equality. The former co-leaders of the HDP have both been jailed since 2016 on terrorism charges, with several other prominent members accused of supporting terrorism over what the government says are links to the PKK. The moves against the HDP come amid a Turkish military offensive in neighbouring Syria against the YPG Kurdish militia, which Ankara also accuses of ties to the PKK. The HDP is the only party in the Turkish parliament that opposed the offensive in northeast Syria that began on October 9.

Turkey removes four more Kurdish mayors over alleged terror links

Three simultaneous bombings killed at least six civilians in the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/500-troops-to-remain-in-syria-united-states-military-official-261225">Kurdish-majority city</a> of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Monday, a Kurdish security source and a Britain-based monitor said.

There was no immediate claim for the bombings, but they occurred shortly after the Islamic State group said it was responsible for the killing the same day as a priest from the same city.

In Qamishli, an AFP correspondent saw charred cars and smoke rise from the site of the blasts.

Firefighters tried to put out the flames caused by the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-britain-france-germany-to-hold-syria-summit-260882">explosions</a>, as rescue workers carried away the victims.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria, said two car bombs and an explosives-rigged motorcycle blew up in a market and near a school in the city.

More than 20 people were wounded in the simultaneous attacks, said the Britain-based monitor said.

Watch: What's the reality on-ground in Syria?

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/whats-the-reality-on-ground-in-syria-258283/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The blasts come after IS claimed to have killed an Armenian Catholic priest from Qamishli.

The Observatory said the priest and his father were killed by gunfire as they made their way to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor to inspect the restoration of a church there.

Kurdish fighters have led the US-backed battle against IS in Syria, expelling the extremists from the last scrap of their proto-state in March.

But the jihadists have continued to claim deadly attacks in northeastern and eastern Syria ever since.

In July, IS said it was responsible for a massive truck bomb that killed at least 44 people in Qamishli.

A <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eight-killed-in-bombing-in-turkish-controlled-northeast-syria-261218">Turkish cross-border attack</a> against Kurdish fighters on October 9 heightened fears that IS fighters could break out in mass from Kurdish jails.

But a fragile Turkish-Russian ceasefire deal has more or less halted that offensive, and seen Kurdish forces withdraw from areas along the Turkish border, except Qamishli.

Three simultaneous bombings killed at least six civilians in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Monday, a Kurdish security source and a Britain-based monitor said.

Three simultaneous bombings killed at least six civilians in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Monday, a Kurdish security source and a Britain-based monitor said. There was no immediate claim for the bombings, but they occurred shortly after the Islamic State group said it was responsible for the killing the same day as a priest from the same city. In Qamishli, an AFP correspondent saw charred cars and smoke rise from the site of the blasts. Firefighters tried to put out the flames caused by the explosions, as rescue workers carried away the victims. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, which relies on sources inside Syria, said two car bombs and an explosives-rigged motorcycle blew up in a market and near a school in the city. More than 20 people were wounded in the simultaneous attacks, said the Britain-based monitor said. Watch: What's the reality on-ground in Syria? The blasts come after IS claimed to have killed an Armenian Catholic priest from Qamishli. The Observatory said the priest and his father were killed by gunfire as they made their way to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor to inspect the restoration of a church there. Kurdish fighters have led the US-backed battle against IS in Syria, expelling the extremists from the last scrap of their proto-state in March. But the jihadists have continued to claim deadly attacks in northeastern and eastern Syria ever since. In July, IS said it was responsible for a massive truck bomb that killed at least 44 people in Qamishli. A Turkish cross-border attack against Kurdish fighters on October 9 heightened fears that IS fighters could break out in mass from Kurdish jails. But a fragile Turkish-Russian ceasefire deal has more or less halted that offensive, and seen Kurdish forces withdraw from areas along the Turkish border, except Qamishli.

Bombings kill 6 civilians in main Kurdish city in Syria

Considerable attention has been paid to the Turkish invasion of Syria that took place in the first week of October. While Turkey entered into a ceasefire in a separate agreement with the USA, as well as, Russia since October 15-16, there remain serious international concerns about de-stabilisation of the already war-torn region and its implication for giving a flip to international terrorism. 
 
However, not much analysis has come out with regards to its security implications for India, which has the third-largest Muslim population in the world.&nbsp;

An analysis of the security implication of the Turkish invasion of Syria for India requires an understanding of the Turkish motives behind this illegal invasion. The fact that Turkish invasion took place on the eve of ‘official declaration of defeat of ISIS’ and withdrawal of American troops from Syria on the pretext of fighting YPG, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which played crucial role in the defeat of ISIS speaks volume about the mal-intentions of the Erdogan regime: (A) Erdogan’s grip over his countrymen is declining as evident from the loss of Istanbul mayor election in view of rising economic&nbsp;crisis, as well as, growing level of sectarian conflict within the country. This invasion was meant to divert people’s attention from this internal mess; B) This invasion is linked with his personal ambition to showcase himself as emerging Caliph of the Muslim world; C) The Erdogan regime derives its strength from the ‘politics of blackmailing’; A perennial destabilised Syria with a potential to ‘export refugee’ allows the Erdogan regime to bargain with Europe in particular and the West in general, (D) To bring a demographic change by transferring the millions of Syrian refugees, who are living inside Turkey, into the autonomous Kurdish region along the Syrian-Turkish border so that the issue of Kurdistan ceased to pose a threat to Turkish territorial integrity. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

In the light of the above motives, the Turkish invasion of Syrian territory raises the following security implications for India : (A) By all account, the invasion led to freeing up the jailed ISIS terrorists, which were being controlled by YPG Kurdish forces ; the freeing of ISIS terrorists has serious implication for coordinating the global terrorist activities, particularly in the AfPak area which runs into the troubled Kashmir; (B) Erdogan himself has emerged as source of Islamicist radicalism; (C) The global ambition of Erdogan of assuming the mantles of Caliph has led him to hold every year an international conference on Muslim minority population. Indian Muslims often figure in this conference as an oppressed entity; (D) Erdogan’s utterances on Kashmir in his UN speech and his blind support to Pakistan on the issue raised a prospect of ‘Islamic alliance’ against India.

India needs to be vigilant and must not allow Turkish nefarious design to affect its peace and stability.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

&nbsp;

Considerable attention has been paid to the Turkish invasion of Syria that took place in the first week of October. While Turkey entered into a ceasefire in a separate agreement with the USA, as well as, Russia since October 15-16, there remain serious international concerns about de-stabilisation of the already war-torn region and its implication for giving a flip to international terrorism.

Considerable attention has been paid to the Turkish invasion of Syria that took place in the first week of October. While Turkey entered into a ceasefire in a separate agreement with the USA, as well as, Russia since October 15-16, there remain serious international concerns about de-stabilisation of the already war-torn region and its implication for giving a flip to international terrorism. However, not much analysis has come out with regards to its security implications for India, which has the third-largest Muslim population in the world. An analysis of the security implication of the Turkish invasion of Syria for India requires an understanding of the Turkish motives behind this illegal invasion. The fact that Turkish invasion took place on the eve of ‘official declaration of defeat of ISIS’ and withdrawal of American troops from Syria on the pretext of fighting YPG, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, which played crucial role in the defeat of ISIS speaks volume about the mal-intentions of the Erdogan regime: (A) Erdogan’s grip over his countrymen is declining as evident from the loss of Istanbul mayor election in view of rising economic crisis, as well as, growing level of sectarian conflict within the country. This invasion was meant to divert people’s attention from this internal mess; B) This invasion is linked with his personal ambition to showcase himself as emerging Caliph of the Muslim world; C) The Erdogan regime derives its strength from the ‘politics of blackmailing’; A perennial destabilised Syria with a potential to ‘export refugee’ allows the Erdogan regime to bargain with Europe in particular and the West in general, (D) To bring a demographic change by transferring the millions of Syrian refugees, who are living inside Turkey, into the autonomous Kurdish region along the Syrian-Turkish border so that the issue of Kurdistan ceased to pose a threat to Turkish territorial integrity. In the light of the above motives, the Turkish invasion of Syrian territory raises the following security implications for India : (A) By all account, the invasion led to freeing up the jailed ISIS terrorists, which were being controlled by YPG Kurdish forces ; the freeing of ISIS terrorists has serious implication for coordinating the global terrorist activities, particularly in the AfPak area which runs into the troubled Kashmir; (B) Erdogan himself has emerged as source of Islamicist radicalism; (C) The global ambition of Erdogan of assuming the mantles of Caliph has led him to hold every year an international conference on Muslim minority population. Indian Muslims often figure in this conference as an oppressed entity; (D) Erdogan’s utterances on Kashmir in his UN speech and his blind support to Pakistan on the issue raised a prospect of ‘Islamic alliance’ against India. India needs to be vigilant and must not allow Turkish nefarious design to affect its peace and stability. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Examining security implications of Turkish invasion of Syria

By John Broich

Since US troops left their region, roughly 180,000 Kurds of northeastern Syria have been displaced, and over 200 have been killed.

Those Kurds, soldiers who’d battled the Islamic State and families, had hoped to secure a future Kurdistan state in areas now targeted by Turkish warplanes and patrolled by Russian mercenaries.

This is only the latest reversal for the Kurds, a group of around 40 million who identify with a regional homeland and common historical background, but are now divided between four countries. Despite their many attempts, there’ve never won and kept a Kurdish nation.

Drawing borders after WWI

The most decisive reversal came at the end of the first World War. That’s when the Allies, victors over Germany and the Ottoman Empire, divided their geographical spoils of war.

In a series of conferences in a succession of European palaces, Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau of France, Woodrow Wilson and dozens of other leaders conspired, harangued and horse-traded from 1919 to 1921. Under clouds of cigar smoke, between servings of foie gras and champagne, they redrew a large swath of the globe’s map.

Besides doling out spoils to themselves, such as far-flung German imperial holdings, their aims were to replace the Austro-Hungarian Empire, punish Germany in Europe and – the biggest task – fill the vacuum left by the demise of the sprawling Ottoman Empire, which before the war covered territory from the edge of Bulgaria to Yemen.

Their guiding principle for redrawing the map, at least in most cases, was the reigning concept of race nationalism, what’s often called today ethno-nationalism.

Simply put, the Allies’ delegates assumed that nation states should be composed as much as possible by single “races,” single ethnic and linguistic populations. So, they defined, in some ways created, new races – like, for example, Hungarians or Austrians – and drew borders around them.

Who should receive an ethno-state?

What to do in the big, central zone of the defeated Ottoman Empire, stretching between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf?

Should there be one big, Greater Arabia or Arab federation, as some British officials promised their Arab allies who revolted against the Ottomans? Should there be many little nations, with borders around Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds? (Following their race-nation instinct, the British did support what they called a new “National Home for the Jewish people” in former Ottoman Palestine.)

That, too, is what President Woodrow Wilson’s call for self-determination dictated. Wilson himself was explicit in calling for a new, broadly encompassing Kurdistan.

They took for granted that Kurds were a race and that Kurdistan was a place. In fact, it was already depicted in pre-WWI atlases. The problem of drawing its borders fell, British Parliamentarians told themselves, to them in immediate postwar years. And it’s what some powerful people in British officialdom assumed would happen.

Not only did it fit British race thinking to create Kurdistan – to be heavily staffed by British “advisers” like the other new states, of course – but they believed the Kurds truculent and independent, unlikely to accede to domination by a neighbour.

They would “never accept an Arab ruler,” in the words of one British Colonial Office official, if they were embedded in an Arab nation.

A missed opportunity

But the Allies and the League of Nations never created Kurdistan. Why not?

British imperial self-interest, in this case, overruled ethnonational thinking. By the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement, the secret French and British understanding of roughly who would get what after the war, the French claimed dominance of the northern Levant, what’s today Lebanon and Syria.

The British wanted a big geographical bloc in the region to match that of the French, to act as a counterweight. They formalized this by inventing a large country soon dubbed “Iraq.”

The line dividing Sykes-Picot’s French sphere and British sphere already cut straight through Kurdish areas. That partition was part of the reason why the British could not simply carve out a new, large Kurdistan (that they’d dominate like Iraq).

For another, British colonial officials, like the famous writer-turned-colonial administrator Gertrude Bell, wanted a Kurdish population retained in the new Iraq as a counterbalance to its large Shiite population, which was deemed seditious.

This represented classic British imperial thinking long employed in places like India: divide and conquer. The Kurds might not be particularly docile or loyal to the British, but they could be counted on not to unite with the Arabs or Assyrians, either, and throw off British meddling.

The British, too, suspected there were large oilfields under the important Kurdish capital of Mosul. Better to keep the Mosul region securely within Iraq, some leaders judged.

That colonial-era behavior had a recent analog, when President Donald Trump said that the Kurds could be allowed to remain near oilfields in far eastern Syria to protect them against the Islamic State. They’re still useful, it seems, for maintaining order above oil.

The roots of the trouble with Turkey 
 
The Allies’ last, half-hearted attempt to create at least a small Kurdistan took place during yet another conference of the Allies in the Paris suburb of Sèvres in 1920.

Planned for eastern Anatolia, or Asia Minor, squeezed into borders to which the Kurds objected as too little, this Kurdistan came to naught. The new, revolutionary nationalists in Turkey wanted their own race-nation of Turks. And they did not want Anatolia chopped up for the sake of Kurds or Armenians. They’d simply have to become Turks, too, or face the consequences.

From 1920, the new Turkish Army occupied what was to become the little Kurdistan, and the Allies had no will to challenge them. The last hope that WWI’s victors would create even a fractional Kurdistan disappeared without fanfare.

But the Kurds didn’t stop – have never stopped – resisting. When the British lumped them into their invented country of Iraq, the Kurds naturally revolted in 1919. When a delegation of British colonial authorities arrived to parley with the Kurdish leader, Sheikh Mahmoud Barzinji, the man calmly quoted Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, with its call for the “autonomous development” of the peoples formerly dominated by the Ottoman Empire. The British responded with two brigades.

Now, as then, it seems world powers support Kurd’s self-determination only until it’s no longer expedient.

(John Broich is Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-there-is-no-kurdish-nation-126243">original article)</a>

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

 
&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

By John Broich Since US troops left their region, roughly 180,000 Kurds of northeastern Syria have been displaced, and over 200 have been killed. Those Kurds, soldiers who’d battled the Islamic State and families, had hoped to secure a future Kurdistan state in areas now targeted by Turkish warplanes and patrolled by Russian mercenaries.

By John Broich Since US troops left their region, roughly 180,000 Kurds of northeastern Syria have been displaced, and over 200 have been killed. Those Kurds, soldiers who’d battled the Islamic State and families, had hoped to secure a future Kurdistan state in areas now targeted by Turkish warplanes and patrolled by Russian mercenaries. This is only the latest reversal for the Kurds, a group of around 40 million who identify with a regional homeland and common historical background, but are now divided between four countries. Despite their many attempts, there’ve never won and kept a Kurdish nation. Drawing borders after WWI The most decisive reversal came at the end of the first World War. That’s when the Allies, victors over Germany and the Ottoman Empire, divided their geographical spoils of war. In a series of conferences in a succession of European palaces, Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau of France, Woodrow Wilson and dozens of other leaders conspired, harangued and horse-traded from 1919 to 1921. Under clouds of cigar smoke, between servings of foie gras and champagne, they redrew a large swath of the globe’s map. Besides doling out spoils to themselves, such as far-flung German imperial holdings, their aims were to replace the Austro-Hungarian Empire, punish Germany in Europe and – the biggest task – fill the vacuum left by the demise of the sprawling Ottoman Empire, which before the war covered territory from the edge of Bulgaria to Yemen. Their guiding principle for redrawing the map, at least in most cases, was the reigning concept of race nationalism, what’s often called today ethno-nationalism. Simply put, the Allies’ delegates assumed that nation states should be composed as much as possible by single “races,” single ethnic and linguistic populations. So, they defined, in some ways created, new races – like, for example, Hungarians or Austrians – and drew borders around them. Who should receive an ethno-state? What to do in the big, central zone of the defeated Ottoman Empire, stretching between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf? Should there be one big, Greater Arabia or Arab federation, as some British officials promised their Arab allies who revolted against the Ottomans? Should there be many little nations, with borders around Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds? (Following their race-nation instinct, the British did support what they called a new “National Home for the Jewish people” in former Ottoman Palestine.) That, too, is what President Woodrow Wilson’s call for self-determination dictated. Wilson himself was explicit in calling for a new, broadly encompassing Kurdistan. They took for granted that Kurds were a race and that Kurdistan was a place. In fact, it was already depicted in pre-WWI atlases. The problem of drawing its borders fell, British Parliamentarians told themselves, to them in immediate postwar years. And it’s what some powerful people in British officialdom assumed would happen. Not only did it fit British race thinking to create Kurdistan – to be heavily staffed by British “advisers” like the other new states, of course – but they believed the Kurds truculent and independent, unlikely to accede to domination by a neighbour. They would “never accept an Arab ruler,” in the words of one British Colonial Office official, if they were embedded in an Arab nation. A missed opportunity But the Allies and the League of Nations never created Kurdistan. Why not? British imperial self-interest, in this case, overruled ethnonational thinking. By the terms of the Sykes-Picot agreement, the secret French and British understanding of roughly who would get what after the war, the French claimed dominance of the northern Levant, what’s today Lebanon and Syria. The British wanted a big geographical bloc in the region to match that of the French, to act as a counterweight. They formalized this by inventing a large country soon dubbed “Iraq.” The line dividing Sykes-Picot’s French sphere and British sphere already cut straight through Kurdish areas. That partition was part of the reason why the British could not simply carve out a new, large Kurdistan (that they’d dominate like Iraq). For another, British colonial officials, like the famous writer-turned-colonial administrator Gertrude Bell, wanted a Kurdish population retained in the new Iraq as a counterbalance to its large Shiite population, which was deemed seditious. This represented classic British imperial thinking long employed in places like India: divide and conquer. The Kurds might not be particularly docile or loyal to the British, but they could be counted on not to unite with the Arabs or Assyrians, either, and throw off British meddling. The British, too, suspected there were large oilfields under the important Kurdish capital of Mosul. Better to keep the Mosul region securely within Iraq, some leaders judged. That colonial-era behavior had a recent analog, when President Donald Trump said that the Kurds could be allowed to remain near oilfields in far eastern Syria to protect them against the Islamic State. They’re still useful, it seems, for maintaining order above oil. The roots of the trouble with Turkey The Allies’ last, half-hearted attempt to create at least a small Kurdistan took place during yet another conference of the Allies in the Paris suburb of Sèvres in 1920. Planned for eastern Anatolia, or Asia Minor, squeezed into borders to which the Kurds objected as too little, this Kurdistan came to naught. The new, revolutionary nationalists in Turkey wanted their own race-nation of Turks. And they did not want Anatolia chopped up for the sake of Kurds or Armenians. They’d simply have to become Turks, too, or face the consequences. From 1920, the new Turkish Army occupied what was to become the little Kurdistan, and the Allies had no will to challenge them. The last hope that WWI’s victors would create even a fractional Kurdistan disappeared without fanfare. But the Kurds didn’t stop – have never stopped – resisting. When the British lumped them into their invented country of Iraq, the Kurds naturally revolted in 1919. When a delegation of British colonial authorities arrived to parley with the Kurdish leader, Sheikh Mahmoud Barzinji, the man calmly quoted Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, with its call for the “autonomous development” of the peoples formerly dominated by the Ottoman Empire. The British responded with two brigades. Now, as then, it seems world powers support Kurd’s self-determination only until it’s no longer expedient. (John Broich is Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Why there is no Kurdish nation

Turkey will send captured Islamic State members back to their countries even if their citizenships have been revoked, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday, criticising the approach of European countries on the issue.

