Recent Appearances...

Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances...

The Grand Turk

Sharaa to discuss defense pact, Turkish bases in Syria with Erdogan

2025-02-05

[IsraelTimes] Ankara said to seek air bases in central Syrian desert as it seeks to replace Iran as the main power in the war-ravaged country after fall of Assad

Syria’s transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First

His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First

...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
are expected to discuss a joint defense pact in Ankara on Tuesday, including establishing Ottoman Turkish airbases in central Syria and training for Syria’s new army, four sources familiar with the matter said.

NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
member ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
has long backed Syria’s armed and political opposition to ousted leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
, who was toppled in late December in a lightning offensive spearheaded by Sharaa’s forces. At the same time, Turkey has opposed Kurdish-led groups in Syria, and has supported militias fighting them.

Ankara is positioning itself to play a major role in the new Syria, filling a vacuum left by Assad’s main regional backer Iran, in an expansion of Ottoman Turkish sway that could spark rivalry with Gulf Arab states and put Israel on edge.

The sources — a Syrian security official, two Damascus-based foreign security sources and a senior regional intelligence official — spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media about the meeting.

This is the first time that elements of any strategic defense arrangement by Syria’s new leaders, including details of additional Ottoman Turkish bases, have come to light.

The pact could see Turkey establish new air bases in Syria, use Syrian airspace for military purposes, and take a lead role in training troops in Syria’s new army, the sources said.

Syria’s new leadership has dissolved the army and its various rebel factions, and is working on integrating them into a new military command.

The sources said the deal was not expected to be finalized on Tuesday.

TURKISH AIR BASES IN SYRIA
The regional intelligence official, the Syrian security official and one of the Damascus-based foreign security sources said the talks would include setting up two Ottoman Turkish bases in Syria’s vast central desert region, known as the Badiyah.

An official in Syria’s presidency told Rooters that Sharaa would discuss Turkey’s "training of the new Syrian army, as well as new areas of deployment and cooperation" with Erdogan, without specifying the deployment locations.

The Ottoman Turkish presidency and Syrian defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue.

The Ottoman Turkish presidency’s communications director Fahrettin Altun said on Monday that Erdogan and Sharaa would discuss the latest developments in Syria and possible joint measures to rebuild Syria’s economy and achieve stability and security.

A Ottoman Turkish defense ministry official familiar with the talks between both defense ministries told Rooters he did not have information on Ottoman Turkish bases in Syria and training for Syrian troops as part of a possible defense pact.

TURKEY’S AIR DEFENSE ROLE
The senior regional intelligence official, the Syrian security official and one of the Damascus-based foreign security sources said the bases under discussion would allow Turkey to defend Syria’s airspace in case of any future attacks.

Assad’s other main backer — Russia — is also in talks with the new Damascus administration about the fate of its two military bases in Syria, a naval base in Tartus and an air base near the port city of Latakia, the Kremlin said on Monday.

In an interview in January, Syria’s defense minister Murhaf Abu Qasra told Rooters the country’s new leaders would seek to build strong ties in the region, "and that through these ties, we will be able to build our military force well."

If these ties lead to a partnership "on arming, training, air defense or other issues — we would welcome it," Abu Qasra said, without mentioning Turkey.

The regional intelligence official said the possible airbase locations were the Palmyra military airport and the Syrian army’s T4 base, both in the province of Homs.

MESSAGE TO KURDISH FIGHTERS
The official said Ankara was keen to set up bases there as a message to Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria, known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which lead the Syrian Democratic Forces coalition there.

Ankara views them as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Ottoman Turkish state since 1984 and is deemed a terrorist group by both Turkey and the US.

Turkey has threatened a military offensive against the YPG, but has held off as talks are underway to address the fate of the Kurdish forces.

The Ottoman Turkish defense ministry official told Rooters that Ottoman Turkish and Syrian military delegations exchanged views last week on "what can be done in defense and security matters, especially in the joint fight against terrorist organizations that pose a threat to both Syria and Turkey."

"Our meetings will continue within the framework of the needs that will occur in the coming period," the official added.

Ottoman Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in December that Turkey was "ready to provide the necessary support if the new (Syrian) administration requested it.

Ankara may discuss and reevaluate the issue of Turkey’s military presence in Syria with the new Syrian administration "when necessary conditions arise," Guler said at the time.

