- Damascus: Turkish artillery bombs the north-east of Syria
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- Syria: Trump dumps the Kurds, but is controversy in the US
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09 October 2019A series of artillery raids have been carried out by Turkey in the last hours against Kurdish-Syrian positions in northern Syria, east and west of the Euphrates. This was reported by the National Observatory for Human Rights in Syria which cites local sources. The observatory states that artillery bombardments occurred during the night in the town of Ayn Issa, along the border between Turkey and Syria, and in the town of Minnagh, between Aleppo and the Turkish border.The Turkish army, along with the free Syrian army (the local Arab militias co-opted by Ankara, ed), will soon cross the Turkish-Syrian border ". The head of communication of the Presidency of Ankara, Fahrettin Altun, wrote on Twitter.
The Turkish military, together with the Free Syrian Army, will cross the Turkish-Syrian border shortly.
YPG militants have two options: they can defect or stop them from disrupting our counter-ISIS efforts.https: //t.co/vQByIUQHQB
The alarm for the ISIS war
Turkey's offensive against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria risks weakening the fight against ISIS and creating a new humanitarian crisis in the country. The alarm is raised by the government of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. A statement reads that the authorities in Erbil are "very concerned about the US decision to withdraw from the safe zone in northeastern Syria and the news of a potential unilateral military operation by Turkey". "The government - the statement continues - calls on Turkey, as a member of the global coalition, to avoid any initiative that could damage the progress made against ISIS, including jeopardizing the detention of foreign fighters". "The consequences of a military escalation - concluded Erbil, according to the broadcaster 'Rudaw' - have implications that go beyond the borders of Syria, creating the conditions for a return of ISIS and for many displaced persons".
The Free Syrian Army: in 14 thousand with Turkey
The Free Syrian Army (ELS) has completed preparations for a new military operation in northern Syria and with a contingent of 14,000 men it is ready to fight alongside Turkey. The Turkish media reported that Els reached the province of Urfa, on the border with Syria, with trucks loaded with ammunition and heavy weapons. On the basis of what was announced by the Turkish agency Anadolu, the battalions Hamza Tumeni and Suleyman Shah had completed a phase of preparation for the intervention in Syria in recent days and will be able to use other 2,000 soldiers who have recently completed the phase of training. The Els battalions joined the Turkish army in the operation "Shield of the Euphrates", with which the area north of Syria west of the Euphrates in 2017 was removed from ISIS control, while on the offensive on Afrin from 2018, called "Olive branch", the Els militias smashed in from the east, helping to drive the Syrian Pyd-Ypg Kurds out of the area. The chief of the Hamza Tumeni, Abu Bakir, declared last Sunday at the Anadolu agency that the contingent he heads counts about 6,500 men of Arab ethnicity, Syrian and Kurdish turcophone, ready for military intervention. In recent days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey is ready for a military operation in northern Syria, to eliminate Pyd-Ypg from the region east of the Euphrates river.
The August 7 agreement between the US and Turkey
Last August 7, the United States and Turkey had found an agreement, later called by Erdogan "a fairy tale", to gain control of an area about 32 km deep, extended for 480 km in Syrian territory east of the Euphrates to the border with Iraq. Area of which Turkey is now determined to gain control with unilateral intervention.