Turkey launched an offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia last month following a decision by US&nbsp;President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from the region. The move prompted widespread concern over the fate of Islamic State prisoners in the region.

The YPG is the main element of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has been a leading US&nbsp;ally in beating back Islamic State in the region and has kept thousands of jihadists in jails across northeastern Syria. The United States and Turkey's Western allies have said Ankara's offensive could hinder the fight against Islamic State and aid its resurgence.

Turkey, which views the YPG as a terrorist group linked with insurgent Kurdish militants on its own soil, has rejected those concerns and vowed to combat Islamic State with its allies. It has repeatedly called on European countries to take back their citizens fighting for the jihadists.

Speaking to reporters, Soylu said Turkey would send back any captured Islamic State fighters to their countries even if their citizenships are revoked.

"We will send back those in our hands, but the world has come up with a new method now: revoking their citizenships," Soylu said. "They are saying they should be tried where they have been caught. This is a new form of international law, I guess."

"It is not possible to accept this. We will send back Daesh (Islamic State) members in our hands to their own countries whether they revoke their citizenships or not," he said.

Soylu had warned at the weekend that Turkey would send back Islamic State members captured by Turkey to their home countries and complained of European inaction on the matter.

The United States said last month that it had killed Islamic State's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northwestern Syria, where Turkey and Russia have troops. While Baghdadi's death was hailed by world leaders, including Turkey, the group has vowed revenge against the United States.

Turkey will send captured Islamic State members back to their countries even if their citizenships have been revoked, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday, criticising the approach of European countries on the issue.

Turkey will send captured Islamic State members back to their countries even if their citizenships have been revoked, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Monday, criticising the approach of European countries on the issue. Turkey launched an offensive into northeastern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia last month following a decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from the region. The move prompted widespread concern over the fate of Islamic State prisoners in the region. The YPG is the main element of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has been a leading US ally in beating back Islamic State in the region and has kept thousands of jihadists in jails across northeastern Syria. The United States and Turkey's Western allies have said Ankara's offensive could hinder the fight against Islamic State and aid its resurgence. Turkey, which views the YPG as a terrorist group linked with insurgent Kurdish militants on its own soil, has rejected those concerns and vowed to combat Islamic State with its allies. It has repeatedly called on European countries to take back their citizens fighting for the jihadists. Speaking to reporters, Soylu said Turkey would send back any captured Islamic State fighters to their countries even if their citizenships are revoked. "We will send back those in our hands, but the world has come up with a new method now: revoking their citizenships," Soylu said. "They are saying they should be tried where they have been caught. This is a new form of international law, I guess." "It is not possible to accept this. We will send back Daesh (Islamic State) members in our hands to their own countries whether they revoke their citizenships or not," he said. Soylu had warned at the weekend that Turkey would send back Islamic State members captured by Turkey to their home countries and complained of European inaction on the matter. The United States said last month that it had killed Islamic State's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northwestern Syria, where Turkey and Russia have troops. While Baghdadi's death was hailed by world leaders, including Turkey, the group has vowed revenge against the United States.

Will send back Islamic State prisoners even if citizenships revoked: Turkey

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-says-kurdish-withdrawal-in-northeast-syria-complete-258817">Syrian army troops</a> clashed with Turkish forces near the border town of Ras al-Ain on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported, as Ankara said it reserved the right to launch another cross-border offensive against Kurdish YPG militia.

The state media gave no details but Turkish-backed rebels said similar, intermittent clashes had occurred in recent days with Syrian troops south of the town, which Turkey seized from Syrian Kurdish-led forces earlier this month.

The report underscores the risk that violence in northeast Syria could rekindle after Ankara and Moscow struck a deal a week ago in which Russia agreed to move the YPG at least 30 km&nbsp;south of the border by late on Tuesday.

As part of the deal, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-says-largely-reached-agreement-with-russia-in-syria-talks-report-258801">Syrian troops have with the agreement of Kurdish forces</a> headed north to take up positions in a region Damascus has not controlled since early on in the country's eight-and-a-half-year-old war.

In Ankara, President Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers from his AK Party that Turkey has information the YPG has not completed its pull-out, despite assurances from Russia that they had left ahead of the deal's deadline.

"Even though the information in our hands suggests this has not been succeeded in a full sense, we will give our response to them after our field assessments," he said, adding Turkey reserved the right to return to military operations against the YPG in the area.

Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organisation because of its links to Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey and aims to establish a "safe zone" in northern Syria cleared of the YPG.

The YPG is the main component in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that fought for years alongside US&nbsp;forces to shatter the declared "caliphate" of Islamic State militants that spanned a swathe of northern and eastern Syria.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-says-kurdish-ypg-still-in-syria-border-area-as-deadline-looms-258685">Turkish-backed forces</a> crossed the border into northeast Syria on October&nbsp;9 to attack the YPG after President Donald Trump's abrupt withdrawal of US. forces there a few days earlier, drawing international condemnation of Ankara.

Trump's decision has been condemned in Washington by Democrats and his fellow Republicans alike for abandoning Kurdish fighters who helped rout Islamic State.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted decisively to sanction Turkey, a NATO ally.

Joint Russian-Turkish patrols had been set to begin on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km&nbsp;inside northern Syria, but Erdogan said they would begin on Friday and at a depth of just 7 km.

"If we see that the members of the terrorist organisation have not been moved out of the 30 km, or if attacks continue, no matter from where, we reserve our right to carry out our own operation," Erdogan said.

On Tuesday, the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels said they had captured an undisclosed number of Syrian army soldiers near Tel Hawa, in the countryside around Ras al-Ain. A spokesman for the rebels said that the YPG had not fully withdrawn from the border area and that a new round of clashes was expected.

Some 300,000 people have been displaced by Turkey's offensive and 120 civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.

The US&nbsp;House voted 403-16 for a resolution calling on Trump to impose sanctions and other restrictions on Turkey and Turkish officials over its offensive in Syria.

In Geneva, Assad's government condemned what it called the occupation of its land while the Syrian opposition demanded justice at the opening of a U.N.-backed panel meant to usher in reconciliation, political reforms and free and fair elections as a basis for lasting peace.

Syrian army troops clashed with Turkish forces near the border town of Ras al-Ain on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported, as Ankara said it reserved the right to launch another cross-border offensive against Kurdish YPG militia.

Syrian army troops clashed with Turkish forces near the border town of Ras al-Ain on Wednesday, Syrian state media reported, as Ankara said it reserved the right to launch another cross-border offensive against Kurdish YPG militia. The state media gave no details but Turkish-backed rebels said similar, intermittent clashes had occurred in recent days with Syrian troops south of the town, which Turkey seized from Syrian Kurdish-led forces earlier this month. The report underscores the risk that violence in northeast Syria could rekindle after Ankara and Moscow struck a deal a week ago in which Russia agreed to move the YPG at least 30 km south of the border by late on Tuesday. As part of the deal, Syrian troops have with the agreement of Kurdish forces headed north to take up positions in a region Damascus has not controlled since early on in the country's eight-and-a-half-year-old war. In Ankara, President Tayyip Erdogan told lawmakers from his AK Party that Turkey has information the YPG has not completed its pull-out, despite assurances from Russia that they had left ahead of the deal's deadline. "Even though the information in our hands suggests this has not been succeeded in a full sense, we will give our response to them after our field assessments," he said, adding Turkey reserved the right to return to military operations against the YPG in the area. Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organisation because of its links to Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey and aims to establish a "safe zone" in northern Syria cleared of the YPG. The YPG is the main component in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that fought for years alongside US forces to shatter the declared "caliphate" of Islamic State militants that spanned a swathe of northern and eastern Syria. Turkish-backed forces crossed the border into northeast Syria on October 9 to attack the YPG after President Donald Trump's abrupt withdrawal of US. forces there a few days earlier, drawing international condemnation of Ankara. Trump's decision has been condemned in Washington by Democrats and his fellow Republicans alike for abandoning Kurdish fighters who helped rout Islamic State. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted decisively to sanction Turkey, a NATO ally. Joint Russian-Turkish patrols had been set to begin on Tuesday at a depth of 10 km inside northern Syria, but Erdogan said they would begin on Friday and at a depth of just 7 km. "If we see that the members of the terrorist organisation have not been moved out of the 30 km, or if attacks continue, no matter from where, we reserve our right to carry out our own operation," Erdogan said. On Tuesday, the Turkey-backed Syrian rebels said they had captured an undisclosed number of Syrian army soldiers near Tel Hawa, in the countryside around Ras al-Ain. A spokesman for the rebels said that the YPG had not fully withdrawn from the border area and that a new round of clashes was expected. Some 300,000 people have been displaced by Turkey's offensive and 120 civilians have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor. The US House voted 403-16 for a resolution calling on Trump to impose sanctions and other restrictions on Turkey and Turkish officials over its offensive in Syria. In Geneva, Assad's government condemned what it called the occupation of its land while the Syrian opposition demanded justice at the opening of a U.N.-backed panel meant to usher in reconciliation, political reforms and free and fair elections as a basis for lasting peace.

Syrian army, Turkish force clash near border: Report

By Natasha Lindstaedt

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State (IS), is dead. After US special forces raided his safe house in Idlib province in north-west Syria, Baghdadi reportedly fled and detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children. Over the past several years, there have been constant reports of his death but up until now, none of these reports have been verified.

The death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 did not lead to the end of Al-Qaeda, but what does al-Baghdadi’s death mean for IS?

Al-Baghdadi was most likely born in the Iraqi city of Samarra in 1971. Though he was a poor student with bad eyesight, he rose to command al-Qaeda’s Iraqi division. He was captured by US forces in a raid in 2004 in Falluja, Iraq, but was not considered to be particularly important at the time. Few would predict that Al-Baghdadi would rise to such a position of power. He was not noted for being particularly charismatic or memorable.

By 2010, al-Baghdadi took control of the group that would be eventually called the Islamic State, a group whose predecessor was Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI had been led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until he was killed in 2006. Under the helm of al-Zarqawi, AQI had become one of the region’s most brutal and effective insurgent groups, controlling the flow of resources and foreign fighters into Iraq. By 2007, the group had almost faded away, but by 2009 it was gaining support in Sunni tribal areas now known as the Islamic State in Iraq.

Split with Al-Qaeda

By the time al-Baghdadi took over, a rift had grown between the wider al-Qaeda group and IS, which had been simmering since al-Zarqawi led AQI. To al-Qaeda, Baghdadi was excessively violent and counter-productive to al-Qaeda’s objectives. Extravagant brutality such as beheading Muslims would alienate most Muslims. Al-Qaeda was also alarmed at IS’s predatory strategy of taking territory and resources from other rebel groups.

Al-Baghdadi, for his part, had no interest in subsuming IS under the wider leadership of al-Qaeda. He sent delegates (who were mostly of Syrian descent) into Syria after the Syrian war began in March 2011, a decision which al-Qaeda rejected. After repeated attempts by al-Qaeda to convince al-Baghdadi to move out of Syria, it officially cut its ties with him in February 2014.

Al-Baghdadi believed that al-Qaeda was ineffective, and had failed to set up an actual state.

Declaration of the caliphate

In June 2014, al-Baghdadi made his first public appearance delivering a sermon from a mosque in the recently captured city of Mosul, where he claimed to come from the same tribe as the prophet Muhammad. He also brazenly declared himself to be the caliph – or the political and religious leader of the Muslim community. Though this declaration was universally rejected by Islamic authorities, his plan of setting up a caliphate attracted thousands of foreign fighters to his cause.

At the height of al-Baghdadi’s power, IS had set up organisational structures across multiple countries and created a de facto state, the size of Belgium with 8m people living under its control. He established a brutal justice system, legalised slavery, collected taxes and provided a handful of public services.

While Bin Laden was more concerned with overthrowing modern Arab dictators, eliminating Israel and knocking over Western symbols of power, al-Baghdadi focused more on reviving the glory of the past. His dramatic vision for IS attracted those that wanted to be considered to be part of a line of warriors that extended back to the Prophet Muhammad.

Fall from power

By 2017, IS’s fortunes started to turn. It had inspired or helped to plan a series of terrorist attacks in Belgium, the US, France and Turkey that drew increasing resolve from the West to step up efforts to eliminate the group. Iraq’s forces also became more effective against IS, eventually retaking Mosul in 2017.

By March of 2019, IS surrendered its final territorial stronghold in Baghouz, Syria after extensive fighting with the mostly Kurdish, Syrian Democratic Forces. IS no longer had territory that it could lay claim to, and without territory, it could not claim to be a valid caliphate.

In an attempt to strengthen his standing, al-Baghdadi appeared in a video in April to demonstrate that the group could still exist, even if it lacked territory. He tried to energise his fighters to redouble their efforts. This would be only the second time that he would appear to the public.

His decision not to appear in person was about ensuring his own safety. Airstrikes had already caused a series of injuries. To avoid being caught, he never used mobile phones and frequently changed safe houses.

This makes his presence in Idlib province in Syria where he died somewhat surprising. The province is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist militia fiercely opposed to IS. The region is also currently under siege by Russian and Syrian forces.

What’s next for IS?

As I’ve argued in my own research, for most terrorist groups which are hierarchically organised, the death of a leader signals its demise. In fact most terrorist groups fall apart within a year of forming once the group has been decapitated. Terrorist groups that are larger and more cellular in structure, such as Al-Qaeda, have been able to weather the deaths of leaders, helping to explain the group’s longevity.

IS will likely name a successor to lead the group, and al-Baghdadi tried to prepare his followers that he would not live forever. But it could now start to operate in a way similar to Al-Qaeda with a cell-like structure, where it may attempt to plan terrorist attacks to signal its continued relevance to its followers. It needs to attract new numbers as it has seen its membership dwindle since its territory has disappeared.

The US decision to pull out of Syria has compromised the Kurds, who were managing detention centres holding captured IS fighters. The Turkish advance into Kurdish held territory in north-eastern Syria has led to the escape of several hundreds of IS fighters. The US, however, already claims it has gathered further intelligence from al-Baghdadi’s compound that will continue to weaken IS.

Studies of terrorist groups that have managed succession raise concerns that when one leader dies, the leadership that follows can be less disciplined, more violent and determined to exact revenge. Given Baghdadi’s penchant for brutality, it’s hard to imagine how that’s possible.

(Natasha Lindstaedt is Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/al-baghdadis-death-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-leader-of-islamic-state-125947">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

By Natasha Lindstaedt Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State (IS), is dead. After US special forces raided his safe house in Idlib province in north-west Syria, Baghdadi reportedly fled and detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children.

