http://www.buzzfeed.com/franciswhit...cers-shot-dead-in-southern-turkey#.cjbG9Ypg45 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/w...0150722&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=72534492&_r=1
ISIS has cut private internet access in Raqqa limiting it to public internet cafes, according to Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/21/isis-s-jihad-against-wifi.html
Turkey has detained 457 "terror suspects" bound for Syria this year through June 30. Obviously we won't know the number that successfully made it to Syria but it's a shitload more than 457. http://www.albawaba.com/news/turkey-detains-457-syria-bound-foreign-terror-suspects-722182
Turkey to Allow Use of Key Air Base for U.S. Warplanes to Bomb ISIS AMMAN, Jordan — The United States and Turkey have reached an agreement in which manned and unmanned American warplanes will carry out airstrikes against the Islamic State from Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border, Obama administration officials said Thursday. The agreement, described by one senior administration official as a “game changer,” came after months of negotiations that culminated on Wednesday with a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Obama, another administration official said. The development came as Turkish forces were reported to have engaged in the first direct combat with Islamic State forces on the Syrian side of the border. The developments vaulted Turkey squarely into the broader battle with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. It was a step the Turkish authorities had been reluctant to take until now in their effort to protect Turkey’s 500-mile border with Syria, where ISIS is firmly ensconced. Turkey had allowed unmanned strikes from Incirlik but had thus far balked at allowing manned airstrikes. Officials at both the State Department and the Pentagon said they were hesitant about talking about the pact until the Turkish government acknowledged the agreement publicly. The United States and Turkey “have decided to further deepen our cooperation in the fight against ISIL,” the State Department’s spokesman, John Kirby, said in an emailed statement. He said that “due to operational security I don’t have further details to share at this time.” Mr. Kirby added that the United States would work with Turkey and other European partners to curb the flow of foreign fighters to Syria, recognizing that “the foreign fighter problem is not Turkey’s alone.” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/24/world/europe/turkey-isis-us-airstrikes-syria.html
Report: Turkish jets strike IS targets in Syria ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish warplanes struck Islamic State group targets across the border in Syria early Friday, the country's state-run television reported, a day after the extremist group fired at a Turkish military outpost, killing a soldier. TRT television said four military jets took off from Diyarbakir air base in southeast Turkey and used missiles to hit at IS targets in the Syrian village of Havar. The village is across the border from the Turkish province of Kilis. TRT said the planes did not violate Syrian airspace. The station did not cite a source for the report and there was no official confirmation of the airstrikes. Private NTV television said at least three loud explosions could be heard from Kilis. On Thursday, five IS militants fired from Syrian territory at a Turkish military outpost, killing one soldier and prompting Turkish retaliation that killed at least one IS militant. The operation also comes a day after U.S. officials said Turkey had agreed to allow the U.S. access to a key Turkish air base for use against the extremist group. Earlier in the week, a suicide bombing blamed on IS militants killed 32 people in southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border. Turkish officials have raised concerns that the bombing was part of a campaign of retaliation for Turkey's recent crackdown on IS operations in the country. In the last six months, Turkish officials say, more than 500 people suspected of working with IS have been detained. Hurriyet newspaper said the Turkish F-16s struck three targets close to the Turkish border, including two locations that the extremist group reportedly used as headquarters. The newspaper said the aerial operation was in retaliation for the IS attack a day earlier and was named "Operation Yalcin" in honor of the non-commissioned officer who was killed in that attack.
Rudaw English @RudawEnglish 54s54 seconds ago #Turkish warplanes are striking #PKK bases near Amedi in #Kurdistan Region
Mutlu Civiroglu @mutludc 10m10 minutes ago Multiple Kurdish sources report Turkish jets are striking #PKK positions in #Iraq instead of ISIS targets in #Syria #TwitterKurds
I'm curious to see that if these reports are true, how much the media covers Turkey attacking people trying to fight ISIS.
That seems like a really shitty compromise. What the hell do we have aircraft carriers for if not for occasions such as this where we can't negotiate airbase usage?
