Syria - Stepping into the Void

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

First Germany. Now France

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[Volkonski]

"U.S. forces say Turkey was deliberately ‘bracketing’ American troops with artillery fire in Syria."

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Islamic State relatives flee en masse from Syrian camp: Kurdish-led authority

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syri ... ce=twitter

Women affiliated with Islamic State and their children fled en masse from a camp where they were being held in northern Syria on Sunday after shelling by Turkish forces in a five-day-old offensive, the region’s Kurdish-led administration said.



The region’s Kurdish-led administration said in a statement that 785 IS-affiliated foreigners had fled the camp at Ain Issa.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing sources in the camp, said around 100 people had escaped.

In apparent reference to Turkish-backed rebels, the Kurdish-led administration said “mercenaries” attacked the camp where “Daesh elements” - a reference to Islamic State - in turn attacked camp guards and opened the gates.

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Trump sends $50 million in emergency financial assistance to Syria

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-syr ... 019-10-12/

Donald Trump announced Saturday night that the U.S. will send $50 million in stabilization assistance to Syria. The money, according to the Office of the Press Secretary, is to "protect persecuted ethnic and religious minorities and advance human rights."


"This funding will provide emergency financial assistance to Syrian human rights defenders, civil society organizations and reconciliation efforts directly supporting ethnic and religious minority victims of the conflict," the statement reads.

"We hope regional and international partners will continue their contributions as well," the statement continues. "Ensuring the freedom and safety of ethnic and religious minorities remains a top priority for this Administration."

[Turtle]

Is Syria now agreeing to manufacture dirt against 2020 Democratic candidates?

[Volkonski]

The New York Times
@nytimes
Russia's military helped save Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. Our visual investigation shows that included bombing 4 hospitals in 12 hours. Here’s the evidence — videos, flight logs and Russian Air Force cockpit recordings — that proves what happened.



Here’s how we confirmed the Russians were responsible for the Nabad al Hayat strike: First, witnesses reported that it happened at 2:40 p.m. local time. Second: flight logs. Spotters in the area saw a Russian jet flying overhead, just minutes before the attack.

We also decoded Russian Air Force communications. Here’s a recording of a Russian pilot confirming coordinates that point directly at the underground Nabad al Hayat hospital.

Minutes later, the pilot confirms the strike, saying "Worked it.”

Nabad al Hayat hospital was empty when the Russians bombed it. But another, Kafr Nabl, was not. Video shows it was bombed 4 times in all, including precision strikes that hit the hospital’s entrance. One person was killed in the attack, with many injured.

Doctors were treating patients at Syria’s Kafr Nabl hospital when the Russians bombed it. “Everyone in the hospital was terrified,” a doctor said. “There was ash and dust everywhere.”

Russia's military support of President Bashar Al Assad was a turning point in the Syrian conflict as superior air power was used against civilian targets. Now, it's clear that hospitals were among those under attack. Watch our full investigation for more:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/13/worl ... itals.html

[Volkonski]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
.....The Kurds and Turkey have been fighting for many years. Turkey considers the PKK the worst terrorists of all. Others may want to come in and fight for one side or the other. Let them! We are monitoring the situation closely. Endless Wars!

[Volkonski]

ABC News
@ABC
·
8m
"This is a complicated, developing situation," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tells
@jonkarl
when asked why the U.S. has not imposed sanctions on Turkey yet.

"We are ready to go on a moments notice to put on sanctions," he adds. http://abcn.ws/2AYUerh

[Volkonski]

Face The Nation
@FaceTheNation
· 1h
BREAKING: .@EsperDOD confirms that roughly 1,000 U.S. troops will be evacuating from northern Syria after latest Trump policy announcement in a "deliberate withdrawal."

[Volkonski]

Brett McGurk
@brett_mcgurk
Only four days into Turkish attack and one week after POTUS-Erdogan call:

* UN: 130k displaced (likely to 3x)
* ISIS terrorists escaping (caught after years of painstaking effort)
* Syrians executed on roadways by Turkish-backed opposition forces
* Main US supply lines cut..