By Natasha Lindstaedt Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State (IS), is dead. After US special forces raided his safe house in Idlib province in north-west Syria, Baghdadi reportedly fled and detonated a suicide vest, killing himself and three of his children. Over the past several years, there have been constant reports of his death but up until now, none of these reports have been verified. The death of Osama bin Laden in 2011 did not lead to the end of Al-Qaeda, but what does al-Baghdadi’s death mean for IS? Al-Baghdadi was most likely born in the Iraqi city of Samarra in 1971. Though he was a poor student with bad eyesight, he rose to command al-Qaeda’s Iraqi division. He was captured by US forces in a raid in 2004 in Falluja, Iraq, but was not considered to be particularly important at the time. Few would predict that Al-Baghdadi would rise to such a position of power. He was not noted for being particularly charismatic or memorable. By 2010, al-Baghdadi took control of the group that would be eventually called the Islamic State, a group whose predecessor was Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI had been led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until he was killed in 2006. Under the helm of al-Zarqawi, AQI had become one of the region’s most brutal and effective insurgent groups, controlling the flow of resources and foreign fighters into Iraq. By 2007, the group had almost faded away, but by 2009 it was gaining support in Sunni tribal areas now known as the Islamic State in Iraq. Split with Al-Qaeda By the time al-Baghdadi took over, a rift had grown between the wider al-Qaeda group and IS, which had been simmering since al-Zarqawi led AQI. To al-Qaeda, Baghdadi was excessively violent and counter-productive to al-Qaeda’s objectives. Extravagant brutality such as beheading Muslims would alienate most Muslims. Al-Qaeda was also alarmed at IS’s predatory strategy of taking territory and resources from other rebel groups. Al-Baghdadi, for his part, had no interest in subsuming IS under the wider leadership of al-Qaeda. He sent delegates (who were mostly of Syrian descent) into Syria after the Syrian war began in March 2011, a decision which al-Qaeda rejected. After repeated attempts by al-Qaeda to convince al-Baghdadi to move out of Syria, it officially cut its ties with him in February 2014. Al-Baghdadi believed that al-Qaeda was ineffective, and had failed to set up an actual state. Declaration of the caliphate In June 2014, al-Baghdadi made his first public appearance delivering a sermon from a mosque in the recently captured city of Mosul, where he claimed to come from the same tribe as the prophet Muhammad. He also brazenly declared himself to be the caliph – or the political and religious leader of the Muslim community. Though this declaration was universally rejected by Islamic authorities, his plan of setting up a caliphate attracted thousands of foreign fighters to his cause. At the height of al-Baghdadi’s power, IS had set up organisational structures across multiple countries and created a de facto state, the size of Belgium with 8m people living under its control. He established a brutal justice system, legalised slavery, collected taxes and provided a handful of public services. While Bin Laden was more concerned with overthrowing modern Arab dictators, eliminating Israel and knocking over Western symbols of power, al-Baghdadi focused more on reviving the glory of the past. His dramatic vision for IS attracted those that wanted to be considered to be part of a line of warriors that extended back to the Prophet Muhammad. Fall from power By 2017, IS’s fortunes started to turn. It had inspired or helped to plan a series of terrorist attacks in Belgium, the US, France and Turkey that drew increasing resolve from the West to step up efforts to eliminate the group. Iraq’s forces also became more effective against IS, eventually retaking Mosul in 2017. By March of 2019, IS surrendered its final territorial stronghold in Baghouz, Syria after extensive fighting with the mostly Kurdish, Syrian Democratic Forces. IS no longer had territory that it could lay claim to, and without territory, it could not claim to be a valid caliphate. In an attempt to strengthen his standing, al-Baghdadi appeared in a video in April to demonstrate that the group could still exist, even if it lacked territory. He tried to energise his fighters to redouble their efforts. This would be only the second time that he would appear to the public. His decision not to appear in person was about ensuring his own safety. Airstrikes had already caused a series of injuries. To avoid being caught, he never used mobile phones and frequently changed safe houses. This makes his presence in Idlib province in Syria where he died somewhat surprising. The province is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist militia fiercely opposed to IS. The region is also currently under siege by Russian and Syrian forces. What’s next for IS? As I’ve argued in my own research, for most terrorist groups which are hierarchically organised, the death of a leader signals its demise. In fact most terrorist groups fall apart within a year of forming once the group has been decapitated. Terrorist groups that are larger and more cellular in structure, such as Al-Qaeda, have been able to weather the deaths of leaders, helping to explain the group’s longevity. IS will likely name a successor to lead the group, and al-Baghdadi tried to prepare his followers that he would not live forever. But it could now start to operate in a way similar to Al-Qaeda with a cell-like structure, where it may attempt to plan terrorist attacks to signal its continued relevance to its followers. It needs to attract new numbers as it has seen its membership dwindle since its territory has disappeared. The US decision to pull out of Syria has compromised the Kurds, who were managing detention centres holding captured IS fighters. The Turkish advance into Kurdish held territory in north-eastern Syria has led to the escape of several hundreds of IS fighters. The US, however, already claims it has gathered further intelligence from al-Baghdadi’s compound that will continue to weaken IS. Studies of terrorist groups that have managed succession raise concerns that when one leader dies, the leadership that follows can be less disciplined, more violent and determined to exact revenge. Given Baghdadi’s penchant for brutality, it’s hard to imagine how that’s possible. (Natasha Lindstaedt is Professor, Department of Government, University of Essex) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Al-Baghdadi’s death: The rise and fall of the leader of Islamic State

Thousands of the world's most wanted jihadists remain a security hot potato for Syria's Kurds, even after Washington announced the death of their elusive "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

A Turkish attack on northeastern Syria in early October sparked fears the Islamic State group suspects could break out en masse as their Kurdish guards were called up to the front.

A Turkish-Russian truce deal signed on October 22 has since largely halted that offensive, but the fate of suspected Baghdadi followers remains uncertain.

This is what we know:

How many

According to the Kurdish administration, there are around 12,000 suspected IS fighters in the custody of Kurdish security forces across northeastern Syria.

At least 2,500 of them are non-Iraqi foreigners of more than 50 different nationalities. Tunisia is thought to have the biggest contingent.

Officials in Paris say 60 to 70 French nationals are among those held.

The rest are around 4,000 Syrians and roughly the same number of Iraqis.&nbsp;

Where

The fighters, who were detained mostly in the course of operations led by Kurdish forces and backed by the US-led coalition against IS, are detained in at least seven facilities.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces do not reveal the exact locations but some of them are known, including in Roj, in Dashisha, Jerkin, Navkur and Derik.

Given the high value of some of the detainees, the security levels at these facilities is poor.

"They are only buildings" and not heavily fortified, said one top official.

Breakouts

After Baghdadi was announced killed on Sunday, SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi warned IS fighters still at large would seek revenge.

"This is why anything is possible, including attacks on prisons," he said.

His warning comes after dozens of IS prisoners were reported to have escaped when the long-threatened Turkish invasion became reality.

Last week, Washington's special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey told Congress "over 100" IS prisoners had escaped and their whereabouts were unknown.

On Friday, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Kurdish forces had managed to "recollect" dozens of IS prisoners who had escaped during the Turkish assault.

The Kurds had for months been saying that any offensive would make guarding foreign prisoners "a second priority".

Transfers

Turkey's invasion has lent some added urgency, however, to the search for a solution for these prisoners, whom the Kurds warn they cannot keep, let alone prosecute.

Western governments such as France have been reluctant to take them back, for lack of a clear legal framework and fears of a public backlash.

France and other governments have sought instead to transfer some of them to neighbouring Iraq.

Apparently anticipating the risk of jailbreaks, the United States took control of two of the most high-profile IS detainees in the early hours of the Turkish offensive and spirited them out of the country.

IS relatives

The detained fighters have thousands of relatives -- mostly women and children -- held in other facilities, such as the infamous Al-Hol camp, which is so overcrowded guards are struggling to control riots.

Another major facility housing so-called "IS families" is Ain Issa, which has found itself in the heart of the battlefield and from which around 800 people escaped in October, Kurdish authorities say.&nbsp;

Some of them are since thought to have been reintegrated in the camp, others to have crossed over to the Turkish side of the front line, and several to have joined up with IS cells operating in the area.

Resurgence?

Whether large-scale jailbreaks are prevented or not, any redeployment of SDF fighters away from the detention facilities would create a security vacuum for IS to fill in the area.

The past few months have seen an increase in the number and scope of attacks by IS sleeper cells, that never stopped being active after the jihadist group lost the final fragment of its once sprawling "caliphate" in March.

Thousands of the world's most wanted jihadists remain a security hot potato for Syria's Kurds, even after Washington announced the death of their elusive "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Thousands of the world's most wanted jihadists remain a security hot potato for Syria's Kurds, even after Washington announced the death of their elusive "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A Turkish attack on northeastern Syria in early October sparked fears the Islamic State group suspects could break out en masse as their Kurdish guards were called up to the front. A Turkish-Russian truce deal signed on October 22 has since largely halted that offensive, but the fate of suspected Baghdadi followers remains uncertain. This is what we know: How many According to the Kurdish administration, there are around 12,000 suspected IS fighters in the custody of Kurdish security forces across northeastern Syria. At least 2,500 of them are non-Iraqi foreigners of more than 50 different nationalities. Tunisia is thought to have the biggest contingent. Officials in Paris say 60 to 70 French nationals are among those held. The rest are around 4,000 Syrians and roughly the same number of Iraqis. Where The fighters, who were detained mostly in the course of operations led by Kurdish forces and backed by the US-led coalition against IS, are detained in at least seven facilities. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces do not reveal the exact locations but some of them are known, including in Roj, in Dashisha, Jerkin, Navkur and Derik. Given the high value of some of the detainees, the security levels at these facilities is poor. "They are only buildings" and not heavily fortified, said one top official. Breakouts After Baghdadi was announced killed on Sunday, SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi warned IS fighters still at large would seek revenge. "This is why anything is possible, including attacks on prisons," he said. His warning comes after dozens of IS prisoners were reported to have escaped when the long-threatened Turkish invasion became reality. Last week, Washington's special envoy for Syria James Jeffrey told Congress "over 100" IS prisoners had escaped and their whereabouts were unknown. On Friday, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Kurdish forces had managed to "recollect" dozens of IS prisoners who had escaped during the Turkish assault. The Kurds had for months been saying that any offensive would make guarding foreign prisoners "a second priority". Transfers Turkey's invasion has lent some added urgency, however, to the search for a solution for these prisoners, whom the Kurds warn they cannot keep, let alone prosecute. Western governments such as France have been reluctant to take them back, for lack of a clear legal framework and fears of a public backlash. France and other governments have sought instead to transfer some of them to neighbouring Iraq. Apparently anticipating the risk of jailbreaks, the United States took control of two of the most high-profile IS detainees in the early hours of the Turkish offensive and spirited them out of the country. IS relatives The detained fighters have thousands of relatives -- mostly women and children -- held in other facilities, such as the infamous Al-Hol camp, which is so overcrowded guards are struggling to control riots. Another major facility housing so-called "IS families" is Ain Issa, which has found itself in the heart of the battlefield and from which around 800 people escaped in October, Kurdish authorities say. Some of them are since thought to have been reintegrated in the camp, others to have crossed over to the Turkish side of the front line, and several to have joined up with IS cells operating in the area. Resurgence? Whether large-scale jailbreaks are prevented or not, any redeployment of SDF fighters away from the detention facilities would create a security vacuum for IS to fill in the area. The past few months have seen an increase in the number and scope of attacks by IS sleeper cells, that never stopped being active after the jihadist group lost the final fragment of its once sprawling "caliphate" in March.

IS prisoners in NE Syria: What we know

Kurdish YPG forces have still not fully withdrawn from a strip of land in northeast Syria from which Ankara says they must leave, Turkey's defence minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying, hours before a deadline for their removal expires.

Under an accord reached a week ago between the presidents of Turkey and Russia, Syrian border guards and Russian military police are meant to remove all YPG forces and their weapons from a 30 km (19 mile) band of territory south of the Turkish-Syrian border by 6 pm local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday.

After that deadline, Russian and Turkish forces will start jointly to patrol a narrower, 10 km strip of land on the Syrian side of the border.

The deal, clinched in the Russian Black Sea town of Sochi, reinforced an existing US-brokered ceasefire that had halted Turkey's offensive, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, in northeast Syria targeting the YPG, which Ankara views as a terrorist organisation linked to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey.

"It looks like the YPG terror organisation is still in the area of Operation Peace Spring," Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told the Sabah newspaper in an interview.

"This fight (against terrorism) is not over. We are aware that it will not end."

Asked about the joint patrols planned with Russian forces in the border area, Akar said: "The rules of engagement, (the question of) which vehicles are to be used, the authorities and directives are to be determined."

A Russian delegation is currently in Turkey for talks on the border patrols and wider security situation in northeast Syria.

Akar said there were still around 1,000 YPG fighters in the border town of Manbij and a further 1,000 in nearby Tel Rifat. The two towns are located to the west of the strip of territory that Turkey wants to turn into a "safe zone" but Syrian and Russian forces are also meant to clear them of YPG forces.

President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey will act alone to clear northeast Syria of YPG forces if Russia fails to fulfil its obligations under the Sochi accord.

Turkey launched its offensive in northeast Syria after President Donald Trump said he was pulling 1,000 US military personnel from the area. Turkey's NATO allies, including the United States, have criticised Ankara's actions, fearing it will undermine the fight against Islamic State.

The YPG is the main component in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has been a key ally of the United States against the Islamic State militants.

Russia, a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad, has emerged as the key foreign power in Syria, its influence further bolstered by the withdrawal of US&nbsp;troops from the northeast.

Kurdish YPG forces have still not fully withdrawn from a strip of land in northeast Syria from which Ankara says they must leave, Turkey's defence minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying, hours before a deadline for their removal expires.

Kurdish YPG forces have still not fully withdrawn from a strip of land in northeast Syria from which Ankara says they must leave, Turkey's defence minister was quoted on Tuesday as saying, hours before a deadline for their removal expires. Under an accord reached a week ago between the presidents of Turkey and Russia, Syrian border guards and Russian military police are meant to remove all YPG forces and their weapons from a 30 km (19 mile) band of territory south of the Turkish-Syrian border by 6 pm local time (1500 GMT) on Tuesday. After that deadline, Russian and Turkish forces will start jointly to patrol a narrower, 10 km strip of land on the Syrian side of the border. The deal, clinched in the Russian Black Sea town of Sochi, reinforced an existing US-brokered ceasefire that had halted Turkey's offensive, dubbed Operation Peace Spring, in northeast Syria targeting the YPG, which Ankara views as a terrorist organisation linked to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. "It looks like the YPG terror organisation is still in the area of Operation Peace Spring," Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told the Sabah newspaper in an interview. "This fight (against terrorism) is not over. We are aware that it will not end." Asked about the joint patrols planned with Russian forces in the border area, Akar said: "The rules of engagement, (the question of) which vehicles are to be used, the authorities and directives are to be determined." A Russian delegation is currently in Turkey for talks on the border patrols and wider security situation in northeast Syria. Akar said there were still around 1,000 YPG fighters in the border town of Manbij and a further 1,000 in nearby Tel Rifat. The two towns are located to the west of the strip of territory that Turkey wants to turn into a "safe zone" but Syrian and Russian forces are also meant to clear them of YPG forces. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey will act alone to clear northeast Syria of YPG forces if Russia fails to fulfil its obligations under the Sochi accord. Turkey launched its offensive in northeast Syria after President Donald Trump said he was pulling 1,000 US military personnel from the area. Turkey's NATO allies, including the United States, have criticised Ankara's actions, fearing it will undermine the fight against Islamic State. The YPG is the main component in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has been a key ally of the United States against the Islamic State militants. Russia, a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad, has emerged as the key foreign power in Syria, its influence further bolstered by the withdrawal of US troops from the northeast.

Turkey says Kurdish YPG still in Syria border area as deadline looms

Kurdish YPG forces in Syria have not fully withdrawn from the border territory as agreed in a Russia-brokered accord, and Turkey will soon discuss next steps with Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

Cavusoglu said a Russian military delegation was coming to Turkey to discuss joint patrols set to begin on Tuesday. He repeated that if the YPG did not withdraw some 30 kms (18 miles) from Turkey`s border, Turkish forces would clear them out.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday it had agreed to withdraw more than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, an announcement welcomed by Damascus which said Turkey should now end its "aggression" in northeast Syria.

Turkey launched its cross-border offensive on October 9 targeting Kurdish YPG forces in northeast Syria after President Donald Trump pulled US troops out of the area.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin then agreed on October 22 that Syrian border guards and Russian military police would clear the border area up to 30 km into Syria of YPG fighters over a six-day period that ends Tuesday.

The YPG is the main component of the SDF and is viewed by Ankara as terrorists due to their links to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. But the SDF has been a key ally of the United States in the fight against Islamic State militants.

&nbsp;

Kurdish YPG forces in Syria have not fully withdrawn from the border territory as agreed in a Russia-brokered accord, and Turkey will soon discuss next steps with Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

Kurdish YPG forces in Syria have not fully withdrawn from the border territory as agreed in a Russia-brokered accord, and Turkey will soon discuss next steps with Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. Cavusoglu said a Russian military delegation was coming to Turkey to discuss joint patrols set to begin on Tuesday. He repeated that if the YPG did not withdraw some 30 kms (18 miles) from Turkey`s border, Turkish forces would clear them out. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday it had agreed to withdraw more than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, an announcement welcomed by Damascus which said Turkey should now end its "aggression" in northeast Syria. Turkey launched its cross-border offensive on October 9 targeting Kurdish YPG forces in northeast Syria after President Donald Trump pulled US troops out of the area. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin then agreed on October 22 that Syrian border guards and Russian military police would clear the border area up to 30 km into Syria of YPG fighters over a six-day period that ends Tuesday. The YPG is the main component of the SDF and is viewed by Ankara as terrorists due to their links to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. But the SDF has been a key ally of the United States in the fight against Islamic State militants.

