• Turkish attack on Syria, Erdogan: "End operations if terrorists leave"
  • The Syrian army deploys modernized and reinforced tanks near Raqqa
  • Syria, Di Maio: devastating effects on the humanitarian level. Turkey stops immediately
  • Erdogan: we'll finish what we started. Trump: sanctions, ready to destroy the Turkish economy
  • Erdogan: "The world supports us or we take refugees"
  • Syria, Di Maio: devastating effects on the humanitarian level. Turkey stops immediately
  • Syria, EU: unanimous condemnation of Turkey but no arms embargo
  • Syria, Turkish raids on a convoy of foreign reporters. Trump orders the withdrawal of 1,000 soldiers

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17 October 2019The letter of 9 October last with which Donald Trump asked Recep Tayyip Erdogan to avoid an attack on the Kurds in Syria shortly before it was launched, the offensive would have been "thrown in the garbage" by the Turkish president. This was reported by Ankara government sources, cited by local media.

According to the reconstruction, the Turkish Presidency considered the letter "without diplomatic courtesy" and gave its "best answer by launching the military operation across the border on the same day. The distribution of the letter seems destined to further complicate the talks scheduled this afternoon in Ankaratra Erdogan and the US delegation, led by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and sent by Trump to demand an end to hostilities in Syria.

Trump to Erdogan: "Don't be tough"
Don't be tough "or" don't be a fool "," we work on a good agreement. You don't want to be responsible for the massacre of thousands of people, and I don't want to be responsible for the destruction of the Turkish economy. "Donald Trump wrote to President Recep TayyipErdogan in a letter dated October 9, just before the Turkish military offensive in Syria Meanwhile, the US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, warns Turkey: if the fire in Syria does not cease, more US sanctions will come.

Today the meeting Erdogan-Pence-Pompeo in Ankara
At 2.30 pm today (1.00 pm in Italy) the expected meeting in Ankara between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the high-level US delegation, led by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, sent by urgency by Donald Trump to demand a ceasefire in northern Syria. The talks were preceded yesterday by a controversy when Erdogan had declared that he would only discuss with Trump, only to back down. The American delegation, which also includes national security adviser Robert O'Brien and Trump's special envoy for Syria and anti-Isis Coalition James Jeffrey, has already had its first preparatory talks with senior Ankara officials , including Erdogan's spokesman and advisor, Ibrahim Kalin, and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

On 22 October I meet Erdogan-Putin in Russia
After the meeting with the US delegation, it will be Russia's turn. Erdogan, and Vladimir Putin, will meet in Sochi on October 22nd. It was the head of the Kremlin who invited the Turkish president to Russia to discuss the Ankara military offensive in Syria.

Erdogan: "End of operations if the terrorists leave"
For Erdogan, however, the only option for Kurdish militants in Syria is to lay down their arms and withdraw. "Our position is the following: immediately, tonight, that all the terrorists lay down their weapons and equipment, destroy all their fortifications and withdraw from the security zone that we have set," said Erdogan in a speech before the deputies of the his AKP party, adding that this would be "the fastest way to solve the problem in Syria. In its history - he continued - Turkey has never carried out massacres of civilians and does not even now" in its military offensive against militias Kurdish in northern Syria, said the Turkish president in a speech to the parliamentary group of his AKP in Ankara.

Turkish defense: "neutralized" 653 militiamen Ypg
At the end of the eighth day of the Turkish army's military intervention, the Turkish Defense Ministry issued a statement announcing that 653 Kurdish Ypg militiamen have been "neutralized" by the Turkish forces.

Kurdish leader: agreement with Damascus only "military"
The agreement with the government of Damascus was "necessary" and is only "military". This was underlined by the commander Mazloum Kobani of the Syrian Democratic Forces (Sdf), the alliance dominated by the Kurdish militias of Ypg (People's Defense Unit) considered to be terrorist forces by Turkey. The agreement reached last Sunday by Kurdish forces with Damascus, following the military offensive launched by Ankara after the withdrawal of the US military, foresees the deployment of Syrian armed forces in important cities such as Manbij, and along the border area with Turkey . Speaking to the TV broadcaster Ronahi, affiliated with the SDF, Kobani said that there will be further negotiations with Damascus once the Turkish forces are rejected.

Kurds, unconventional weapons in Turkish raids
"We suspect that unconventional weapons are used against" Kurdish fighters from Turkey "in the besieged city of Serekaniye" (Ras al Ayn inarabo), in northeastern Syria. He was denounced via Twitter by Mustafa Bali, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (FDS) communication.

Turkey, never used chemical weapons
And the Kurdish accusation is immediately answered by Ankara: "Everyone knows that the Turkish army has no chemical weapons in its inventory. Some information indicates that" the Kurdish "Ypg militias use chemical weapons to then accuse Turkey". Ankara's defense minister said so, rejecting the accusations about the use of unconventional weapons in the Turkish raids on Ras alAyn.

Syrian troops enter Kobane
The Syrian regime's Bashar al-Assad troops entered the city of Kobane, a key bastion of Northern Syria under Kurdish control. This was reported by the Syrian Observatory for i
human rights and other Syrian media that publish images of armored vehicles entering the city.

Syrian government forces occupied abandoned US military bases in the northeast. This is reported by the TV channel Rossiya 24, broadcasting images from Syria. "This video speaks for itself: military pickups under the Syrian flag and US armored convoys moving across from one another in opposite directions."

Observatory: 71 civilians killed and over 300,000 displaced
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has declared that 71 civilians, including 21 children, have been killed in the offensive launched on Wednesday 9 October. According to the London-based NGO, more than 300,000 people have been forced to leave their homes since the conflict began. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the start of the offensive against Kurdish forces that control the northeastern regions of Syria to create a "safe zone" in which to host at least one million Syrian refugees, a few days after the States United had announced the partial withdrawal of the forces present in the area. Turkey accuses the People's Protection Units (Ypg) and the Kurdish-Arab alliance of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of which they are part of being linked to the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), considered a terrorist organization also by United States and European Union. In recent days the Sdf have reached an agreement with the central government of Damascus and, which led to the entry of the Syrian army into the Kurdish territories to defend them from the Turkish forces.

EU Council: possible sanctions against Turkey on the table
And the Turkish offensive in Syria will also be discussed at the European Council today and tomorrow, 17 and 18 October, in Brussels: the last of President Donald Tusk and the first to which Conte participates as Premier of the new Giallorossi government. After the unanimous formal condemnation of the Turkish military action, a more choral intervention will be evaluated, with possible imposition of sanctions.

Cei, Bassetti: "We no longer have eyes to cry"
"We no longer have eyes to cry for what is happening." Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian Bishops' Conference, said this on the sidelines of an ongoing conference in Naples, on what is happening in Syria. "At this moment, instead of achieving peace goals - continued Bassetti - they end up concentrating on weapons, wars and struggles" "We no longer have eyes to cry - he concluded - in seeing parents with children in their arms running away. Why should this happen?" .

Italy-Turkey economic forum scheduled for the 23rd in Istanbul canceled
The Italy-Turkey economic forum that was scheduled for October 23 in Istanbul was canceled. This is what we learn from sources familiar with the dossier, according to which the Eastwest forum in which the leaders of the two countries Confindustries should have participated was canceled in connection with the Turkish offensive in northern Syria.