Link

The Grand Turk

Turkey kills 21 Kurdish militants in n. Syria, Iraq: ministry

2024-12-26

[NEWARAB] The Ottoman Turkish military killed 21 Kurdish turbans in northern Syria and Iraq, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry reported that 20 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Syrian Kurdish YPG holy warriors, who were preparing to launch an attack, were killed in northern Syria, while one holy warrior was killed in northern Iraq.

"Our operations will continue effectively and resolutely," the ministry added.

The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
member, but not the most reliable...
, the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, and the United States, began its armed insurgency against the Ottoman Turkish state in 1984.

The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

Turkey regards the YPG, the leading force within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the PKK and similarly classifies it as a terrorist group.

Following the fall of Syrian President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
earlier this month, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the YPG must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future.

The operations on Wednesday come amid ongoing hostilities in northeastern Syria between Turkey-backed Syrian factions and the YPG.

Ankara routinely conducts cross-border ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
s and military operations targeting the PKK, which maintains bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

As Turkey moves in following Assad’s fall, Syria’s Kurds are on the defensive

2024-12-23

[IsraelTimes] After rebels sweep to power in Damascus, Syrian Kurdish leader asks Trump to prevent northern incursion by Ankara — which views Kurdish factions as a national security threat

With hostile Ottoman Turkish-backed groups mobilizing against them in Syria’s north, and Damascus ruled by a group friendly to Ankara, Syria’s main Kurdish factions are on the back foot as they seek to preserve political gains carved out during 13 years of war.

Part of a stateless ethnic group straddling Iraq, Iran, ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
member, but not the most reliable...
, Armenia and Syria, Kurds have so far been among the few winners of the Syrian conflict, controlling nearly a quarter of the country and leading a powerful gang that is a key US ally in countering the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
But the power balance has tilted against them since the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) swept into Damascus this month, toppling president Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
, two analysts and a senior Western diplomat told Rooters.

The seismic change in Syria is expected to yield deeper Ottoman Turkish sway just as a change of US administration is raising questions over how long Washington will keep backing the country’s Kurdish-led forces.

For Turkey, the Kurdish factions represent a national security threat. Ankara views them as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency against the Ottoman Turkish state since 1984 and is deemed a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and other powers.

The Syrian Kurdish groups "are in deep, deep trouble," said Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International, a US-based think tank. "The balance has shifted fundamentally in Syria to the advantage of Turkey-backed or Turkey-aligned factions, and Turkey seems determined to exploit this to the fullest."

The shift has been reflected in renewed fighting for control of the north, where Turkey-backed gangs known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) have made military advances against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Fanar al-Kait, a bigwig in the Kurdish-led regional administration, told Rooters that the ouster of Assad, whose Arab nationalist Baath Party oppressed Kurds for decades, presented a chance to stitch the fragmented country back together.

He said the administration is ready for dialogue with Turkey, but the conflict in the north showed Ankara had "very bad intentions."

"This will certainly push the region towards... a new conflict," he added.

Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
said Friday he expected foreign states would withdraw support for Kurdish fighters following Assad’s toppling, as Ankara seeks to isolate the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish militia that spearheaded the SDF alliance.

Responding to questions from Rooters, a Ottoman Turkish official said the root cause of the conflict is "not Turkey’s view towards the region; it is that the PKK/YPG is a terrorist organization."

"The PKK/YPG elements must lay down their arms and leave Syria," the official said.

SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, in a Rooters interview on Thursday, acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle Islamic State and would return home in the event a total ceasefire was agreed with Turkey. He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.

Meanwhile,
...back at the abandoned silver mine, a triangular dorsal fin appeared in the water. Then another...
in Damascus, the new leadership is showing warmth towards Ankara and indicating it wants to bring all Syria back under central authority — a potential challenge to the decentralization Kurds favor.

While Turkey provides direct backing to the SNA, it along with other states deems HTS a terrorist group because of its al Qaeda past.

Despite this, Ankara is believed to have significant sway over the group. A senior Western diplomat said: "The Turks can clearly influence them more than anyone else."

HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told a Ottoman Turkish newspaper that Assad’s ouster was "not only the victory of the Syrian people, but also the Ottoman Turkish people."

The Ottoman Turkish official said HTS was not and never had been under Ankara’s control, calling it a structure "we were communicating with due to circumstances," and adding many Western states were also doing so.

Syrian Kurdish groups led by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the affiliated YPG militia took control of much of the north after the uprising against Assad began in 2011. They established their own administration, while insisting their aim was autonomy, not independence.