Turkey says Kurdish YPG has not fully withdrawn from Syria border region

How US planned operation to kill Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Clashes in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/erdogan-says-will-clear-terrorists-from-syria-border-if-sochi-deal-fails-258300">northeast Syria</a> between pro-Ankara fighters backed by the Turkish air force and a Damascus-backed force led by Syrian Kurds left 15 dead on Saturday, a monitor said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that nine pro-Turkish fighters and six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in a zone between the towns of Tal Tamr and Ras al-Ain.

State news agency SANA said earlier Syrian government forces had entered the provincial borders of Ras al-Ain near Turkey's border on Saturday, &nbsp;an area that was taken by Turkish forces in the latter's weeks-long offensive against Syria's Kurds.

The Observatory said the Syrian government's deployment there was its largest in years.

Syrian government troops had also deployed along a road stretching some 30 kilometres south of the frontier, SANA said.&nbsp;

Watch: What's the on-ground reality&nbsp;in Syria?

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/whats-the-reality-on-ground-in-syria-258283/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Turkey and its Syrian proxies on October 9 launched a cross-border attack against Kurdish-held areas, grabbing a 120-kilometre-long&nbsp;swathe of Syrian land along the frontier.

The incursion left hundreds dead and caused 300,000 people to flee their homes, in the latest humanitarian crisis in Syria's brutal eight-year war.

Turkey and Russia this week struck a deal in Sochi for more Kurdish forces to withdraw from the frontier on both sides of that Turkish-held area under the supervision of Russian and Syrian forces.

On Saturday, the Britain-based Observatory said some 2,000 Syrian troops and hundreds of military vehicles were deploying around what <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amnesty-international-says-turkey-deporting-syrians-to-planned-safe-zone-region-258214">Turkey calls its "safe zone"</a>.&nbsp;

Government forces were being accompanied by Russian military police, the Observatory said.&nbsp;

Moscow has said 300 Russian military police had arrived in Syria to help ensure Kurdish forces withdraw to a line 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border in keeping with Tuesday's agreement.

Under the Sochi deal, Kurdish forces have until late Tuesday to withdraw from border areas at either end of the Turkish-held area, before joint Turkish-Russian patrols start in a 10-kilometre strip there.

Ankara eventually wants to set up a buffer zone on Syrian soil along the entire length of its 440-kilometre-long border, including to resettle some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey.

The SDF has objected to some provisions of the Sochi agreement and it has so far maintained several border posts.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Saturday that Ankara would "clear terrorists" on its border if the Kurdish forces, which his country view as an offshoot of its own banned insurgency, did not withdraw by the deadline.

Clashes in northeast Syria between pro-Ankara fighters backed by the Turkish air force and a Damascus-backed force led by Syrian Kurds left 15 dead on Saturday, a monitor said.

Clashes in northeast Syria between pro-Ankara fighters backed by the Turkish air force and a Damascus-backed force led by Syrian Kurds left 15 dead on Saturday, a monitor said. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that nine pro-Turkish fighters and six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed in a zone between the towns of Tal Tamr and Ras al-Ain. State news agency SANA said earlier Syrian government forces had entered the provincial borders of Ras al-Ain near Turkey's border on Saturday, an area that was taken by Turkish forces in the latter's weeks-long offensive against Syria's Kurds. The Observatory said the Syrian government's deployment there was its largest in years. Syrian government troops had also deployed along a road stretching some 30 kilometres south of the frontier, SANA said. Watch: What's the on-ground reality in Syria? Turkey and its Syrian proxies on October 9 launched a cross-border attack against Kurdish-held areas, grabbing a 120-kilometre-long swathe of Syrian land along the frontier. The incursion left hundreds dead and caused 300,000 people to flee their homes, in the latest humanitarian crisis in Syria's brutal eight-year war. Turkey and Russia this week struck a deal in Sochi for more Kurdish forces to withdraw from the frontier on both sides of that Turkish-held area under the supervision of Russian and Syrian forces. On Saturday, the Britain-based Observatory said some 2,000 Syrian troops and hundreds of military vehicles were deploying around what Turkey calls its "safe zone". Government forces were being accompanied by Russian military police, the Observatory said. Moscow has said 300 Russian military police had arrived in Syria to help ensure Kurdish forces withdraw to a line 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border in keeping with Tuesday's agreement. Under the Sochi deal, Kurdish forces have until late Tuesday to withdraw from border areas at either end of the Turkish-held area, before joint Turkish-Russian patrols start in a 10-kilometre strip there. Ankara eventually wants to set up a buffer zone on Syrian soil along the entire length of its 440-kilometre-long border, including to resettle some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey. The SDF has objected to some provisions of the Sochi agreement and it has so far maintained several border posts. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Saturday that Ankara would "clear terrorists" on its border if the Kurdish forces, which his country view as an offshoot of its own banned insurgency, did not withdraw by the deadline.

15 dead in Syria clashes between pro-Turkish forces, Kurds: Report

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kurds-welcome-german-plan-for-international-force-in-syria-258015">The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces</a> (SDF) accused <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/erdogan-warns-syria-offensive-will-resume-unless-kurds-complete-pull-out-257497">Turkey</a> on Thursday of launching a large land offensive targeting three villages in northeast Syria despite a truce, but Russia said a peace plan hammered out this week was going ahead smoothly.

Under the plan, agreed by Presidents <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-heading-in-wrong-direction-with-syria-incursion-us-defence-secretary-mark-esper-257941">Tayyip Erdogan</a> and Vladimir Putin, Syrian Kurdish forces are to withdraw more than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, a goal Russia's RIA news agency, quoting an SDF official, said was already achieved.

Russia said it was sending more military police and heavy equipment to help implement the deal, which has already prompted US&nbsp;President Donald Trump to lift sanctions against Turkey and drawn lavish praise for Erdogan in the Turkish media.

Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia, the main component in the SDF, as terrorists linked to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. It launched a cross-border offensive against them on October 9 after Trump ordered US&nbsp;forces out of northeast Syria.

The deal agreed with Putin, which builds on and widens a previous US-brokered ceasefire, helped end the fighting.

But the SDF said in its statement on Thursday that Turkish forces had attacked three villages "outside the area of the ceasefire process," forcing thousands of civilians to flee.

"Despite our forces' commitment to the ceasefire decision and the withdrawal of our forces from the entire ceasefire area, the Turkish state and the terrorist factions allied to it are still violating the ceasefire process," it said.

"Our forces are still clashing," it said, urging the United States to intervene to halt the renewed fighting.

Turkey's Defence Ministry did not comment directly on the SDF report but said five of its military personnel had been wounded in an attack by the YPG militia around the border town of Ras al Ain, near where the three villages are located.

Turkey previously said it reserved the right to self-defence against any militants who remain in the area despite the truce, a pledge repeated by Erdogan on Thursday.

A US&nbsp;defence official said on Thursday that Washington was committed to reinforcing its military position in Syria "with additional military assets" - one of the clearest signs yet that it had not just ended plans for a full withdrawal from Syria but may add capabilities to strengthen American forces remaining in the country.

The UN&nbsp;special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, told Reuters the ceasefire seemed to be holding "by and large" as major powers gather in Geneva ahead of the first meeting of Syria's Constitutional Committee next week.

Erdogan also said Turkey had agreed with Russia to maintain an "observation post" on the northwestern part of Syria's Manbij.

'Everything is being implemented'

Russia, a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad that has emerged as the key geopolitical player in Syria, has begun deploying military police near the Turkish border as part of the deal agreed on Tuesday in the Russian city of Sochi.

"Everything is being implemented," Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin as saying.

RIA, citing an SDF official, said the Kurdish fighters had already withdrawn to 32 km (20 miles) away from the border. It also said the Kurds were ready to discuss joining the Syrian army once the crisis in Syria had been settled politically.

Russia will send a further 276 military police officers and 33 units of military hardware to Syria in a week, RIA news agency cited a Defence Ministry source as saying. It also quoted Russia's Defence Ministry as saying Russian military police had patrolled along a new 60-km (37-mile) route on the border.

Next Tuesday, under the terms of the Sochi deal, Russian and Turkish forces will start to patrol a 10-km (6-mile) strip of land in northeast Syria where US&nbsp;troops had been deployed for years along with their former Kurdish allies.

The arrival of the Russian police marks a shift in the regional balance of power just two weeks after Trump began pulling out US&nbsp;forces, a move criticised in Washington and elsewhere as a betrayal of the Americans' former Kurdish allies.

Turkey's military operation was also widely condemned by its NATO allies, which said it was causing a fresh humanitarian crisis in Syria's eight-year conflict and could let Islamic State prisoners held by the YPG escape and regroup.

At a monthly UN&nbsp;Security Council meeting on Syria on Thursday, Syria's UN&nbsp;ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, slammed Turkey's military action and "vehemently rejects attempts by the Turkish regime to justify its actions under the pretext of self-defence or countering terrorism."

The Russian deployments have also highlighted growing ties between Russia and NATO member Turkey.

US&nbsp;Defense Secretary Mark Esper, speaking in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a NATO meeting, said Turkey - which annoyed Washington this year by buying Russian-made S400 missile defence systems - was moving in the wrong direction.

"We see them spinning closer to Russia's orbit than in the Western orbit and I think that is unfortunate," Esper said.

'Super-power of peace'

Despite Trump's lifting of sanctions on Turkey, distrust persists between Ankara and Washington, and a top Erdogan aide on Thursday criticised US&nbsp;politicians for treating SDF commander Mazloum Kobani as a "legitimate political figure."

The aide, Fahrettin Altun, told Reuters that Mazloum was a senior leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency in southeast Turkey and which Ankara's Western allies also deem a terrorist group.

Republican and Democratic US&nbsp;senators urged the State Department on Wednesday to quickly give Mazloum a US&nbsp;visa so he can visit to discuss the situation.

Erdogan said, however, he had told his justice minister to draw up papers demanding Mazloum's extradition.

The Turkish public has shown strong support for the military operation, encouraged by an overwhelmingly pro-government media.

"The super-power of peace, Turkey," said the main headline in Thursday's edition of the pro-government Sabah newspaper.

The incursion has deepened a sense of alienation, however, among Turkey's Kurds, which is also being fuelled by a crackdown on the country's main pro-Kurdish party.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accused Turkey on Thursday of launching a large land offensive targeting three villages in northeast Syria despite a truce, but Russia said a peace plan hammered out this week was going ahead smoothly.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) accused Turkey on Thursday of launching a large land offensive targeting three villages in northeast Syria despite a truce, but Russia said a peace plan hammered out this week was going ahead smoothly. Under the plan, agreed by Presidents Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin, Syrian Kurdish forces are to withdraw more than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, a goal Russia's RIA news agency, quoting an SDF official, said was already achieved. Russia said it was sending more military police and heavy equipment to help implement the deal, which has already prompted US President Donald Trump to lift sanctions against Turkey and drawn lavish praise for Erdogan in the Turkish media. Ankara views the Kurdish YPG militia, the main component in the SDF, as terrorists linked to Kurdish insurgents in southeast Turkey. It launched a cross-border offensive against them on October 9 after Trump ordered US forces out of northeast Syria. The deal agreed with Putin, which builds on and widens a previous US-brokered ceasefire, helped end the fighting. But the SDF said in its statement on Thursday that Turkish forces had attacked three villages "outside the area of the ceasefire process," forcing thousands of civilians to flee. "Despite our forces' commitment to the ceasefire decision and the withdrawal of our forces from the entire ceasefire area, the Turkish state and the terrorist factions allied to it are still violating the ceasefire process," it said. "Our forces are still clashing," it said, urging the United States to intervene to halt the renewed fighting. Turkey's Defence Ministry did not comment directly on the SDF report but said five of its military personnel had been wounded in an attack by the YPG militia around the border town of Ras al Ain, near where the three villages are located. Turkey previously said it reserved the right to self-defence against any militants who remain in the area despite the truce, a pledge repeated by Erdogan on Thursday. A US defence official said on Thursday that Washington was committed to reinforcing its military position in Syria "with additional military assets" - one of the clearest signs yet that it had not just ended plans for a full withdrawal from Syria but may add capabilities to strengthen American forces remaining in the country. The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, told Reuters the ceasefire seemed to be holding "by and large" as major powers gather in Geneva ahead of the first meeting of Syria's Constitutional Committee next week. Erdogan also said Turkey had agreed with Russia to maintain an "observation post" on the northwestern part of Syria's Manbij. 'Everything is being implemented' Russia, a close ally of President Bashar al-Assad that has emerged as the key geopolitical player in Syria, has begun deploying military police near the Turkish border as part of the deal agreed on Tuesday in the Russian city of Sochi. "Everything is being implemented," Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin as saying. RIA, citing an SDF official, said the Kurdish fighters had already withdrawn to 32 km (20 miles) away from the border. It also said the Kurds were ready to discuss joining the Syrian army once the crisis in Syria had been settled politically. Russia will send a further 276 military police officers and 33 units of military hardware to Syria in a week, RIA news agency cited a Defence Ministry source as saying. It also quoted Russia's Defence Ministry as saying Russian military police had patrolled along a new 60-km (37-mile) route on the border. Next Tuesday, under the terms of the Sochi deal, Russian and Turkish forces will start to patrol a 10-km (6-mile) strip of land in northeast Syria where US troops had been deployed for years along with their former Kurdish allies. The arrival of the Russian police marks a shift in the regional balance of power just two weeks after Trump began pulling out US forces, a move criticised in Washington and elsewhere as a betrayal of the Americans' former Kurdish allies. Turkey's military operation was also widely condemned by its NATO allies, which said it was causing a fresh humanitarian crisis in Syria's eight-year conflict and could let Islamic State prisoners held by the YPG escape and regroup. At a monthly UN Security Council meeting on Syria on Thursday, Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, slammed Turkey's military action and "vehemently rejects attempts by the Turkish regime to justify its actions under the pretext of self-defence or countering terrorism." The Russian deployments have also highlighted growing ties between Russia and NATO member Turkey. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, speaking in Brussels on Thursday ahead of a NATO meeting, said Turkey - which annoyed Washington this year by buying Russian-made S400 missile defence systems - was moving in the wrong direction. "We see them spinning closer to Russia's orbit than in the Western orbit and I think that is unfortunate," Esper said. 'Super-power of peace' Despite Trump's lifting of sanctions on Turkey, distrust persists between Ankara and Washington, and a top Erdogan aide on Thursday criticised US politicians for treating SDF commander Mazloum Kobani as a "legitimate political figure." The aide, Fahrettin Altun, told Reuters that Mazloum was a senior leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency in southeast Turkey and which Ankara's Western allies also deem a terrorist group. Republican and Democratic US senators urged the State Department on Wednesday to quickly give Mazloum a US visa so he can visit to discuss the situation. Erdogan said, however, he had told his justice minister to draw up papers demanding Mazloum's extradition. The Turkish public has shown strong support for the military operation, encouraged by an overwhelmingly pro-government media. "The super-power of peace, Turkey," said the main headline in Thursday's edition of the pro-government Sabah newspaper. The incursion has deepened a sense of alienation, however, among Turkey's Kurds, which is also being fuelled by a crackdown on the country's main pro-Kurdish party.

Syrian Kurds accuse Turkey of violations, Russia says peace plan on track

By Greg Barton

“Remaining and expanding”. The propaganda tagline of Islamic State (IS) has rung hollow since the collapse of the physical caliphate. But recent developments in northeastern Syria threaten to give it fresh legitimacy.

US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Turkey after he announced the Turkish government agreed to a permanent ceasefire in northern Syria.

In a televised speech, he pushed back against criticisms of his decision to remove 1,000 troops from Syria, abandoning their Kurdish allies.

This decision allowed Turkish forces – a hybrid of Turkish military and Free Syrian Army rebels, including jihadi extremists – to surge across the Turkish border and begin intense bombardment of towns and cities liberated from IS.

Just how quickly and how far IS will rise from now remains unclear. One thing that’s certain, however, is that IS and the al-Qaeda movement that spawned it, plan and act for the long-term. They believe in their divine destiny and are prepared to sacrifice anything to achieve it.

In speaking about the resurgence of IS, we risk talking up the IS brand, the very thing it cares so very much about. But the greater risk is underestimating the capacity for reinvention, resilience and enduring appeal of IS.

And complacency and short-sighted politics threaten to lead us to repeat the mistakes of a decade ago that saw a decimated Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) insurgency roar back to life.

From violent beginnings

In 2006, Sunni tribes in northwestern Iraq killed or arrested the majority of ISI fighters with US support, reducing their strength from many thousands to a few hundred.

But with no backing for the Sunni tribes from the poorly functioning, Shia-dominated government in Baghdad, the outbreak of civil war in Syria, and the draw-down of US troops, ISI launched an insurgency in Syria before rising triumphant as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

ISIS quickly became the most potent terrorist group in history, drawing more than 40,000 fighters from around the world, and seizing control of northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq.

The final defeat of the IS caliphate in northeastern Syria came after five hard years of fighting and 11,000 lives from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), largely composed of members of the Kurdish YPG.

To the US, the SDF fighters were local partners and boots-on-the-ground after multiple false starts and expensive mistakes from allying with rebel groups in the Free Syrian Army. Without this SDF alliance, the IS caliphate could not be toppled.

Trump’s betrayal could open up ISIS recruitment

Donald Trump’s betrayal of the SDF in recent weeks is disastrous on several levels. It ignores the threat IS represents and validates ISIS’s central narrative.

