Turkey Incursion Archives - Iran News Daily

Northeast Syria Situation, Core of Russian, Turkish Presidents talks

reporter 1222 — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 06:33:10 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Russia’s Vladimir Putin and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed Turkey’s military offensive in Syria and Northeast Syria Situation, in a phone call, Turkey’s presidency said.

Turkey launched its cross-border offensive one month ago, saying it aimed to drive Kurdish forces from the border region and create a “safe zone” to settle Syrian refugees.

It halted its advance under a deal with the United States which called for the withdrawal from the border of Kurdish YPG fighters – whom Ankara considers being terrorists.

Erdogan later agreed a separate deal with Moscow, which also called for the YPG to withdraw at least 30 km (nearly 20 miles) from the border, but has since said that neither Washington nor Moscow has been able to deliver on the deals.

The Turkish statement on Saturday said Erdogan and Putin confirmed their commitment to the accord they struck at a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi which also paved the way for joint Russian-Turkish military patrols inside Syria, Reuters reported.

It said the two presidents also discussed bilateral trade but gave no further details.

The Turkish president is due to hold talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday.

Last month in a meeting, Mr. Erdogan was also rebuked by Mr. Putin for risking a revival of the Islamic State as the aftermath of Northeast Syria situation. Distracted by the invasion, Kurdish fighters have been unable to carry out anti-ISIS operations, and several ISIS militants have escaped Kurdish-run jails.

“It is important to make sure,” Mr. Putin said as Mr. Erdogan stood beside him, “that members of terrorist organizations, including ISIS, whose militants are kept by Kurdish armed formations and are trying to escape, would not use the opportunity created by the actions of Turkish forces.”

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Turkish forces quit Syria if other forces withdraw

reporter 1222 — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 08:04:43 +0000

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his Turkish forces quit Syria until other countries pull out, insisting that Ankara will continue its cross-border offensive against Kurdish militants in northeastern parts of the Arab country until every one of them has left the region.

Turkish army forces and militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), who enjoy Ankara’s patronage, on October 9 launched a cross-border offensive into northeastern Syria in a declared attempt to clear members of the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militant group, from border areas. Iran News quotes the report.

Ankara regards the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in the Anatolian country since 1984.

Ankara is seeking the establishment of a 32-kilometer “safe zone” totally clear from the presence of Kurdish militants in northeastern Syria. Turkey wants the area to be used for the relocation of two million Syrian refugees living in Turkey.

“Turkish forces quit Syria in case the last terrorist leaves the region. This is one dimension of the issue. Secondly, we will not quit before other countries leave. We are in favor of Syria’s unity and solidarity. We never want it disintegrated,” Erdogan told reporters on Friday when he was asked whether Ankara’s “Operation Peace Spring” would continue.

After seizing a 120-km swathe of land along the border, Turkey struck deals with the US and Russia to keep the Kurdish militants out of that so-called buffer zone.

On October 22, Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin signed a memorandum of understanding that asserted YPG militants must withdraw from the Turkish-controlled “safe zone” within 150 hours, after which Ankara and Moscow would run joint patrols within the area.

The agreement was reached hours before a US-brokered five-day truce between Turkish and Kurdish-led forces was due to expire.

The Turkish president further said if other states deployed troops in Syria to defend the integrity of the Arab country, “they have to prove it.” He emphasized that other countries, “neither Russia nor the US or Iran,” do not even share borders with Syria.

Erdogan’s remarks come as the Syrian government has repeatedly condemned the Turkish offensive as an act of aggression.

But Iran provides military advisory assistance to Syrian government forces in the fight against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists at the formal request of Damascus.

Russian jets have also been carrying out air raids against militants in Syria at the Damascus government’s formal request since September 2015.

However, the US has been conducting airstrikes inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate. Washington has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians. There are also about 1,000 US troops mostly taking positions near Syria’s oil fields after President Donald Trump’s recent order.

Furthermore, Iran, Russia, and Turkey act as the guarantors of an all-out ceasefire regime in Syria. Senior diplomats from the three countries have held several rounds of consultations with the Astana format amid efforts to find a political solution to the crisis in the Arab country.

The Turkish military has previously launched two cross-border incursions in northern Syria, namely the Euphrates Shield in August 2016 and the Olive Branch in January 2018, with the declared aim of eradicating Kurdish militants and Daesh Takfiri terrorists near Turkey’s borders.

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Erdogan: US not fulfilling its pledge to Syria deal

reporter 1222 — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:22:22 +0000

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the United States is not fulfilling its pledge to Syria deal, in order to remove Kurdish militants from a Syrian border region and that he would raise the issue when he meets US President Donald Trump next week.

Turkey launched an offensive in northeastern Syria on October 9 in a declared attempt to eliminate Kurdish militants from the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG) from border areas. Iran News quotes the report of PressTV.

