‘Show of force’: US jets & helicopters threaten Turkish-backed fighters who came VERY CLOSE to American troops in Syria
15 Oct, 2019
US fighter jets and gunship helicopters were sent to scare off Turkish-backed militants in northern Syria after they came “very close” to US troops at Ain Issa, the Pentagon said. Washington has also sent a complaint to Ankara.
F-15 fighters and AH-64 Apache gunships were used in the “show of force” on Tuesday, an unnamed US official told reporters, after the militants “violated a standing agreement” not to threaten US troops. A formal complaint was lodged with the Turkish military through diplomatic channels, the official added.Though US troops have been withdrawing from Syria for the past week, some Special Forces operators were apparently still in the area of Ain Issa, located on the strategic M-4 highway about halfway between the Syrian-Turkish border and the former Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) “capital” of Raqqa.
Rea more at https://www.rt.com/news/471006-jets-gunships-syria-us-turks/
Russian president says all illegal forces must leave Syria amidst Kurdish-Damascus deal
October 14-2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first statement following the US withdrawal and the Kurds striking a deal with Damascus, underline that all foreign forces must leave the country.
“There is always hope. Do not ever give it up. I can only agree with you that all the forces deployed illegitimately inside any sovereign state – in this case, Syria – must leave,” he told Arabic media, according to Russia Today.
“This is true for everyone. If Syria’s new legitimate government chooses to say that they have no more need for Russia’s military presence, this will be just as true for Russia.”
Read more at https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/f2fdb624-30dc-415d-a982-bebe4a406ca8
Turkish invasion creates better conditions for Islamic State terrorists as it creates chaos
16 Oct, 2019
There is a risk of an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) resurgence in Syria, and it is Turkey’s invasion of the northeast that should be blamed, Bouthaina Shaaban, a political adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, told RT.
“Every war creates chaos and chaos is a good climate for terrorism. So this invasion creates better climate for ISIS terrorists,” she said, referring to the terrorist group by its old name. “But the major force that is fighting for Turkey now are the Jabhat al-Nusra. So the terrorists are led by Turkey now to occupy part of the Syrian land.”
“And from beginning it was Turkey, who allowed terrorists from all over the world to cross the border and fight this war against the Syrian people.
Read more at https://www.rt.com/news/471054-turkey-invasion-syria-shaaban/
Left in a hurry: RT films inside abandoned US military base at Manbij, Syria
15 Oct, 2019
An RT Arabic crew peeked inside the US compound in Syria’s Manbij, abandoned by the Americans just a few hours previously. Footage from the scene suggests the US troops were in a hurry, leaving behind hardware and personal items.
The troops pulled out of the base, located southwest of the northern city of Manbij, overnight and into Tuesday. The retreat follows the decision by the US President Donald Trump to withdraw American personnel in the face of the Turkish operation against Kurdish-led militias.Just as the US troops withdrew, the Syrian Arab Army rushed to fill in the void they’d left. War correspondents followed, catching a rare insight into the secretive fortified compounds.
Read more at https://www.rt.com/news/470996-us-syria-abandoned-base-hurry/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
U.S. Sanctions on Turkey: five possible outcomes
Oct.15, 2019
The sanctions signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on October 14 concerns Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Energy Fatih Dönmez, as well as the ministries of Defense and Energy. Furthermore, he has raised the customs tariff on the purchase of steel from Turkey to 50 per cent. He also halted the talks about the plan to boost the trading volume between Turkey and the U.S. from 20 to $100 billion – which nobody was quite sure how that would have gone about in the first place.
Read more at https://yetkinreport.com/2019/10/15/u-s-sanctions-on-turkey-five-possible-outcomes/
Trump and Erdogan ‘Just Got Played’ by Putin Says Terrorism Expert, As Kurds in Syria Strike Deal With Russia and Bashar al-Assad
By A foreign policy and terrorism expert believes President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, “just got played” by Russian President Vladimir Putin, after Turkey was permitted to launch its current attack into northeastern Syria.
The offensive, labeled Operation Spring Peace by the Turks, was launched on Wednesday after a phone call between Trump and Erdogan the previous Sunday. Trump announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria’s border with Turkey soon after the phone call
Read more at https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-erdogan-just-got-played-vladimir-putin-says-terrorism-expert-michael-smith-1465008