What’s more, it contributes to the very circumstances of neglect, cynical short-term thinking and governance failures that lead to giving the IS insurgency an open pathway for recruiting.

Trump’s reckless move to withdraw 1,000 special forces troops from Syria comes from an impatience to end an 18-year long “Global War on Terrorism” military campaign of unprecedented expense.

This is somewhat understandable. After almost $6 trillion of US Federal expenditure and two decades of fighting, surely enough is enough.

But the inconvenient truth is IS and al-Qaeda jihadi fighters around the world have increased, in some estimates nearly four-fold, since September 11.

Still, betraying the SDF and pulling out of Syria for small short-term savings risks jeopardising all that has been achieved in defeating the IS caliphate in northwestern Iraq.

IS hardliners in overcrowded camps

IS will never return to its days of power as a physical caliphate, but all the evidence points to it tipping past an inflection point and beginning a long, steady resurgence.

IS has thousands of terrorist fighters still active in the field in northern Iraq. They’re attacking by night and rebuilding strength from disgruntled Sunni communities, as well as having thousands of fighters lying low in Syria.

But in recent months, the tempo of IS attacks has shifted from Iraq to Syria with the previously hidden insurgency reemerging.

As many as 12,000 terrorist fighters, including 2,000 foreigners, are detained in prisons run, at least until this week, by the SDF. Many are located in the border region now being overrun by the Turkish military and the Syrian jihadi it counts as loyal instruments.

Elsewhere, in poorly secured overcrowded camps for internally displaced peoples (IDPs), tens of thousands of women, many fiercely loyal to IS, and children are held in precarious circumstances.

In the Al Hawl camp alone there are more than 60,000 women and children linked to IS, including 11 Australian women and their 44 children, along with 10,000 IDPs.

The IS hardliners not only enforce a reign of terror within the camps, but are in regular communication with IS insurgents. They confidently await their liberation by the IS insurgent forces.

Liberated ISIS fighters

The hope of being freed is neither naive nor remote. Already, hundreds of fighters and IDPs have escaped the prisons and camps since the Turkish offensive began.

From mid-2012 until mid-2013, IS ran an insurgent campaign called “Breaking the Walls”. It saw thousands of hardened senior ISIS leaders, and many other militants who would later join the movement, broken out of half a dozen prisons surrounding Baghdad.

Suicide squads were used to blast holes in prison walls. Heavily armed assault teams moved rapidly through the prisons, blasting open cells and rushing the hundreds of liberated terrorist fighters into tactical four-wheel-drives. They were to be driven away in the desert through the night to rebuild the senior ranks of ISIS.

The liberated fighters were not only more valuable to ISIS after their time in prison, with many switching allegiances to join the movement, they were better educated and more deeply radicalised graduating for what they refer to as their terrorist universities.

It would appear the same cycle is now being repeated in northeastern Syria.

(Greg Barton is Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University)

(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-retreat-from-syria-could-see-islamic-state-roar-back-to-life-125311">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp; 
&nbsp;

By Greg Barton “Remaining and expanding”. The propaganda tagline of Islamic State (IS) has rung hollow since the collapse of the physical caliphate. But recent developments in northeastern Syria threaten to give it fresh legitimacy.

By Greg Barton “Remaining and expanding”. The propaganda tagline of Islamic State (IS) has rung hollow since the collapse of the physical caliphate. But recent developments in northeastern Syria threaten to give it fresh legitimacy. US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Turkey after he announced the Turkish government agreed to a permanent ceasefire in northern Syria. In a televised speech, he pushed back against criticisms of his decision to remove 1,000 troops from Syria, abandoning their Kurdish allies. This decision allowed Turkish forces – a hybrid of Turkish military and Free Syrian Army rebels, including jihadi extremists – to surge across the Turkish border and begin intense bombardment of towns and cities liberated from IS. Just how quickly and how far IS will rise from now remains unclear. One thing that’s certain, however, is that IS and the al-Qaeda movement that spawned it, plan and act for the long-term. They believe in their divine destiny and are prepared to sacrifice anything to achieve it. In speaking about the resurgence of IS, we risk talking up the IS brand, the very thing it cares so very much about. But the greater risk is underestimating the capacity for reinvention, resilience and enduring appeal of IS. And complacency and short-sighted politics threaten to lead us to repeat the mistakes of a decade ago that saw a decimated Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) insurgency roar back to life. From violent beginnings In 2006, Sunni tribes in northwestern Iraq killed or arrested the majority of ISI fighters with US support, reducing their strength from many thousands to a few hundred. But with no backing for the Sunni tribes from the poorly functioning, Shia-dominated government in Baghdad, the outbreak of civil war in Syria, and the draw-down of US troops, ISI launched an insurgency in Syria before rising triumphant as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS quickly became the most potent terrorist group in history, drawing more than 40,000 fighters from around the world, and seizing control of northeastern Syria and northwestern Iraq. The final defeat of the IS caliphate in northeastern Syria came after five hard years of fighting and 11,000 lives from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), largely composed of members of the Kurdish YPG. To the US, the SDF fighters were local partners and boots-on-the-ground after multiple false starts and expensive mistakes from allying with rebel groups in the Free Syrian Army. Without this SDF alliance, the IS caliphate could not be toppled. Trump’s betrayal could open up ISIS recruitment Donald Trump’s betrayal of the SDF in recent weeks is disastrous on several levels. It ignores the threat IS represents and validates ISIS’s central narrative. What’s more, it contributes to the very circumstances of neglect, cynical short-term thinking and governance failures that lead to giving the IS insurgency an open pathway for recruiting. Trump’s reckless move to withdraw 1,000 special forces troops from Syria comes from an impatience to end an 18-year long “Global War on Terrorism” military campaign of unprecedented expense. This is somewhat understandable. After almost $6 trillion of US Federal expenditure and two decades of fighting, surely enough is enough. But the inconvenient truth is IS and al-Qaeda jihadi fighters around the world have increased, in some estimates nearly four-fold, since September 11. Still, betraying the SDF and pulling out of Syria for small short-term savings risks jeopardising all that has been achieved in defeating the IS caliphate in northwestern Iraq. IS hardliners in overcrowded camps IS will never return to its days of power as a physical caliphate, but all the evidence points to it tipping past an inflection point and beginning a long, steady resurgence. IS has thousands of terrorist fighters still active in the field in northern Iraq. They’re attacking by night and rebuilding strength from disgruntled Sunni communities, as well as having thousands of fighters lying low in Syria. But in recent months, the tempo of IS attacks has shifted from Iraq to Syria with the previously hidden insurgency reemerging. As many as 12,000 terrorist fighters, including 2,000 foreigners, are detained in prisons run, at least until this week, by the SDF. Many are located in the border region now being overrun by the Turkish military and the Syrian jihadi it counts as loyal instruments. Elsewhere, in poorly secured overcrowded camps for internally displaced peoples (IDPs), tens of thousands of women, many fiercely loyal to IS, and children are held in precarious circumstances. In the Al Hawl camp alone there are more than 60,000 women and children linked to IS, including 11 Australian women and their 44 children, along with 10,000 IDPs. The IS hardliners not only enforce a reign of terror within the camps, but are in regular communication with IS insurgents. They confidently await their liberation by the IS insurgent forces. Liberated ISIS fighters The hope of being freed is neither naive nor remote. Already, hundreds of fighters and IDPs have escaped the prisons and camps since the Turkish offensive began. From mid-2012 until mid-2013, IS ran an insurgent campaign called “Breaking the Walls”. It saw thousands of hardened senior ISIS leaders, and many other militants who would later join the movement, broken out of half a dozen prisons surrounding Baghdad. Suicide squads were used to blast holes in prison walls. Heavily armed assault teams moved rapidly through the prisons, blasting open cells and rushing the hundreds of liberated terrorist fighters into tactical four-wheel-drives. They were to be driven away in the desert through the night to rebuild the senior ranks of ISIS. The liberated fighters were not only more valuable to ISIS after their time in prison, with many switching allegiances to join the movement, they were better educated and more deeply radicalised graduating for what they refer to as their terrorist universities. It would appear the same cycle is now being repeated in northeastern Syria. (Greg Barton is Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

US retreat from Syria could see Islamic State roar back to life

Turkey on Friday warned Washington that any meeting with the leader of a US-backed Syrian Kurdish-led force risked "legitimising terrorists".

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had talked with <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-lifts-turkey-sanctions-quits-blood-stained-syria-257796">Mazlum Abdi</a>, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which fought against extremists in Syria, and that he had "really enjoyed" the conversation.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump thanked Mazlum and said: "I look forward to seeing you soon", raising fears in Turkey of a possible face-to-face meeting between the two men in the United States..

"If you start legitimising terrorists like this, tomorrow you will end up meeting with Baghdadi as well," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in televised remarks.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the head of the Islamic State extremist group.

"It is not acceptable for our allies to meet with a terrorist wanted under a red notice," Cavusoglu told reporters in Baku.

"We have informed the US of all of this in a written note," the minister added.

Turkey says there is an Interpol red notice for Abdi, which Turkish NTV broadcaster reported had been issued in 2011.

A group of American senators including Lindsey Graham earlier this week urged the US State Department to expedite a visa for Abdi to enable a visit where he can speak to officials and lawmakers on the situation on the ground in Syria.

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul earlier on Friday said if Abdi entered the US, "because there is a red bulletin, because there is an arrest warrant..., this person should be caught, arrested and extradited to Turkey."

Gul told reporters in the Turkish border town of Akcakale that Turkish diplomats had contacted their US counterparts to remind them that Abdi was a wanted individual.

Relations between Turkey and the US are particularly tense after Ankara launched a cross-border offensive on October 9 against the Kurdish YPG militia, whose fighters make up the bulk of the SDF.

But there have also been strains over Washington's failure to extradite Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of ordering the 2016 failed coup. which Gulen has denied.

Turkey on Friday warned Washington that any meeting with the leader of a US-backed Syrian Kurdish-led force risked "legitimising terrorists". US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had talked with Mazlum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which fought against extremists in Syria, and that he had "really enjoyed" the conversation.

Turkey on Friday warned Washington that any meeting with the leader of a US-backed Syrian Kurdish-led force risked "legitimising terrorists". US President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had talked with Mazlum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which fought against extremists in Syria, and that he had "really enjoyed" the conversation. In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump thanked Mazlum and said: "I look forward to seeing you soon", raising fears in Turkey of a possible face-to-face meeting between the two men in the United States.. "If you start legitimising terrorists like this, tomorrow you will end up meeting with Baghdadi as well," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in televised remarks. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the head of the Islamic State extremist group. "It is not acceptable for our allies to meet with a terrorist wanted under a red notice," Cavusoglu told reporters in Baku. "We have informed the US of all of this in a written note," the minister added. Turkey says there is an Interpol red notice for Abdi, which Turkish NTV broadcaster reported had been issued in 2011. A group of American senators including Lindsey Graham earlier this week urged the US State Department to expedite a visa for Abdi to enable a visit where he can speak to officials and lawmakers on the situation on the ground in Syria. Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul earlier on Friday said if Abdi entered the US, "because there is a red bulletin, because there is an arrest warrant..., this person should be caught, arrested and extradited to Turkey." Gul told reporters in the Turkish border town of Akcakale that Turkish diplomats had contacted their US counterparts to remind them that Abdi was a wanted individual. Relations between Turkey and the US are particularly tense after Ankara launched a cross-border offensive on October 9 against the Kurdish YPG militia, whose fighters make up the bulk of the SDF. But there have also been strains over Washington's failure to extradite Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of ordering the 2016 failed coup. which Gulen has denied.

Turkey warns US meeting with SDF chief would 'legitimise terrorists'

The top commander of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pentagon-chief-looks-to-focus-on-turkey-syria-at-nato-but-has-few-good-options-257946">Syria's Kurdish force</a> on Thursday welcomed a German proposal for an international force to establish a security zone in the north of the country.

"We demand and agree to this," Mazloum Abdi, head of the Syrian Democratic Forces,&nbsp;the moribund autonomous Kurdish region's de facto army, told reporters.

German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said she would raise the plan with her counterparts at an ongoing NATO meeting in Brussels.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the German proposal would need U.N. approval to be implemented and therefore "needs to be discussed more in detail before any decision can be made".

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-heading-in-wrong-direction-with-syria-incursion-us-defence-secretary-mark-esper-257941">withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria</a> earlier this month was followed by a string of rapid changes on the ground, with a Turkish invasion and Russian and Syrian government forces also rushing to fill the vacuum.

Moscow and Ankara signed a deal requiring all Kurdish forces to pull back from the border to behind a line 30 kilometres inside Syria, meaning they lost control over a huge slice of the Kurdish heartland.

Abdi has thanked Russia for its new role as the guarantor of a buffer between his forces and those of the Kurds' archfoe Ankara but added he had "reservations" because <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/donald-trump-lifts-turkey-sanctions-quits-blood-stained-syria-257796">Kurdish people in that zone</a> would be left unprotected.

The German initiative was embraced by the United States but has so far struggled to gain traction, and few details are yet available.

Abdi said he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron but admitted that the plan was still embryonic and needed an endorsement from Russia, the dominant foreign broker on the Syrian conflict.

"We have communicated with many European countries, including those who announced the initiative. Two days ago I had a phone call with President Macron and we spoke about this project," Abdi said.

"I think it is under development... It needs American and Russian support," he said.

The top commander of Syria's Kurdish force on Thursday welcomed a German proposal for an international force to establish a security zone in the north of the country.

The top commander of Syria's Kurdish force on Thursday welcomed a German proposal for an international force to establish a security zone in the north of the country. "We demand and agree to this," Mazloum Abdi, head of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the moribund autonomous Kurdish region's de facto army, told reporters. German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said she would raise the plan with her counterparts at an ongoing NATO meeting in Brussels. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the German proposal would need U.N. approval to be implemented and therefore "needs to be discussed more in detail before any decision can be made". The withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria earlier this month was followed by a string of rapid changes on the ground, with a Turkish invasion and Russian and Syrian government forces also rushing to fill the vacuum. Moscow and Ankara signed a deal requiring all Kurdish forces to pull back from the border to behind a line 30 kilometres inside Syria, meaning they lost control over a huge slice of the Kurdish heartland. Abdi has thanked Russia for its new role as the guarantor of a buffer between his forces and those of the Kurds' archfoe Ankara but added he had "reservations" because Kurdish people in that zone would be left unprotected. The German initiative was embraced by the United States but has so far struggled to gain traction, and few details are yet available. Abdi said he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron but admitted that the plan was still embryonic and needed an endorsement from Russia, the dominant foreign broker on the Syrian conflict. "We have communicated with many European countries, including those who announced the initiative. Two days ago I had a phone call with President Macron and we spoke about this project," Abdi said. "I think it is under development... It needs American and Russian support," he said.

Kurds welcome German plan for international force in Syria

A Syrian Kurdish man set himself on fire Wednesday outside the headquarters of the United Nations refugee agency and was receiving treatment for his injuries, police said.

The 31-year-old German resident did not provide any explanation for his actions, Geneva police spokesman Silvain Guillaume-Gentil said.

"We can imagine his reasons, but we do not have anything concrete," Guillaume-Gentil said. "He had a hard time expressing himself when help arrived."

Kurds have organised a series of demonstrations to protest the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-pushes-offensive-in-syria-despite-sanctions-and-calls-to-stop-256184">assault that Turkey</a> launched on October 9 against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria.

The incident occurred shortly before 8:00 am (0600 GMT) outside UNHCR, which is across the street from the Palais des Nations, the U.N.'s European headquarters.

Responders arrived quickly and the injured man was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Lausanne, where he was being treated for his injuries, police said.

A Syrian Kurdish man set himself on fire Wednesday outside the headquarters of the United Nations refugee agency and was receiving treatment for his injuries, police said.

A Syrian Kurdish man set himself on fire Wednesday outside the headquarters of the United Nations refugee agency and was receiving treatment for his injuries, police said. The 31-year-old German resident did not provide any explanation for his actions, Geneva police spokesman Silvain Guillaume-Gentil said. "We can imagine his reasons, but we do not have anything concrete," Guillaume-Gentil said. "He had a hard time expressing himself when help arrived." Kurds have organised a series of demonstrations to protest the assault that Turkey launched on October 9 against Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria. The incident occurred shortly before 8:00 am (0600 GMT) outside UNHCR, which is across the street from the Palais des Nations, the U.N.'s European headquarters. Responders arrived quickly and the injured man was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Lausanne, where he was being treated for his injuries, police said.

Syrian man sets himself on fire outside U.N. building: Police

Turkey’s ambassador to China, Emin Onen, didn’t mince his words this week when he took his Chinese hosts to task for failing to support Turkey’s military campaign against a Kurdish militia in Syria.

Speaking in Turkish through a translator at a news conference at his Beijing embassy, Onen implicitly put China on the spot by calling on it to stand with Turkey in its fight against political violence.

In doing so, Onen was laying bare long-standing strains in Turkish-Chinese relations as well as contradictions that link Turkey’s long-standing refusal to fully recognise Kurdish rights to China’s brutal crackdown in its troubled, north-western province of Xinjiang.

Chinese officials have long sought to prevent Turkey from speaking out on the crackdown by privately arguing in discussions with their Turkish counterparts that China’s massive effort to fundamentally alter the belief system of Turkic Muslims, packaged as a fight against political violence, was no different from Turkish attitudes towards the Kurds.