* US forces fired on “danger close”
* Female politician brutally murdered
* Turkish forces operating well outside “security mechanism” area
* Increasingly impossible for US forces to remain in Syria at all
* No plan to take care of anyone who worked with us

Total disaster

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Lucas Tomlinson
@LucasFoxNews
·
25m
Defense Secretary Mark Esper: “The Turks now intend to go further south [in Syria] than originally expected and to go both west and east.”
@FoxNewsSunday

[Volkonski]

U.S. "preparing to evacuate" remaining troops from northern Syria, defense secretary says

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-syr ... d=75240083

"In the last 24 hours, we learned that [the Turks] likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned, and to the west," Esper said. "We also have learned in the last 24 hours that the ... SDF are looking to cut a deal, if you will, with the Syrians and the Russians to counterattack against the Turks in the north."

Esper told "Face the Nation" the troops remaining in the country were caught between Turkish forces and the SDF. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 internally displaced people are fleeing the violence.

"And so we find ourselves, we have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies, and it's a very untenable situation," Esper said. "So I spoke with the president last night, after discussions with the rest of the national security team, and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria."

Asked if the U.S. had the authority to return fire, Esper said U.S. troops "have the right to self defense and we will execute it if necessary."

This fight getting bigger.

[neeneko]

"In the last 24 hours, we learned that [the Turks] likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned, and to the west," Esper said. "We also have learned in the last 24 hours that the ... SDF are looking to cut a deal, if you will, with the Syrians and the Russians to counterattack against the Turks in the north."

Huh. Now I am wondering if this might have been a Putin plot all along. The opportunity to pick up a solid ally with the Kurds, and maybe have a pretext for pushing into Turkey and taking some of those warm water ports they covet so much? Turkey is unpopular enough right now that NATO might not come to help if they are seen as the aggressor and the US votes to stay out of some kind of Kurd+Russia vs Turkey conflict.

[Volkonski]

[RTH10260]

"In the last 24 hours, we learned that [the Turks] likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned, and to the west," Esper said. "We also have learned in the last 24 hours that the ... SDF are looking to cut a deal, if you will, with the Syrians and the Russians to counterattack against the Turks in the north."

Huh. Now I am wondering if this might have been a Putin plot all along. The opportunity to pick up a solid ally with the Kurds, and maybe have a pretext for pushing into Turkey and taking some of those warm water ports they covet so much? Turkey is unpopular enough right now that NATO might not come to help if they are seen as the aggressor and the US votes to stay out of some kind of Kurd+Russia vs Turkey conflict.

Russia and Turkey are very cosy with each other even after a few incidents that would lead to expect differently. Erdogan is just installing a Russian anti-air missile system in preference of receiving US fighter planes.

[Volkonski]

Erdogan says Turkish-led offensive to extend further along Syrian border

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syri ... ce=twitter

Turkey’s incursion into Syria will stretch from Kobani in the west to Hasaka in the east, going some 30 km (19 miles) into Syrian territory, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, and the town of Ras al Ain was already under Turkish control.

Addressing a news conference in Istanbul, Erdogan said the Turkish-led forces had also besieged the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad, west of Ras al Ain, in its fight against the YPG Kurdish militia, which Ankara says is a terrorist organization.

“We focused first on the 120-km (75-mile) area between Ras al Ain and Tel Abyad. Thus we will divide the 480-km terrorist corridor down the middle,” Erdogan said.

“Then we will take control of Hasaka on the one side and Ain al Arab (Kobani) on the other and complete the operation,” he said, referring to towns either side of the current focus of operations. “We will go down to a depth of around 30-35 km, in line with the safe zone map which we declared previously.”

[Volkonski]

Botin Kurdistani
@kurdistannews24
· 2h
#BREAKING:
Turkish jets targeted convoy of journalists & their bodyguards near Ras al-Ayn. in Syria
#Turkey is scared of foreign journalists who cover the atrocities committed during their ethnic cleansing operation
@BabakTaghvaee
@EmmanuelMacron @RichardEngel #BREAKING