Julian Röpcke@JulianRoepcke #BreakingReport #PKK declares end of ceasefire with #Turkey after Turkish air force jets attack positions of the organisation in N #Iraq. Garmıyanı כורדי @Sarbarzi 17m17 minutes ago Erdogan: "OK, u can use Incerlik airbase. But I want to bomb Kurds in return." Obama: "Fine but not in Syria. They're fighting ISIS for me."
What I don't understand is why Turkey doesn't wait for the Kurds to defeat isis then attack once they're weak. Now they're just distracting them from fighting isis and will just prolong this whole thing. I don't get why the people in the Middle East want to be in a perpetual state of war.
The whole Middle East is just fucked up. Let's pull out and say fuck'em lake of fire for those fuckers.
Haven't seen our Erdogan supporter recently but now is a perfect time for him to come in for some delusional white knighting.
Kinda hard to fight them on something that threatens their parliamentary make-up, that's happening on their own border, and that has overwhelming popular support at home. I think we're settling just for them not interfering in our expressed goals
Reportedly turkey's bombings Wall Street Journal published a pretty great piece on Syria's chemical weapons stuff. http://www.wsj.com/articles/mission...hort-1437687744
Turkey has dealt directly with ranking members of ISIS http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/26/isis-syria-turkey-us?CMP=share_btn_tw
INTERNATIONAL HAKAN GOKTEPE / HANDOUT / REUTERS Turkey calls for NATO meeting to discuss security threats Call to convene alliance members comes as Turkish military continues to strike PKK and ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria July 26, 2015 9:34AM ET Updated 5:00PM ET Turkey on Sunday called for a meeting of its NATO allies to discuss threats to its security and its airstrikes targeting Kurdish and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rebels. The move came as Turkey's state-run media reported that Turkish F-16 jets again took off from the country's southeastern Diyarbakir air base to hit Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets across the border in northern Iraq. The PKK said Saturday that the airstrikes likely spelled the end of a cease-fire announced in 2013. Hours before the call to convene alliance members, Turkish authorities said PKK fighters used a car bomb to target a military vehicle in the country’s southeast, killing two soldiers and wounding four others. NATO announced that its decision-making body, the North Atlantic Council, would convene Tuesday after Ankara invoked the alliance's Article 4, which allows member states to request a meeting if they feel their territorial integrity or security is under threat. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey would inform allies about the airstrikes, which followed an ISIL suicide bombing on July 20 near Turkey's border with Syria that left 32 people, mostly Kurds, dead. Kurdish groups have blamed the Turkish government for not doing enough to prevent ISIL operations. On Wednesday, the PKK claimed responsibility for Shitty AMC Show of two policemen in the Kurdish majority city of Sanliurfa. The group has executed a number of low-level attacks on police and military since. Turkey requested the meeting, which includes ambassadors of all 28 member countries, "in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous terrorist attacks in recent days," NATO said. NATO itself is not involved in operations against ISIL, although many of its members are. As an alliance, however, NATO is committed to helping defend Turkey. Since the ISIL suicide bombing and subsequent attacks by the PKK, Turkey has simultaneously targeted both groups in Iraq and Syria, and carried out widespread police operations against suspected Kurdish and ISIL operatives and other outlawed groups inside Turkey. Hundreds of people have been detained. The PKK has fought Turkey for autonomy for Kurds in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984. The two parties signed a cease-fire in 2013. The recent eruption of violence between Turkey and the PKK further complicates the U.S.-led war against ISIL, which has relied on PKK-affiliated ground forces making gains in Iraq and Syria. Late Saturday, the White House said Turkey has the right to defend itself against attacks by Kurdish rebels. Spokesman Alistair Baskey strongly condemned recent attacks by the PKK, which the U.S. has designated a “terrorist group,” and said the PKK should renounce terrorism and resume talks with Turkey's government. But Baskey also said both sides should avoid violence and persue de-escalation. Meanwhile, a deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama said Sunday that Washington welcomed Turkey's "increased focus and accelerated efforts" against ISIL fighters.