Turkey has justified its decades-old policy in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey and its more recent interventions in Syria as a struggle against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) that has been designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, and its Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG).

The PKK has waged an insurgency in south-eastern Turkey for more than three decades. Tens of thousands have been killed in PKK attacks and Turkish military operations.

The YPG, which has not been designated by either the US or the EU, served in recent years as the United States’ ground troops in the battle to defeat the Islamic State’s Syria-based Caliphate.

“What we hope for is that China, whether internally or externally, is an anti-terrorist nation. They are a member of the (United Nations) Security Council, so they should understand our present situation,” Onen said.

“Certainly, we know that China is a country that is fighting against terror ... We are also fighting against ... (political violence) and it’s one of the most important issues,” Onen went on to say.

Onen was responding to what amounted to a Chinese condemnation of the Turkish incursion into Syria when Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, urged “Turkey to halt military action and to return to the right track, resolving the issue with political solutions.”

China had earlier called on Turkey to “exercise restraint,” insisting that Syria’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity must be respected and upheld.”

The stakes for both Turkey and China are high.

Both are likely hoping that Russian execution of an enhanced ceasefire initially negotiated by US Vice president Mike Pence on a visit to Ankara last week will enable them to avoid a further deterioration in relations. Russia took ownership of the Syrian process during talks on Tuesday between presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey, home to the largest Chinese Turkic Muslim exile community, and long a supporter of political and cultural rights for Uighurs, has on occasion breached the Muslim’s world’s wall of silence about the Chinese crackdown.

If Turkey, one of the Islamic world’s most powerful nations that compete with Saudi Arabia and Iran for leadership, were to revert to sustained criticism of the Chinese crackdown, it would make it more difficult for other Muslim states to maintain their silence or, in some cases, endorsement of Chinese policy.

It would ironically align Turkey with the United States, which last week imposed sanctions in a bid to force Turkey to halt its Syrian military campaign. The US, unlike the Muslim world, has been vocal in its condemnation of the Chinese crackdown in Xinjiang.

Taking China to task on Xinjiang is risky business, certainly for a country that has seen its economy falter. Turkey has been counting on China to help it resolve its economic problems.

China, transferred in June on the eve of Turkish elections, $1 billion to Turkey as part of a Turkish lira-Chinese yuan currency swap. China, which sees Turkey as a key node in its Belt and Road initiative, has further pledged $3.6 billion in funding for energy and telecommunications infrastructure projects.

Deng Li, China’s ambassador to Turkey, warned in March that public Turkish criticism of China’s Xinjiang policy “will negatively affect mutual trust and understanding and will be reflected in commercial and economic relations.”

Li issued his threat after Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his ministry spokesman, Hami Aksoy, in a rare expression of anti-Chinese sentiment used harsh language to condemn events in Xinjiang where some one million Turkic Muslims are believed to have been incarcerated in re-education camps and/or pushed into force labour.

Calling the crackdown an “embarrassment to humanity,” Aksoy demanded that Chinese authorities respect human rights of the Uighurs and close what he termed “concentration camps.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Turkey two months later to support China’s policy in Xinjiang in a bid to “safeguard the overall situation of the strategic cooperation between the two countries.”

The strains in Turkish-Chinese relations were put on public display in July when China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted visiting Erdogan as saying that people in Xinjiang “live happily.”

Turkish officials insisted that Erdogan had expressed the hope that people in China would “live happily in peace and prosperity,” not that they were living happily.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswomen Hua Chunying, clearly believing that this time around it would be Turkey rather than China that blinks first, insisted on Tuesday, “We called on Turkey many times to stop its military action. We hope all sides will form a synergy to combat terrorism, advance the political settlement process of the Syrian issue, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the region.”

It’s a synergy built on sand as long as Turkey and China cloak their refusal to come to grips with minority rights in counterterrorism terms that are opportunistically called into question whenever they contradict their geopolitical ambitions. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

Turkey’s ambassador to China, Emin Onen, didn’t mince his words this week when he took his Chinese hosts to task for failing to support Turkey’s military campaign against a Kurdish militia in Syria.

Turkey’s ambassador to China, Emin Onen, didn’t mince his words this week when he took his Chinese hosts to task for failing to support Turkey’s military campaign against a Kurdish militia in Syria. Speaking in Turkish through a translator at a news conference at his Beijing embassy, Onen implicitly put China on the spot by calling on it to stand with Turkey in its fight against political violence. In doing so, Onen was laying bare long-standing strains in Turkish-Chinese relations as well as contradictions that link Turkey’s long-standing refusal to fully recognise Kurdish rights to China’s brutal crackdown in its troubled, north-western province of Xinjiang. Chinese officials have long sought to prevent Turkey from speaking out on the crackdown by privately arguing in discussions with their Turkish counterparts that China’s massive effort to fundamentally alter the belief system of Turkic Muslims, packaged as a fight against political violence, was no different from Turkish attitudes towards the Kurds. Turkey has justified its decades-old policy in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey and its more recent interventions in Syria as a struggle against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) that has been designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, and its Syrian affiliate, the People's Protection Units (YPG). The PKK has waged an insurgency in south-eastern Turkey for more than three decades. Tens of thousands have been killed in PKK attacks and Turkish military operations. The YPG, which has not been designated by either the US or the EU, served in recent years as the United States’ ground troops in the battle to defeat the Islamic State’s Syria-based Caliphate. “What we hope for is that China, whether internally or externally, is an anti-terrorist nation. They are a member of the (United Nations) Security Council, so they should understand our present situation,” Onen said. “Certainly, we know that China is a country that is fighting against terror ... We are also fighting against ... (political violence) and it’s one of the most important issues,” Onen went on to say. Onen was responding to what amounted to a Chinese condemnation of the Turkish incursion into Syria when Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, urged “Turkey to halt military action and to return to the right track, resolving the issue with political solutions.” China had earlier called on Turkey to “exercise restraint,” insisting that Syria’s “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity must be respected and upheld.” The stakes for both Turkey and China are high. Both are likely hoping that Russian execution of an enhanced ceasefire initially negotiated by US Vice president Mike Pence on a visit to Ankara last week will enable them to avoid a further deterioration in relations. Russia took ownership of the Syrian process during talks on Tuesday between presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey, home to the largest Chinese Turkic Muslim exile community, and long a supporter of political and cultural rights for Uighurs, has on occasion breached the Muslim’s world’s wall of silence about the Chinese crackdown. If Turkey, one of the Islamic world’s most powerful nations that compete with Saudi Arabia and Iran for leadership, were to revert to sustained criticism of the Chinese crackdown, it would make it more difficult for other Muslim states to maintain their silence or, in some cases, endorsement of Chinese policy. It would ironically align Turkey with the United States, which last week imposed sanctions in a bid to force Turkey to halt its Syrian military campaign. The US, unlike the Muslim world, has been vocal in its condemnation of the Chinese crackdown in Xinjiang. Taking China to task on Xinjiang is risky business, certainly for a country that has seen its economy falter. Turkey has been counting on China to help it resolve its economic problems. China, transferred in June on the eve of Turkish elections, $1 billion to Turkey as part of a Turkish lira-Chinese yuan currency swap. China, which sees Turkey as a key node in its Belt and Road initiative, has further pledged $3.6 billion in funding for energy and telecommunications infrastructure projects. Deng Li, China’s ambassador to Turkey, warned in March that public Turkish criticism of China’s Xinjiang policy “will negatively affect mutual trust and understanding and will be reflected in commercial and economic relations.” Li issued his threat after Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his ministry spokesman, Hami Aksoy, in a rare expression of anti-Chinese sentiment used harsh language to condemn events in Xinjiang where some one million Turkic Muslims are believed to have been incarcerated in re-education camps and/or pushed into force labour. Calling the crackdown an “embarrassment to humanity,” Aksoy demanded that Chinese authorities respect human rights of the Uighurs and close what he termed “concentration camps.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Turkey two months later to support China’s policy in Xinjiang in a bid to “safeguard the overall situation of the strategic cooperation between the two countries.” The strains in Turkish-Chinese relations were put on public display in July when China’s state news agency Xinhua quoted visiting Erdogan as saying that people in Xinjiang “live happily.” Turkish officials insisted that Erdogan had expressed the hope that people in China would “live happily in peace and prosperity,” not that they were living happily. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswomen Hua Chunying, clearly believing that this time around it would be Turkey rather than China that blinks first, insisted on Tuesday, “We called on Turkey many times to stop its military action. We hope all sides will form a synergy to combat terrorism, advance the political settlement process of the Syrian issue, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the region.” It’s a synergy built on sand as long as Turkey and China cloak their refusal to come to grips with minority rights in counterterrorism terms that are opportunistically called into question whenever they contradict their geopolitical ambitions. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Turkey and China tie themselves in knots over Syria and Xinjiang

The Kremlin on Wednesday accused Washington of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/erdogan-after-sealing-russia-deal-says-us-has-not-kept-promises-on-syria-257646">betraying the Kurds </a>by withdrawing its forces from northern Syria and leaving allies alone in the face of a Turkish offensive.

US President Donald Trump had announced in early October that American forces would withdraw from Syria, paving the way for Turkey to push into the border area against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia it considers "terrorists".

"The US were the closest allies for the Kurds for several years. In the end, the US abandoned the Kurds, effectively betraying them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.&nbsp;

"They prefer to leave the Kurds at the border and practically force them to fight the Turks," he said.

Watch Video:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/turkey-russia-agree-kurdish-ypg-withdrawal-257604/embed" width="560" height="350" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" autoplay=1 allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

Turkey paused its offensive into Syria on October 17. On Tuesday evening, it announced that the offensive would be halted following a retreat of Kurdish forces from border zones.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, both involved in the conflict from opposite sides, struck a deal on northern Syria on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, state media reported that Russian forces crossed the Euphrates River in Syria and headed for the border with Turkey under a deal for the withdrawal of Kurdish forces.

The Rossiya-24 television channel and TASS news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying the convoy of Russian military police had crossed the river at noon (0900 GMT) and "advanced towards the Syrian-Turkish border".

 
The agreement will see Russian military police and Syrian border guards "facilitate the removal" of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters and their weapons from within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of the Turkish-Syrian border.

This withdrawal must be finalised within 150 hours.

It was reached after marathon talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Tuesday.&nbsp;

It will also see Turkey preserve a "safe zone" inside Syria about 120 kilometres long (75 miles) and 32 kilometres deep. Russia and Turkey will eventually launch joint patrols along the zone.

The Kremlin on Wednesday accused Washington of betraying the Kurds by withdrawing its forces from northern Syria and leaving allies alone in the face of a Turkish offensive.

The Kremlin on Wednesday accused Washington of betraying the Kurds by withdrawing its forces from northern Syria and leaving allies alone in the face of a Turkish offensive. US President Donald Trump had announced in early October that American forces would withdraw from Syria, paving the way for Turkey to push into the border area against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia it considers "terrorists". "The US were the closest allies for the Kurds for several years. In the end, the US abandoned the Kurds, effectively betraying them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies. "They prefer to leave the Kurds at the border and practically force them to fight the Turks," he said. Watch Video: Turkey paused its offensive into Syria on October 17. On Tuesday evening, it announced that the offensive would be halted following a retreat of Kurdish forces from border zones. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, both involved in the conflict from opposite sides, struck a deal on northern Syria on Tuesday. Meanwhile, state media reported that Russian forces crossed the Euphrates River in Syria and headed for the border with Turkey under a deal for the withdrawal of Kurdish forces. The Rossiya-24 television channel and TASS news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying the convoy of Russian military police had crossed the river at noon (0900 GMT) and "advanced towards the Syrian-Turkish border". The agreement will see Russian military police and Syrian border guards "facilitate the removal" of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters and their weapons from within 30 kilometres (18 miles) of the Turkish-Syrian border. This withdrawal must be finalised within 150 hours. It was reached after marathon talks between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Tuesday. It will also see Turkey preserve a "safe zone" inside Syria about 120 kilometres long (75 miles) and 32 kilometres deep. Russia and Turkey will eventually launch joint patrols along the zone.

Russian forces heading to Turkey border after Putin-Erdogan agreement: Report

By Deina Abdelkader

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn’t limiting his assault on neighbouring Syria to attacking Kurdish troops that run the country’s northern region. He says the 3.6 million Syrians now living as war refugees in Turkey may also be returned “to their own homes” once northern Syria is wrenched from Kurdish control.

This could be an empty threat. After eight years of welcoming people fleeing Syria’s civil war, the Turkish public is beginning to turn against Syrian refugees. Erdogan may see anti-refugee rhetoric as a way to boost his popularity, which is slumping due to recession in Turkey and years of controversial power grabs.

But if the Turkish president does deport Syrian refugees, he won’t be sending them to a “safe zone,” as promised. These extremely vulnerable people would be deported into the lines of combat in this contested, oil-rich zone.

The forgotten half: Women Syrian refugees 
 
In my experience researching minorities at risk in the Middle East, governments dealing with mass migration often overlook the particular challenges facing the most vulnerable refugees: women, children and LGBTQ people.

The Syrian refugees in Turkey are majorly Sunni Muslim – the same faith that predominates in both Turkey and Syria. However, Syrians are ethnically and linguistically different than Turks.

Syrian refugees differ from the broader Turkish and Syrian public in another way, too: 75 per cent&nbsp;of them are women and children, according to the global nonprofit Migration Policy Institute. Between 2011 and 2017, more than 224,000 babies were born in Turkey to Syrian refugee families. Those children are now stateless, granted neither Turkish nor Syrian citizenship at birth.

Syrian women refugees suffer more discrimination and racism in Turkey than their male counterparts, research shows.

This is partially due to a big gap in Turkish language acquisition: 20 per cent of Syrian refugee women complained that lack of language causes exclusion and discrimination, UN&nbsp;survey data from 2016 shows, compared to 13 per cent&nbsp;of men.

Even so, 73 pere cent of Syrian refugee women told the UN&nbsp;that they feel safe in Turkey. That may be related to their resettlement in cities and towns across Turkey, primarily in Istanbul, where they usually live in poor neighbourhoods.

Those areas surely feel secure compared to war-torn Syria. They are safer, too, than refugee camps along the Turkish-Syrian border, where rape, human trafficking, prostitution and child marriages have all been reported, according to OBC Transeuropa, a think tank.

Half of all Syrian female refugees were under the age of 18 when they were displaced by war to the Turkish border area.

LGBTQ Syrian refugees: An untold story 
 
Turkey’s Syrian refugee community includes other marginalised groups that would face unique dangers back home, including gay, lesbian and trans people.

The exact number of LGBTQ Syrian refugees displaced across the region is unknown, human rights groups say. But Syria – like much of the Middle East and North Africa region – is a dangerous place to be gay.

Homosexuality is illegal in Syria, and both the government and terror groups like the Islamic State persecute sexual minorities. Being gay is culturally unacceptable according to traditional Islamic mores.

Though Turkey does not criminalize homosexuality, it is not always safe for LGBTQ Syrian refugees, either. Gay Syrians have suffered physical and verbal attacks, often with little response from law enforcement or the government.

In August 2016, Muhammed Wisam Sankari was found mutilated and killed in Istanbul, two days after he went missing. Sankari had told police he feared for his life after having previously been abducted, tortured and raped by unknown attackers, according to reports.

Recent crackdowns by the Turkish police in Syrian refugee communities have been detaining and deporting thousands of Syrian refugees, including LGBTQ people.

The Turkish government denies that it is forcibly returning refugees to a war zone, which would be illegal under Turkish and international law.

For LGBTQ Syrians, going home may be a death sentence.

In August 2019 a transgender Syrian woman named Ward told The Guardian newspaper that she feared being deported to the Turkey-Syria border because the al-Nusra terrorist group, a branch of al-Qaida with 5,000 to 10,000 fighters in western Syria, would kill her.

Ward was deported days later. She was last seen in late August being forced into the trunk of a car by militants in Syria, according to the Guardian report.

Collateral damage 
 
Erdogan’s stated purpose in invading Syria is to rid its northern region of the Kurdish Worker’s Party – an armed militia and political party known as the PKK – and create a “buffer zone” between the two countries.

The PKK has been a thorn in Turkey’s side for the past 41 years.

With Syrian government support, PKK leader Abdallah Ocallan has been threatening the Turkish government with a Kurdish separatist insurgency long before Erdogan’s presidency.

The United States, like Turkey, considers the PKK to be a terrorist organisation.

But in Syria the US&nbsp;had, until its recent military withdrawal, allied itself with other secular and progressive Syrian groups, namely the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The Kurdish minority in northern Syria, as in nearby Iraq, has long been stuck between Ocallan’s armed militia, the Turkish government and their own authoritarian leaders – used and abused, my research finds, by politicians seeking to further their own regional agenda in the Mideast.

Returning Syrian refugees to this battleground would make them the “buffer” between these warring forces, turning more vulnerable people into collateral damage of a greater geopolitical war.

 
(Deina Abdelkader is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell) 
 
(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the<a href="https://theconversation.com/deportation-to-syria-could-mean-death-for-women-children-and-lgbtq-refugees-in-turkey-125195"> original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

By Deina Abdelkader Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn’t limiting his assault on neighbouring Syria to attacking Kurdish troops that run the country’s northern region.