Their politics, emphasizing socialism and feminism, differ starkly from HTS’s Islamism. Their area grew as US-led forces partnered with the SDF in the campaign against Islamic State, capturing Arab-majority areas.

The Turkey-backed SNA groups stepped up their campaign against the SDF as Assad was being toppled, seizing the city of Manbij on Dec. 9

Washington brokered a ceasefire, but the SDF has said Turkey and its allies have not abided by it, and a Ottoman Turkish defense ministry official said there was no such deal.

US support for the SDF has been a point of tension with its NATO ally, Turkey. Washington views the SDF as a key partner in countering Islamic State, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

...71st United States secretary of state and a leading light of the corrupt and inept Biden administration. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under the corrupt and inept Obama administration. He advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq while serving as the Democratic staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2002 to 2008. He was a foreign policy advisor for the Biden 2008 presidential campaign. During his tenure in the Obama administration, Blinken helped craft B.O.'s policy on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the nuclear program of Iran. We all saw how well each of those worked. After leaving government service, Blinken moved into the private sector, co-founding WestExec Advisors, a lobbying firm...
has warned will try to use this period to re-establish capabilities in Syria. The SDF is still guarding tens of thousands of detainees linked to the hard boy group.

Ottoman Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said last weekend that Turkey saw no sign of an Islamic State resurgence in Syria. On Friday, Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told his German counterpart during talks in Ankara that alternatives needed to be found for the management of camps and prisons where the detainees are being held.

Separately, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said on Friday that Washington was working with Ankara and the SDF to find "a managed transition in terms of SDF’s role in that part of the country."

US President Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. I'm not working for you. Don't be such a horse's ass....
’s administration has said that US troops will stay on in Syria, but President-elect Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...
could remove them when he takes office on Jan. 20.

During his first administration, Trump attempted to pull out of Syria but faced pressure at home and from US allies.

In a Dec. 17 letter to Trump, reviewed by Rooters, top Syrian Kurdish official Ilham Ahmed said Turkey was preparing to invade the northeast before he takes office.

Turkey’s plan "threatens to undo years of progress in securing stability and fighting terrorism," she wrote. "We believe you have the power to prevent this catastrophe."

Asked for comment, Trump-Vance transition front man Brian Hughes said: "We continue to monitor the situation in Syria. President Trump is committed to diminishing threats to peace and stability in the Middle East and to protecting Americans here at home."

Trump said on Dec. 16 that Turkey will "hold the key" to what happens in Syria but has not announced his plans for US forces stationed there.

"The Kurds are in an unenviable position," said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma. "Once Damascus consolidates its power, it will move on the region. The US can’t remain there forever."

HTS leader Sharaa told British broadcaster the BBC that Kurds were "part of our people" and "there should be no division of Syria," adding arms should be entirely in the state’s hands.

Sharaa acknowledged one of Turkey’s main concerns — the presence of non-Syrian Kurdish fighters in Syria — and said: "We do not accept that Syrian lands threaten and destabilize Turkey or other places."

He pledged to work through dialogue and negotiations to find "a peaceful formula to solve the problem," saying he believed initial contacts had been established "between the Kurds in northeastern Syria or the SDF organization."

Kait, the Kurdish official, said his administration wanted "a democratic Syria, a decentralized Syria, a Syria that represents all Syrians of all sects, religions and ethnicities," describing these as red lines. The SDF would be "a nucleus of the coming Syrian army," he added.

SDF commander Abdi, in his Rooters interview, confirmed that contact had been established with HTS to avoid festivities between their forces but said Ankara would try to drive a wedge between Damascus and the Kurdish-led administration.

Still, he said there was strong support from international parties, including the U.S.-led coalition, for the SDF joining "the new political phase" in Damascus, calling it "a great opportunity."

"We are preparing, after a total ceasefire between us and between Turkey and the affiliated factions, to join this phase," he said.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Katz says IDF troops will stay atop Syrian side of Mount Hermon during winter months

2024-12-14

[IsraelTimes] As Syrians celebrate first Friday since Assad’s downfall, US and Turkey agree to keep ensuring Islamic State won’t ‘rear its head again,’ amid international gestures to rebel leader

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that he had ordered the military to prepare to stay atop the Syrian side of Mount Hermon during the coming winter months as Israel aims to prevent the border region from falling into the wrong hands following the ouster of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.