Can anyone speculate how soon before NATO forces actually act like a unified front and pour everything they can into this conflict? It's to no one's advantage to allow it to continue and the longer it stews the worse it will get for Europe.
Honestly, I'm not sold sending just enough Western aid to keep ISIS from gaining too much ground isn't the best strategy. The more this is a war between Muslims the less I feel like ISIS has to stand on.
Peshmerga is the fighting force of Iraqi Kurds, PKK are the ones fighting for their own state in Turkey.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party,[nb 1][nb 2] commonly referred to by its Kurdish acronym, PKK (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê) is a Kurdish terrorist organization based in Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers'_Party
Hilarious US saying turkey has a right to defend itself. PKK had done nothing prior to turkey bombing them. Turkey has bombed the PKK now dozens of times in the past few days but after the initial strikes against ISIS they've done nothing. Isis claiming those strikes were against empty fields and they lost no assets in the strikes
By everything I assume you're including significant ground troops which isn't likely to happen. Iraq should be able to defeat ISIS at some point but an offensive on Mosul(biggest city ISIS controls) would involve an insane number of casualties. Who knows what will happen in Syria, it's a fucking mess. Unless Iran deploys ground troops the rebels can probably hold out long enough to depose Assad then it's another civil war to see which rebel group comes out on top.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/w...power.html?_r=0 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a striking admission, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said on Sunday that the country’s army faced a manpower shortage and had ceded some areas to insurgents in order to hold onto other regions deemed more important. Mr. Assad also acknowledged in a speech televised from Damascus, the Syrian capital, that many Syrians could not watch the address because of the lack of electricity in many areas and noted the economic hardships that people are facing after more than four years of an increasingly complex civil war.
Hey remember when we captured that oil trade ISIS dude? Guess who most of his customers were http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/26/isis-syria-turkey-us
Peshmerga is the fighting force of the comparatively moderate Kurdish Regional Government. It's made up of groups of different ideological leanings (social democratic, nationalist, populist, etc...) that are more or less loosely democratic. The PKK is a Marxist-Leninist communist revolutionary group.
Pretty much. PKK is a hard leftist separatist group and NATO never really goes against bombing those types. Also, uh, Turkey is attacking US-backed YPG groups now? Am I reading this incorrectly? https://twitter.com/SerioSito/status/625425885353648128 Reports of Turkish Army attacking #YPG in Kobane. If true this would be a major escalation #TwitterKurds https://twitter.com/hasavrat/status/625429983369015296 .@AmedDcle reporting (according to YPG Kobane Command) TSK shelled YPG at Zor Mixar and opened fire on a YPG vehicle at Til Findir. https://twitter.com/dilkocer/status/625428891113537540 #YPG: Yesterday night (26th July) Turkish tanks destroyed one of our vehicles in the village Til Findire, west of Girê Spî (Tal Abyad) The YPG has a response: https://twitter.com/cahitstorm/stat...436289903534080 Ypg commandment statement after turkish agression in Kobane canton: next time u hit us, we will retaliate. Translation, courtesy of reddit: To the media and public opinion! Turkish army tanks shelled our positions in the village of Zormîxarê west of Kobani, opposite the city Jarabulus at 4:30 on July 24, 2015, injuring four FSA fighters and some civilians in that village. Today at 22:00 the Turkish army shelled our units' positions with 7 tank shells. At 23:00 today the Turkish army fired shots at a vehicle west of Gire Spi (Tal Abyad) in the village of Til Findirê. Turkish army: Instead of bombarding the whereabouts of mercenaries "Daash" they bombard the whereabouts of our units and this is not the right attitude, we warn the Turkish state and tell it to operate within international laws, and warn the Turkish army not to repeat its attacks on the positions of our units. Leadership of the People's Protection Units in the Kobanî canton July 26, 2015
The rebels have a much larger recruiting base than Assad, not many Sunnis are signing up to die for an Alawite.