By Deina Abdelkader Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan isn’t limiting his assault on neighbouring Syria to attacking Kurdish troops that run the country’s northern region. He says the 3.6 million Syrians now living as war refugees in Turkey may also be returned “to their own homes” once northern Syria is wrenched from Kurdish control. This could be an empty threat. After eight years of welcoming people fleeing Syria’s civil war, the Turkish public is beginning to turn against Syrian refugees. Erdogan may see anti-refugee rhetoric as a way to boost his popularity, which is slumping due to recession in Turkey and years of controversial power grabs. But if the Turkish president does deport Syrian refugees, he won’t be sending them to a “safe zone,” as promised. These extremely vulnerable people would be deported into the lines of combat in this contested, oil-rich zone. The forgotten half: Women Syrian refugees In my experience researching minorities at risk in the Middle East, governments dealing with mass migration often overlook the particular challenges facing the most vulnerable refugees: women, children and LGBTQ people. The Syrian refugees in Turkey are majorly Sunni Muslim – the same faith that predominates in both Turkey and Syria. However, Syrians are ethnically and linguistically different than Turks. Syrian refugees differ from the broader Turkish and Syrian public in another way, too: 75 per cent of them are women and children, according to the global nonprofit Migration Policy Institute. Between 2011 and 2017, more than 224,000 babies were born in Turkey to Syrian refugee families. Those children are now stateless, granted neither Turkish nor Syrian citizenship at birth. Syrian women refugees suffer more discrimination and racism in Turkey than their male counterparts, research shows. This is partially due to a big gap in Turkish language acquisition: 20 per cent of Syrian refugee women complained that lack of language causes exclusion and discrimination, UN survey data from 2016 shows, compared to 13 per cent of men. Even so, 73 pere cent of Syrian refugee women told the UN that they feel safe in Turkey. That may be related to their resettlement in cities and towns across Turkey, primarily in Istanbul, where they usually live in poor neighbourhoods. Those areas surely feel secure compared to war-torn Syria. They are safer, too, than refugee camps along the Turkish-Syrian border, where rape, human trafficking, prostitution and child marriages have all been reported, according to OBC Transeuropa, a think tank. Half of all Syrian female refugees were under the age of 18 when they were displaced by war to the Turkish border area. LGBTQ Syrian refugees: An untold story Turkey’s Syrian refugee community includes other marginalised groups that would face unique dangers back home, including gay, lesbian and trans people. The exact number of LGBTQ Syrian refugees displaced across the region is unknown, human rights groups say. But Syria – like much of the Middle East and North Africa region – is a dangerous place to be gay. Homosexuality is illegal in Syria, and both the government and terror groups like the Islamic State persecute sexual minorities. Being gay is culturally unacceptable according to traditional Islamic mores. Though Turkey does not criminalize homosexuality, it is not always safe for LGBTQ Syrian refugees, either. Gay Syrians have suffered physical and verbal attacks, often with little response from law enforcement or the government. In August 2016, Muhammed Wisam Sankari was found mutilated and killed in Istanbul, two days after he went missing. Sankari had told police he feared for his life after having previously been abducted, tortured and raped by unknown attackers, according to reports. Recent crackdowns by the Turkish police in Syrian refugee communities have been detaining and deporting thousands of Syrian refugees, including LGBTQ people. The Turkish government denies that it is forcibly returning refugees to a war zone, which would be illegal under Turkish and international law. For LGBTQ Syrians, going home may be a death sentence. In August 2019 a transgender Syrian woman named Ward told The Guardian newspaper that she feared being deported to the Turkey-Syria border because the al-Nusra terrorist group, a branch of al-Qaida with 5,000 to 10,000 fighters in western Syria, would kill her. Ward was deported days later. She was last seen in late August being forced into the trunk of a car by militants in Syria, according to the Guardian report. Collateral damage Erdogan’s stated purpose in invading Syria is to rid its northern region of the Kurdish Worker’s Party – an armed militia and political party known as the PKK – and create a “buffer zone” between the two countries. The PKK has been a thorn in Turkey’s side for the past 41 years. With Syrian government support, PKK leader Abdallah Ocallan has been threatening the Turkish government with a Kurdish separatist insurgency long before Erdogan’s presidency. The United States, like Turkey, considers the PKK to be a terrorist organisation. But in Syria the US had, until its recent military withdrawal, allied itself with other secular and progressive Syrian groups, namely the Syrian Democratic Forces. The Kurdish minority in northern Syria, as in nearby Iraq, has long been stuck between Ocallan’s armed militia, the Turkish government and their own authoritarian leaders – used and abused, my research finds, by politicians seeking to further their own regional agenda in the Mideast. Returning Syrian refugees to this battleground would make them the “buffer” between these warring forces, turning more vulnerable people into collateral damage of a greater geopolitical war. (Deina Abdelkader is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Deportation to Syria could mean death for women, children and LGBTQ refugees in Turkey

Turkey President Erdogan met Russian President Putin in Sochi today amid growing tensions in Syria as the two leaders hoped to resolve the "complicated issues in the region".

Turkey's President Erdogan meets Russian President Putin in Sochi

Turkey President Erdogan met Russian President Putin in Sochi today <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-replaces-four-more-pro-kurdish-mayors-as-crackdown-widens-257486">amid growing tensions in Syria </a>as the two leaders hoped to resolve the "complicated issues in the region".

"I would like to express hope that the level of Russian-Turkish relations, which has been recently reached, will play its role in the solution of all complicated issues in the region as of today," Russian President Putin said, adding,"I hope it will help find answers to all, even very complicated questions in favour of Russia, Turkey and all the countries of the region."

The talks between <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/turkey-threatens-to-crush-kurds-in-case-they-fail-to-withdraw-before-tuesday-257002">Erodgan and Putin took place</a> even as a five-day truce brokered by the US holds the Turkish forces inside Syria.

"I believe that our meeting will provide real opportunities for peace spring operation," Turkey President Erdogan said.

Turkish forces had entered nothern Syria after President Trump had announced two weeks ago that he was pulling out US troops from the region clearing the way for Turkey to launch a cross-border offensive on October 9 against the Kurdish YPG militia, viewed by Erdogan's regime as "terrorists".

Watch Video:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-kurds-accuse-turkey-of-using-chemical-weapons-257381/embed" width="560" height="350" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" autoplay=1 allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

Turkey had earlier said Kurdish YPG militia forces must leave a "safe zone" which it intends to establish in Syria.

President Trump had said on Monday that it appeared that the five-day truce was holding, and that it could possibly go beyond Tuesday's expiry, but Erdogan said the fighting may resume.

"If the promises given to us by America are not kept, we will continue our operation from where it left off, this time with a much bigger determination," the Turkey president said.

Turkey President Erdogan met Russian President Putin in Sochi today amid growing tensions in Syria as the two leaders hoped to resolve the "complicated issues in the region". "I would like to express hope that the level of Russian-Turkish relations, which has been recently reached, will play its role in the solution of all complicated issues in the region as of today," Russian President Putin said, adding,"I hope it will help find answers to all, even very complicated questions in favour of Russia, Turkey and all the countries of the region." The talks between Erodgan and Putin took place even as a five-day truce brokered by the US holds the Turkish forces inside Syria. "I believe that our meeting will provide real opportunities for peace spring operation," Turkey President Erdogan said. Turkish forces had entered nothern Syria after President Trump had announced two weeks ago that he was pulling out US troops from the region clearing the way for Turkey to launch a cross-border offensive on October 9 against the Kurdish YPG militia, viewed by Erdogan's regime as "terrorists". Watch Video: Turkey had earlier said Kurdish YPG militia forces must leave a "safe zone" which it intends to establish in Syria. President Trump had said on Monday that it appeared that the five-day truce was holding, and that it could possibly go beyond Tuesday's expiry, but Erdogan said the fighting may resume. "If the promises given to us by America are not kept, we will continue our operation from where it left off, this time with a much bigger determination," the Turkey president said.

Hope to find answers to all complicated questions: Putin after meeting Erdogan in Sochi

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday threatened to resume Turkey's military offensive in Syria "with greater determination" unless the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters is completed under a US-brokered deal.

"If the promises given to our country by the United States are not kept, we will continue our operation from where we left off with <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-replaces-four-more-pro-kurdish-mayors-as-crackdown-widens-257486">greater determination</a>," Erdogan told reporters before departing for talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Following a deal with US Vice President Mike Pence last week, Turkey announced a 120-hour&nbsp;suspension of the offensive from last Thursday under which &nbsp;Kurdish fighters were to withdraw to allow a "safe zone" to be set up along the border.

Erdogan was to meet with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi later Tuesday as the end of the 120-hour deadline approaches.

"We will have the opportunity to discuss steps to end (Kurdish fighters') presence in regime-held areas," the Turkish leader said.&nbsp;

Erdogan last week said he was not bothered by the Damascus regime's presence in several regions along the Turkish border.

Erdogan also firmly rejected a call by French President Emmanuel Macron to extend the ceasefire.

"There is no such proposal that was conveyed to me from Macron. Macron is in fact talking about such things mostly with terrorists," Erdogan said, referring to a meeting between Jihane Ahmed, the spokeswoman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the French leader.&nbsp;

"He preferred to communicate the terrorists' offer to us. France is not our interlocutor," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey was in touch with the United States over Syria.

Macron on Monday told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that France wanted to see an extension of the ceasefire by Turkey in northeast Syria, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

"The president underscored the importance of prolonging the current ceasefire, and of ending the crisis by diplomatic means," the presidency said after a phone call between the two leaders.&nbsp;

Ankara says the YPG is a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday threatened to resume Turkey's military offensive in Syria "with greater determination" unless the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters is completed under a US-brokered deal.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday threatened to resume Turkey's military offensive in Syria "with greater determination" unless the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters is completed under a US-brokered deal. "If the promises given to our country by the United States are not kept, we will continue our operation from where we left off with greater determination," Erdogan told reporters before departing for talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Following a deal with US Vice President Mike Pence last week, Turkey announced a 120-hour suspension of the offensive from last Thursday under which Kurdish fighters were to withdraw to allow a "safe zone" to be set up along the border. Erdogan was to meet with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi later Tuesday as the end of the 120-hour deadline approaches. "We will have the opportunity to discuss steps to end (Kurdish fighters') presence in regime-held areas," the Turkish leader said. Erdogan last week said he was not bothered by the Damascus regime's presence in several regions along the Turkish border. Erdogan also firmly rejected a call by French President Emmanuel Macron to extend the ceasefire. "There is no such proposal that was conveyed to me from Macron. Macron is in fact talking about such things mostly with terrorists," Erdogan said, referring to a meeting between Jihane Ahmed, the spokeswoman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the French leader. "He preferred to communicate the terrorists' offer to us. France is not our interlocutor," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey was in touch with the United States over Syria. Macron on Monday told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that France wanted to see an extension of the ceasefire by Turkey in northeast Syria, the Elysee Palace said in a statement. "The president underscored the importance of prolonging the current ceasefire, and of ending the crisis by diplomatic means," the presidency said after a phone call between the two leaders. Ankara says the YPG is a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

Erdogan warns Syria offensive will resume unless Kurds complete pull out

Turkey has replaced four mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with state officials, the offices of two provincial governors said on Tuesday, part of a widening crackdown on local councils controlled by the party.

Ankara accuses the HDP of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-removes-pro-kurdish-mayors-244033">links to militants</a> of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It has now replaced a total of 12 mayors from the HDP on alleged links to terrorism since municipal elections in March.

The mayors in the towns of Kayapinar, Bismil and Kocakoy in the southeastern Diyarbakir province and the mayor of Ercis in the eastern province of Van were suspended and replaced by local administrators, the offices of the two regional governors said.

All four mayors are currently in custody on terrorism charges, they said.

The HDP said six other of its candidates who won a majority of votes in the March mayoral elections were not given their election certificates because they had previously been dismissed from public office by decree.

In August, Turkey first removed the mayors of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van, three metropolitan cities won by the HDP.

Selcuk Mizrakli, who was removed from his office in Diyarbakir, was also detained on Monday "due to an ongoing legal investigation", the HDP said.

Prior to the March municipal polls, around 100 mayors in towns held by the HDP had been replaced by state officials.

The former co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish HDP have both been jailed since 2016 on terrorism charges, with several other prominent members accused of supporting terrorism over what the government says are links to the PKK.

The HDP denies links to the PKK but does not consider it a terrorist organisation.

The moves against the HDP coincide with a Turkish military offensive in neighbouring Syria against the YPG Kurdish militia, which Ankara also accuses of ties to the PKK. A five-day, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/ceasefire-hails-us-turkey-calls-it-a-pause-what-happened-when-washington-ankara-met-over-syria-offensive-256688">US-brokered pause</a> in the offensive was due to expire later on Tuesday.

The HDP is the only party in the Turkish parliament that opposed Operation Peace Spring in northeast Syria.

Turkey has replaced four mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with state officials, the offices of two provincial governors said on Tuesday, part of a widening crackdown on local councils controlled by the party.

Turkey has replaced four mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) with state officials, the offices of two provincial governors said on Tuesday, part of a widening crackdown on local councils controlled by the party. Ankara accuses the HDP of links to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It has now replaced a total of 12 mayors from the HDP on alleged links to terrorism since municipal elections in March. The mayors in the towns of Kayapinar, Bismil and Kocakoy in the southeastern Diyarbakir province and the mayor of Ercis in the eastern province of Van were suspended and replaced by local administrators, the offices of the two regional governors said. All four mayors are currently in custody on terrorism charges, they said. The HDP said six other of its candidates who won a majority of votes in the March mayoral elections were not given their election certificates because they had previously been dismissed from public office by decree. In August, Turkey first removed the mayors of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van, three metropolitan cities won by the HDP. Selcuk Mizrakli, who was removed from his office in Diyarbakir, was also detained on Monday "due to an ongoing legal investigation", the HDP said. Prior to the March municipal polls, around 100 mayors in towns held by the HDP had been replaced by state officials. The former co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish HDP have both been jailed since 2016 on terrorism charges, with several other prominent members accused of supporting terrorism over what the government says are links to the PKK. The HDP denies links to the PKK but does not consider it a terrorist organisation. The moves against the HDP coincide with a Turkish military offensive in neighbouring Syria against the YPG Kurdish militia, which Ankara also accuses of ties to the PKK. A five-day, US-brokered pause in the offensive was due to expire later on Tuesday. The HDP is the only party in the Turkish parliament that opposed Operation Peace Spring in northeast Syria.

Turkey replaces four more pro-Kurdish mayors as crackdown widens

Did Turkey use chemical weapons against the Kurds in Syria? A video of a boy suffering skin burns emerges from Syria. Watch this video to know more.

Did Turkey do the unthinkable in Syria?

By Recep Onursal

The ramifications of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from the Turkish-Syrian border continues to have a seismic effect on the situation in northern Syria.

Faced with the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who controlled the area were forced to make compromises. On October 13, they announced a deal with the Syrian army, which began moving troops towards the Turkish border. A five-day ceasefire was brokered by the US on October 18, during which Turkey agreed to pause its offensive to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw.

For many, the SDF proved itself to be the most effective force in the fight against Islamic State (IS). Turkey, however, considers the SDF as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it, the US and EU label as a terrorist organisation.

But behind this lies a long history of Turkey denying the very existence of the Kurdish conflict, and the political and cultural rights of its Kurdish population. Understanding this history helps explain why the conflict is so intractable, and the impact it continues to have on Turkey’s foreign policy choices.

No room in the nation-state

The Kurdish conflict cannot be understood without considering the question of power and exclusion. Its origins go back to the mid-19th century when the Ottomans attempted to end the 300-year-old autonomy of the Kurdish principalities in Kurdistan. This struggle for autonomy wasn’t resolved during the rule of the Ottoman era, and when it collapsed, all of the new nation-states that eventually emerged – Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran – inherited their own Kurdish conflict.

The Turks and the Kurds fought a successful war of independence together in 1919 against the Allied forces. Nevertheless, when the new Republic of Turkey was established in 1923, Turkish identity was presented as its unifying force, at the expense of the society’s political, social and cultural differences.

Not only was political power further centralised in Ankara, but the domination of the ethnic, Turkish and Sunni majority became the norm. The decision to create a centralised and homogeneous nation-state was implemented in a top-down and violent fashion. The seeds of the long-term problems that Turkish and Kurdish communities confront today were created by this decision.

Various Kurdish groups challenged this new social and political order with different revolts, uprisings, and resistance, but these were violently suppressed. Repressive policies of assimilation were later implemented to transform the Kurds into civilised and secular Turks.

A conflict buried

The Kurdish conflict laid buried for many years. Then, the most serious challenge to Turkey’s nation-state project was initiated by the PKK in 1984, which embraced a political agenda called democratic autonomy. The violent struggle between Ankara and the PKK has resulted in a huge economic and human cost.

Peace talks which began in 2013 with the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan were widely considered to be the best chance for ending the conflict, but these collapsed in 2015. This led to increasing violence in the form of destructive armed conflict in southeastern Turkey and a wave of bombings, including in Ankara and Istanbul.

The resolution of intractable conflicts is only possible when conflicted parties can confront their past and learn from it. In 2015, amid attempts by Turkish opposition parties to reopen peace negotiations with the Kurds, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted: “There is no Kurdish conflict”. Such positioning, which continues today, keeps the political dimension of the conflict in the background.

The state carefully controls what can and cannot be said about the conflict. Typically, words such as “terror” and “traitor” are used to criminalise those who criticise government policy towards the Kurds. A group of academics who signed a petition in 2016 calling for the resumption of peace talks were charged with making “terrorism propaganda”. The non-violent wing of the Kurdish movement – activists, politicians, political parties – has also been criminalised.