Katz’s announcement came as top diplomats of Turkey and the United States, which back warring rebel factions in Syria, met to discuss their joint effort to prevent Islamic State from resurging after Assad’s downfall, amid international efforts to gauge Syria’s new leadership.

Meanwhile, Damascus celebrated its first Friday prayers since Assad’s ouster, with rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani calling on Syrians “to go to the streets to express their joy” at the “victory of the blessed revolution.” Thousands attended prayers at Damascus’s landmark Umayyad mosque.

Al-Golani, whose Islamist Hayat Tahrir a-Sham originated in Al-Qaeda and has since broken with it, has remained largely mum as Israel struck what remained of Assad’s military equipment and entered the Syrian buffer zone delineated in a 1974 agreement.

The area includes Syrian-controlled sections of the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon — Syria’s highest peak, which has long boasted a UN observation post at the summit.

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday pushed back on international criticism of the takeover, saying the move was a temporary measure to prevent the border region from falling into extremists’ hands.

In a statement Friday, Katz said that “due to what is happening in Syria, there is a huge security importance to our holding of the Hermon peak and everything must be done to ensure the IDF’s preparations in the area, to allow the troops to stay there in the difficult weather conditions.”

Katz ordered the move during an assessment he held on Thursday with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other top officers.

Israel captured most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967. It held onto the territory during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and in 1981 annexed the area in a move since recognized by the United States.

An unverified video circulating on social media purported to show a man from the Druze village of Hader — in the Syrian buffer zone — asking to be annexed to the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.

In front of a large crowd, the man said Israel was the “lesser evil” facing the community — with the greater evil apparently being the Islamist rebels led by al-Golani.

BLINKEN AND FIDAN DISCUSS ISLAMIC STATE, RIVAL ALLIES IN SYRIA
At a meeting in Ankara Friday, meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan the two countries’ “imperative” to continue yearslong work “to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS [and] to ensure that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” according to a statement from Washington.

ISIS, or Islamic State, controlled up to a third of Syria, mainly in the northeast, in a reign of terror that was defeated in 2019 by a coalition including the US and Turkey.

Fidan said he discussed with Blinken Turkey’s aim “to prevent terrorism from gaining ground [in Syria] and to prevent Islamic State and the PKK from dominating there,” referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is considered a terror group by both Ankara and Washington.

NATO allies Washington and Ankara supported Syrian rebels during the 13-year civil war, but their interests clashed when it came to one of the rebel factions — the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF is the main ally in the international coalition against the Islamic State. It is spearheaded by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an extension of PKK, whose activists have fought for independence against Turkey for the past 40 years.

Earlier this week, Turkish-backed forces seized the northern city of Manbij from the SDF, which then headed east of the Euphrates River.

A Syrian opposition source told Reuters that the US and Turkey had reached an agreement on the withdrawal. Neither Blinken nor Fidan made any reference to any agreement between Turkey-backed Syrian forces and the SDF.

Blinken, whose term will end in January, is in Turkey on his 12th trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. As part of his meeting with Fidan on Friday, Blinken also discussed efforts to bring home the remaining 100 hostages.

On Thursday, Blinken also met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and said that there was broad agreement on what Turkey and the US would like to see in Syria after Assad’s fall.

The meeting with Erdogan came amid news that Ankara would reopen its embassy in Damascus, as regional powers began to adapt to the new reality there.

According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, Burhan Koroglu, the Turkish ambassador in Mauritania, was named as temporary charge d’affaires to lead the reopening.

The embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey.

On Thursday, Jordan’s foreign ministry said it would host a summit “to discuss developments in Syria,” with the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Turkey, as well as their US and EU counterparts and the UN envoy for Syria.

Bahrain’s King Hamad said in a letter to the rebel leader al-Golani — whom he addressed by his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa — that Bahrain was ready to “continue consultations and coordination with Syria,” Bahrain’s official BNA news agency reported Friday.

Link

Iraq

Turkish soldier killed in clash in northern Iraq, defense ministry says

2024-09-09

[JPost] A Turkish soldier was killed on Monday in a clash with fighters from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, and Turkish airstrikes killed many insurgents, the Defence Ministry said.

The airstrikes also destroyed 21 PKK targets, the ministry said in a statement without elaborating.

Ankara uses the term "neutralized" to mean killed.