Blame game

Instead of confronting their failure to bring about peace, Turkish political elites have tried to apportion blame elsewhere. Erdoğan, for example, repeatedly refers to an invisible “mastermind” who orchestrates the PKK. Such rhetoric is deployed to play on the collective fear and anxiety about national security felt by parts of Turkish society.

Some have called this the “Sèvres syndrome” – referring to the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres that marked the end of the Ottoman empire and proposed to divide it into small states and occupation zones. The treaty was never implemented and superseded by the 1923 Lausanne Treaty which recognised the Republic of Turkey.

This syndrome – also referred to as “Sèvres Paranoia” – in essence reflects the collective fear that the Treaty of Sèvres will be revived and that the Turkish state is encircled by enemies who want to divide and weaken the country.

Today, this line of thinking is an integral part of Turkish political life and continues to influence public perception towards the external world. In a 2006 public opinion survey, for example, 78% of participants agreed that “the West wants to divide and break up Turkey like they broke up the Ottoman Empire”.

In this way, the Kurdish conflict has been used to mobilise Turkish society to act against its own collective interest: a peaceful and just society. Policies aimed at managing the conflict have been implemented mostly within a state of emergency, in ways that continue to undermine Turkish democracy. Not only has the tremendous economic and human cost of the conflict become a “normal” part of Turkish life, but the state has also been successful in actively keeping the political dimension of the conflict at bay.

For a long time, Turkey refrained from talking about the Kurdish issue by assuming that it would eventually fade away. But it didn’t and instead, the conflict has become more deeply entrenched. Time will tell whether the Turkish state will ultimately gain or lose by its latest military intervention in Syria. However, what’s clear is that the Kurdish conflict will get more complicated with this latest move, and both the Turkish state and Turkish society will no longer be able to ignore it.

 
(Recep Onursal is Assistant Lecturer and PhD candidate in International Conflict Analysis, University of Kent)

&nbsp;(This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-kurdish-conflict-in-turkey-is-so-intractable-125101">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) &nbsp;

By Recep Onursal The ramifications of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from the Turkish-Syrian border continues to have a seismic effect on the situation in northern Syria.

By Recep Onursal The ramifications of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from the Turkish-Syrian border continues to have a seismic effect on the situation in northern Syria. Faced with the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who controlled the area were forced to make compromises. On October 13, they announced a deal with the Syrian army, which began moving troops towards the Turkish border. A five-day ceasefire was brokered by the US on October 18, during which Turkey agreed to pause its offensive to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw. For many, the SDF proved itself to be the most effective force in the fight against Islamic State (IS). Turkey, however, considers the SDF as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it, the US and EU label as a terrorist organisation. But behind this lies a long history of Turkey denying the very existence of the Kurdish conflict, and the political and cultural rights of its Kurdish population. Understanding this history helps explain why the conflict is so intractable, and the impact it continues to have on Turkey’s foreign policy choices. No room in the nation-state The Kurdish conflict cannot be understood without considering the question of power and exclusion. Its origins go back to the mid-19th century when the Ottomans attempted to end the 300-year-old autonomy of the Kurdish principalities in Kurdistan. This struggle for autonomy wasn’t resolved during the rule of the Ottoman era, and when it collapsed, all of the new nation-states that eventually emerged – Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran – inherited their own Kurdish conflict. The Turks and the Kurds fought a successful war of independence together in 1919 against the Allied forces. Nevertheless, when the new Republic of Turkey was established in 1923, Turkish identity was presented as its unifying force, at the expense of the society’s political, social and cultural differences. Not only was political power further centralised in Ankara, but the domination of the ethnic, Turkish and Sunni majority became the norm. The decision to create a centralised and homogeneous nation-state was implemented in a top-down and violent fashion. The seeds of the long-term problems that Turkish and Kurdish communities confront today were created by this decision. Various Kurdish groups challenged this new social and political order with different revolts, uprisings, and resistance, but these were violently suppressed. Repressive policies of assimilation were later implemented to transform the Kurds into civilised and secular Turks. A conflict buried The Kurdish conflict laid buried for many years. Then, the most serious challenge to Turkey’s nation-state project was initiated by the PKK in 1984, which embraced a political agenda called democratic autonomy. The violent struggle between Ankara and the PKK has resulted in a huge economic and human cost. Peace talks which began in 2013 with the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan were widely considered to be the best chance for ending the conflict, but these collapsed in 2015. This led to increasing violence in the form of destructive armed conflict in southeastern Turkey and a wave of bombings, including in Ankara and Istanbul. The resolution of intractable conflicts is only possible when conflicted parties can confront their past and learn from it. In 2015, amid attempts by Turkish opposition parties to reopen peace negotiations with the Kurds, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted: “There is no Kurdish conflict”. Such positioning, which continues today, keeps the political dimension of the conflict in the background. The state carefully controls what can and cannot be said about the conflict. Typically, words such as “terror” and “traitor” are used to criminalise those who criticise government policy towards the Kurds. A group of academics who signed a petition in 2016 calling for the resumption of peace talks were charged with making “terrorism propaganda”. The non-violent wing of the Kurdish movement – activists, politicians, political parties – has also been criminalised. Blame game Instead of confronting their failure to bring about peace, Turkish political elites have tried to apportion blame elsewhere. Erdoğan, for example, repeatedly refers to an invisible “mastermind” who orchestrates the PKK. Such rhetoric is deployed to play on the collective fear and anxiety about national security felt by parts of Turkish society. Some have called this the “Sèvres syndrome” – referring to the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres that marked the end of the Ottoman empire and proposed to divide it into small states and occupation zones. The treaty was never implemented and superseded by the 1923 Lausanne Treaty which recognised the Republic of Turkey. This syndrome – also referred to as “Sèvres Paranoia” – in essence reflects the collective fear that the Treaty of Sèvres will be revived and that the Turkish state is encircled by enemies who want to divide and weaken the country. Today, this line of thinking is an integral part of Turkish political life and continues to influence public perception towards the external world. In a 2006 public opinion survey, for example, 78% of participants agreed that “the West wants to divide and break up Turkey like they broke up the Ottoman Empire”. In this way, the Kurdish conflict has been used to mobilise Turkish society to act against its own collective interest: a peaceful and just society. Policies aimed at managing the conflict have been implemented mostly within a state of emergency, in ways that continue to undermine Turkish democracy. Not only has the tremendous economic and human cost of the conflict become a “normal” part of Turkish life, but the state has also been successful in actively keeping the political dimension of the conflict at bay. For a long time, Turkey refrained from talking about the Kurdish issue by assuming that it would eventually fade away. But it didn’t and instead, the conflict has become more deeply entrenched. Time will tell whether the Turkish state will ultimately gain or lose by its latest military intervention in Syria. However, what’s clear is that the Kurdish conflict will get more complicated with this latest move, and both the Turkish state and Turkish society will no longer be able to ignore it. (Recep Onursal is Assistant Lecturer and PhD candidate in International Conflict Analysis, University of Kent) (This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Why the Kurdish conflict in Turkey is so intractable

A Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack by Syrian Kurdish forces on Sunday despite a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States, the defence ministry said.

"One of our heroic comrades fell martyr and another was wounded after anti-tank and small arms fire by... terrorists during their reconnaissance and surveillance mission" in the Tal Abyad border area, the ministry said in a statement.

The army returned fire in self-defence, it added.

Turkey had<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/ceasefire-hails-us-turkey-calls-it-a-pause-what-happened-when-washington-ankara-met-over-syria-offensive-256688"> agreed to suspend </a>its Syria offensive for five days to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw from a safe zone along the border.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned he will <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/turkey-threatens-to-crush-kurds-in-case-they-fail-to-withdraw-before-tuesday-257002">"crush the heads" </a>of Kurdish forces if they did not pull back from the zone.

On Saturday, Turkey and Kurdish forces accused one another for&nbsp;violating the ceasefire agreement.&nbsp;

The Turkish defence ministry said Sunday that Kurdish forces carried out 20 attacks.

"Despite all the hostile acts in violation of the agreement, a convoy of 39 vehicles, mostly ambulances, safely entered and exited Ras al-Ain on Saturday" to help evacuate the wounded, the ministry said.

In an interview with AFP, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara abided by the agreement and urged the US to use its leverage to ensure Syrian Kurdish forces' pullout.

"We are committed to this agreement: Within five days they are supposed to leave and we have told our American colleagues to use their leverage, their connections to make sure that they leave without any incidents," he told AFP in Istanbul on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the top figure on the Kurdish side, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi, told AFP that Turkey was blocking his forces' withdrawal and trying to blame the deal's collapse on the Kurds.

The Turkish offensive launched earlier this month has prompted hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in the latest humanitarian crisis of Syria's eight-year civil war.

A Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack by Syrian Kurdish forces on Sunday despite a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States, the defence ministry said.

A Turkish soldier was killed and another wounded in an attack by Syrian Kurdish forces on Sunday despite a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States, the defence ministry said. "One of our heroic comrades fell martyr and another was wounded after anti-tank and small arms fire by... terrorists during their reconnaissance and surveillance mission" in the Tal Abyad border area, the ministry said in a statement. The army returned fire in self-defence, it added. Turkey had agreed to suspend its Syria offensive for five days to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw from a safe zone along the border. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned he will "crush the heads" of Kurdish forces if they did not pull back from the zone. On Saturday, Turkey and Kurdish forces accused one another for violating the ceasefire agreement. The Turkish defence ministry said Sunday that Kurdish forces carried out 20 attacks. "Despite all the hostile acts in violation of the agreement, a convoy of 39 vehicles, mostly ambulances, safely entered and exited Ras al-Ain on Saturday" to help evacuate the wounded, the ministry said. In an interview with AFP, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara abided by the agreement and urged the US to use its leverage to ensure Syrian Kurdish forces' pullout. "We are committed to this agreement: Within five days they are supposed to leave and we have told our American colleagues to use their leverage, their connections to make sure that they leave without any incidents," he told AFP in Istanbul on Saturday. Meanwhile, the top figure on the Kurdish side, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi, told AFP that Turkey was blocking his forces' withdrawal and trying to blame the deal's collapse on the Kurds. The Turkish offensive launched earlier this month has prompted hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in the latest humanitarian crisis of Syria's eight-year civil war.

Turkish soldier killed in Syrian Kurd attack: Defence Ministry

Turkey on Saturday urged the United States to use its "leverage" over Syrian Kurdish forces to ensure an orderly pullout under an agreement reached with Washington, the presidency spokesman said.

"We are committed to this agreement: Within five days they are supposed to leave and we have told our American colleagues to use their leverage, their connections to make sure that they leave without any incidents," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told AFP in an interview in Istanbul.

Turkey and Kurdish forces on Saturday <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/turkey-kurds-trade-accusations-even-as-syria-truce-takes-hold-256922">traded accusations</a> of breaching the truce deal in northeastern Syria which is aimed at halting a Turkish-led offensive on condition that the militants retreat from a "safe zone" along the border.

The deal brokered by the United States gives Kurdish forces five days for a complete withdrawal - a deadline which expires Tuesday night. &nbsp;

Kalin said Turkey was sticking to its end of the deal.

"Since we <a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/turkey-agrees-to-pause-military-operations-in-northern-syria-256755">reached this agreement</a> with the American delegation, we have been committed to this deal," he said.

"Our president has ordered our troops to maintain their positions and not engage anybody."

Kalin accused Kurdish forces of perpetrating 16 attacks in the border towns of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad. &nbsp;

"All the incidents that have happened were caused by the YPG terrorists there but our military people are in touch with their (American) counterparts to make sure that they leave without any fighting."

Ankara says the YPG is a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara, the US and the European Union.

The commander of Kurdish forces in Syria, Mazloum Abdi, earlier Saturday accused Ankara of sabotaging the agreement with Washington by blocking the withdrawal of his forces from a flashpoint border town in northeastern Syria, a claim Turkey denied.

Turkey on Saturday urged the United States to use its "leverage" over Syrian Kurdish forces to ensure an orderly pullout under an agreement reached with Washington, the presidency spokesman said.

Turkey on Saturday urged the United States to use its "leverage" over Syrian Kurdish forces to ensure an orderly pullout under an agreement reached with Washington, the presidency spokesman said. "We are committed to this agreement: Within five days they are supposed to leave and we have told our American colleagues to use their leverage, their connections to make sure that they leave without any incidents," spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told AFP in an interview in Istanbul. Turkey and Kurdish forces on Saturday traded accusations of breaching the truce deal in northeastern Syria which is aimed at halting a Turkish-led offensive on condition that the militants retreat from a "safe zone" along the border. The deal brokered by the United States gives Kurdish forces five days for a complete withdrawal - a deadline which expires Tuesday night. Kalin said Turkey was sticking to its end of the deal. "Since we reached this agreement with the American delegation, we have been committed to this deal," he said. "Our president has ordered our troops to maintain their positions and not engage anybody." Kalin accused Kurdish forces of perpetrating 16 attacks in the border towns of Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad. "All the incidents that have happened were caused by the YPG terrorists there but our military people are in touch with their (American) counterparts to make sure that they leave without any fighting." Ankara says the YPG is a "terrorist" offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984. The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara, the US and the European Union. The commander of Kurdish forces in Syria, Mazloum Abdi, earlier Saturday accused Ankara of sabotaging the agreement with Washington by blocking the withdrawal of his forces from a flashpoint border town in northeastern Syria, a claim Turkey denied.

Turkey urges United States to use 'leverage' to ensure Kurdish force pullout: Report

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his forces would "crush the heads" of Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria if they did not complete a pullout from the border area within the stipulated time.

"Today is the second day [of the ceasefire]. This process will end on Tuesday night. If the promises given to Turkey are not fulfilled, we will not wait, as before. We will continue the operation we started and will continue to destroy terrorists," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Sputnik on Saturday.

US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Ankara on Thursday, to attend a meeting with the Turkish President and brokering a 120-hour long ceasefire deal aimed at allowing Syrian Kurdish forces to retreat to a distance of about 30 km from the Syrian-Turkish border.

The president added that Ankara would "implement its own plans" if Ankara could not reach a solution with Russia on the Syrian forces deployed in the country's north.

In addition, Erdogan once again reiterated that he has planned to discuss the deployment of Syrian forces in a 'safe zone'&nbsp;in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.

"Yesterday I held talks with US President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, we will continue the dialogue with Mr. Putin. In the area where the operation is taking place, the troops of the regime [of Syrian President Bashar Assad] are under the protection of Russia. We will discuss this with Mr. Putin," he said.

Last Sunday, after Turkey began a military operation in northern Syria it said was aimed at the Syrian Kurdish 'terrorists', local Kurdish forces reached an agreement with Damascus allowing Syrian Army troops to take up positions along the entirety of the Syrian-Turkish border to try to prevent a Turkish assault.

Turkey began its operation on October 9, days after the pullout of US troops from northern Syria. Unlike its US and NATO allies, which saw the Kurds as a key ally in the coalition's fight against the jihadists of Islamic State, Ankara classifies them as a terrorist group with links to the PKK, a Turkish Kurdish political and militia group which has waged a guerilla war against the Turkish state over the course of several decades.

Syria has decried Turkey's operations, and accused Ankara of "aggressive intentions."Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday called for an immediate halt to Turkish aggression in northern Syria and demanded a full-fledged withdrawal of all foreign forces from Syria.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his forces would "crush the heads" of Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria if they did not complete a pullout from the border area within the stipulated time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his forces would "crush the heads" of Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria if they did not complete a pullout from the border area within the stipulated time. "Today is the second day [of the ceasefire]. This process will end on Tuesday night. If the promises given to Turkey are not fulfilled, we will not wait, as before. We will continue the operation we started and will continue to destroy terrorists," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Sputnik on Saturday. US Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Ankara on Thursday, to attend a meeting with the Turkish President and brokering a 120-hour long ceasefire deal aimed at allowing Syrian Kurdish forces to retreat to a distance of about 30 km from the Syrian-Turkish border. The president added that Ankara would "implement its own plans" if Ankara could not reach a solution with Russia on the Syrian forces deployed in the country's north. In addition, Erdogan once again reiterated that he has planned to discuss the deployment of Syrian forces in a 'safe zone' in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week. "Yesterday I held talks with US President Donald Trump. On Tuesday, we will continue the dialogue with Mr. Putin. In the area where the operation is taking place, the troops of the regime [of Syrian President Bashar Assad] are under the protection of Russia. We will discuss this with Mr. Putin," he said. Last Sunday, after Turkey began a military operation in northern Syria it said was aimed at the Syrian Kurdish 'terrorists', local Kurdish forces reached an agreement with Damascus allowing Syrian Army troops to take up positions along the entirety of the Syrian-Turkish border to try to prevent a Turkish assault. Turkey began its operation on October 9, days after the pullout of US troops from northern Syria. Unlike its US and NATO allies, which saw the Kurds as a key ally in the coalition's fight against the jihadists of Islamic State, Ankara classifies them as a terrorist group with links to the PKK, a Turkish Kurdish political and militia group which has waged a guerilla war against the Turkish state over the course of several decades. Syria has decried Turkey's operations, and accused Ankara of "aggressive intentions."Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday called for an immediate halt to Turkish aggression in northern Syria and demanded a full-fledged withdrawal of all foreign forces from Syria.

Turkey threatens to 'crush' Kurds in case they fail to withdraw before Tuesday

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