The soldier was killed in a clash in the Gara region, and Turkish air forces targeted PKK bases in Gara, Hakurk, Metina, and Qandil, the ministry said.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

Link

Iraq

Turkiye stages artillery strikes on Kurd fighters in Iraq

2024-07-28

[ARABNEWS] Turkiye staged new artillery strikes against Kurdish separatist positions in northern Iraq, the defense ministry and Iraqi sources said Saturday.

While President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First

Link

Iraq

Turkey launches fresh airstrikes in Iraq as Erdogan renews threats for offensive

2024-05-07

[al-Monitor] ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
launched new ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s against the positions of Kurdish turbans in northern Iraq, the Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry said on Monday, as Ankara ramps up its threats of a fresh military operation in the region.

The Ottoman Turkish Defense Ministry said 16 members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in the strikes conducted in the northern Iraqi regions of Hakurk, Metina and Gara.

Headquartered in Iraqi Kurdistan, the PKK has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since 1984 and is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
A video shared on the ministry’s X account showed an F-16 fighter jet taking off from an unspecified airbase then hitting several targets in the region.

Turkey’s counterterrorism operations are "continuing at an increasing pace," Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in an address to the Ottoman Turkish army’s top brass on Monday.

The fresh strikes came as Ankara renewed its threats of a large-scale military offensive in the region. "It is not possible for us to feel safe as long as the PKK finds a breathing space in Iraq and Syria," Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First

...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In ~~Xanadu~~ Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential ~~Pleasure Dome~~ Palace decree. It has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
said later on Monday in a televised speech after a cabinet meeting in Ankara. "We will deliver the final blow to the separatist organization, whose maneuver room is shrinking."

Turkey also accuses the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main ally of the US-led anti ISIS coalition in Syria, of having ties with the PKK.

Guler also issued a similar warning last week when he criticized an Iraqi Kurdish political party, as well as Iran, for what he described as their lack of action against the Kurdish hard boys.

He said the PKK "moves, operates and trains its fighters freely" in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah, which borders Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and is under the control of the Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

He added that the PKK turbans were forced to retreat toward the southern parts of Iraqi Kurdistan by Ottoman Turkish military operations in the region, but that the Iraqi side was failing to take any action to counter them. "Thus, we have to do whatever is necessary, and we will do it," Guler said during a televised interview.

Turkey, which maintains more than a hundred military outposts in northern Iraq, accuses the PUK — one of the two dominant political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan — of cooperating with the PKK.

Turkey has kept its airspace closed for flights to and from the international Sulaimaniyah airport since April in a bid to increase pressure on the PUK, which is headed by Bafel Talabani, the son of late Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

The Iraqi central government designated the PKK as a banned
...the word banned seems to have a different meaning in Pakistain than it does in most other places. Or maybe it simply lacks any meaning at all...
organization last month but stopped short of declaring it a "terrorist organization" — a long-sought demand by Ankara. Guler said the coordination between Ankara and Baghdad has increased since the move.

Link

Iraq

Turkiye conducted airstrikes in northern Duhok, Iraq

2023-09-19

[Shafaq News] On Saturday evening, ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish helicopters launched ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
s on areas within the al-Amadiya district, north of Duhok Governorate, according to a security source.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that the vicinity of the village of Sekiri was subjected to the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish bombing. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
he did not provide details about casualties or damages from this airstrike.

This is the third attack within a week on the region, where Ankara believed elements affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are located.

Link

Iraq

Turkish soldier killed in explosion in northern Iraq, Turkey bombards border villages in revenge

2023-08-27

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Erkan Selçuk, a Turkish soldier, was killed in an improvised explosive device explosion in northern Iraq , the Turkish Defense Ministry said on August 26.

According to the Turkish side, Private Selcuk was seriously injured in the explosion of an explosive device planted in the zone of the Claw-Castle operation.

The incident occurred the day before, on August 25, the wounded was taken to the hospital.

“Private Erkan Selçuk could not be saved, despite all the measures taken, he died,” the Turkish military department said.

Turkey launched Operation Claw-Castle in Iraqi Kurdistan in northern Iraq. The Turkish military has been conducting it against the PKK (Iraqi Kurds) since April 17 last year.

As IA Regnum reported , on August 25, a police officer died in Istanbul during an operation to arrest a gang of drug dealers. Another law enforcement officer was injured.

Turkey bombards Duhok province following death of soldier

[Rudaw] ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish army on Saturday bombarded bordering areas in Duhok province following the death of one of its soldiers in the province, a villager told Rudaw.

The ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish defence ministry on Saturday said in a statement that one of its soldiers was injured by an improvised bomb in Duhok province on Friday and succumbed to his wounds the next day.

The explosion took place in a bordering area where a ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish military operation against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is ongoing.

Kiyan Abdullah, a resident of Kani Masi subdistrict in Amedi town, told Rudaw on Saturday that ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
bombarded several villages in the area from midnight to 9:00 am.

The bombardment did not cause any casualties but has spread fear in these villages.

Link

The Grand Turk

Turkey arrests German MP for social media posts

2023-08-15

[NPASyria] A German official of Kurdish heritage said on Sunday that she was arrested for hours when she traveled to ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
in early August for social media posts she made in 2019.

Gökay Akbulut, 40, is a member of the German parliament for the far-left Die Linke party.

Rooters reported, citing Akbulut as saying, that she was arrested in Antalya Province on allegations of "terror propaganda."

Akbulut previously criticized the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish government on her official website for "waging a brutal war against the Kurdish population inside and outside its borders."

~~Ottoman~~ Turkish authorities released Akbulut shortly after she contacted the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is not clear for which social media posts she was arrested. However she added that she would still travel to Turkey and express her opinion about the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish government.

Akbulut has previously demanded to lift the ban imposed on the activities of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 1993. The PKK has been in the EU list of terrorist organizations since 2022.

In recent years the relations between Germany and Turkey witnessed tension due to German criticism of the policies of Erdogan’s government abroad and at home.

Turkey always suppresses those who express their opinions that go against the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish government.

In April, the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish authorities carried out raids and arrested at least three Kurdish journalists, accusing them of having ties to the PKK.

In May, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish authorities to stop using the courts to muzzle opposition media outlets.

Link

Iraq

Turkish drone kills PKK Official and Associates in Kurdistan Region

2023-08-12

[Shafaq News] The Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) in the Kurdistan Region disclosed on Friday that a ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish military drone targeted a vehicle for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, near the district of Nalpariz.

According to a statement, the Agency explained that the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish army drone attacked the vehicle transporting PKK fighters along the road to the Nalma region, adjacent to the Nalpariz district. The strike claimed the lives of a senior PKK official, a fellow combatant, and the driver of the targeted vehicle.

Rescue teams and law enforcement swiftly arrived at the scene, managing to quell the fire and retrieve the remains of the dear departed.

~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
's operations against the PKK have encompassed various cross-border aerial and ground operations in northern Iraq. The country's military endeavors have also extended to Syria, where operations were conducted to displace Syrian Kurdish fighters, regarded by Ankara as an extension of the PKK, from its borders.

Rudaw transliterates the locations as Sulaimani province and the Nalparez subdistrict .
Update from Shafaq News at 3:55 p.m. EDT: Turkey claims the kills.

Link

Iraq

PKK attacks Turkish soldiers in Kurdistan Region’s Duhok, killing six

2023-08-11

[Rudaw] ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish defence ministry on Thursday announced that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) carried out attacks against its soldiers in the Kurdistan Region in the last two days, killing six members of the ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish army.

The ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the PKK opened fire on ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish soldiers in Duhok province, killing two and injuring three others who later shuffled off the mortal coil. One of them was a commander.

In a separate attack on Thursday, the PKK killed another soldier in the same area, according to the ministry which claimed that it "neutralised" four PKK fighters in a retaliatory attack.

~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
<del>The Sick Man of Europe</del> Turkey

...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
uses the term "neutralised" to denote that the person in question is captured, maimed or killed.

In April last year, Turkey launched Operation Claw-Lock with the goal of targeting PKK positions in Metina, Zap, Avashin, and Basyan areas in northern Duhok province. The operation, according to Ankara, aims to remove the PKK from the bordering areas and cut off its access to mainland Turkey.

Turkey says both deadly attacks took place in Operation Claw-Lock region.

PKK on Wednesday claimed it had killed 12 ~~Ottoman~~ Turkish soldiers in Zap region, which is covered by the operation, but it is not clear if it was referring to the same attacks in which Ankara says killed six soldiers.

Turkish warplane has reportedly bombed sites of the anti-Ankara Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Duhok's northern district of Amadiyah. The attack took place near Mount Kareh in the Kerkash area.

It is not immediately clear whether the attack have left casualties.
— SHAFAQ News (@Shafaqnews) August 10, 2023

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More