The incursion came after the US abruptly pulled its forces out of the region, clearing the path for Ankara to go ahead with a planned military action against Washington’s longtime Kurdish allies.

Nine days into the operation, Turkey agreed on October 17 to pause the offensive for 120 hours while the US facilitates the withdrawal of Kurdish militants from a planned 120-kilometer (75-mile) safe zone between the Syrian border towns of Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn.

Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

Erdogan is scheduled to discuss the implementation of the agreement with Trump in Washington on November 13. The meeting would go ahead following a phone call between the two leaders.

“While we hold these talks, those who promised us that the YPG…would withdraw from here within 120 hours have not achieved this,” he said while speaking at a news conference on Thursday.

Hours before the US-brokered five-day truce between Turkish and Kurdish-led forces was due to expire, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart signed a memorandum of understanding that asserted YPG militants must withdraw from the Turkish-controlled “safe zone” in northeastern Syria within 150 hours.

Erdogan said the Russian-brokered Syria deal had also not been fulfilled, with Kurdish militants still in the 30-kilometers border strip, adding that he would hold talks with Putin soon on the issue.

Erdogan’s visit to Washington comes amid heightened tensions between the two NATO allies following Turkey’s offensive into northern Syria and Congress’s decision to recognize the Armenian genocide committed by Ottoman forces a century ago.

Turkey has also been suspended from the F-35 US fighter jet program after it acquired Russia’s S-400 missile defense system despite numerous US warnings.

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Joint patrols of Russia-Turkey starts in northern Syria

reporter 1222 — Sat, 02 Nov 2019 10:01:51 +0000

Joint patrols of Russia-Turkey started in northern Syria Friday to verify whether Kurdish forces have withdrawn from a key border zone in compliance with a deal reached between Ankara and Moscow. Iran News quotes AFP story.

It follows an agreement they signed in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week which gave Kurdish forces 150 hours to withdraw from a band of territory along Syria’s border with Turkey, in a process that Russia said was now complete.

The patrols add to the complicated mix of forces operating along the frontier, including US troops who inspected an eastern section on Thursday for the first time since US President Donald Trump said last month his country was withdrawing.

Joint patrols of Russia-Turkey began on Friday near the border town of Derbasiyeh — from which Kurdish fighters have already pulled out — and lasted around four hours, an AFP correspondent on the Turkish side of the border reported.

The soldiers had headed to the east of Derbasiyeh in a convoy of Turkish and Russian military vehicles to patrol a strip of territory several dozen kilometers long, according to Turkish military sources.

The Russian army said in a statement that the convoy consisted of nine vehicles, protected by an armoured personnel carrier, covering more than 110 kilometers (68 miles).

Turkey intends to set up a “safe zone” 30 kilometers deep, in which some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is hosting could be resettled.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he would “consider the proposal”, stressing the need for the “voluntary, safe and dignified” return of refugees, during a visit to Istanbul on Friday where he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

– Temporary deal –

Last week’s Sochi agreement between Ankara and Moscow halted a Turkish operation launched against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria on October 9, which left hundreds dead and prompted tens of thousands to flee their homes.

Under the deal, Turkey is to assume control over one 120 kilometer (75 mile) wide section in the center of the border, while Syrian government forces are to deploy to the east and west.

Along the whole length of the border, a 10-kilometer deep buffer zone is to be created on the Syrian side which will be jointly patrolled by Russian and Turkish troops.

The Kurds spearheaded a US-backed military campaign against the Islamic State group that deprived the jihadists’ of their final sliver of Syrian territory in March this year but Ankara views the Kurdish forces as “terrorists”.

Abandoned by their ally Washington — which early last month pulled its own troops back from the border area, effectively allowing Turkey to attack — the Kurds turned to Damascus which swiftly deployed its forces, reclaiming swathes of territory it lost as long ago as 2012.

President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday the Sochi agreement was “temporary,” and will eventually pave the way for his government to retake Syria’s northeast.

UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen on Friday voiced hope over talks in Geneva between the Syrian government, opposition and civil society.

Pedersen said he was “very impressed” that the sides were meeting at all to discuss amending the country’s constitution ahead of possible elections as part of a UN peace plan.

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Damascus take control over Regions at Syrian-Turkish Border

reporter 1222 — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 08:12:22 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News)- The Syrian Army deployed a number of its troops in the Northern countryside of Hasaka province as part of its plan to counter Ankara aggression and defend the locals, further strengthening its military positions along the Syrian-Turkish Border.

The Syrian government continued to deploy its forces to the Syrian-Turkish border after Kurdish militias had retreated from the areas. The 90-kilometer deployment area straddles the Northeastern town of Ras al-Ein and Qamishli.

Army units which started to deploy to the area of Tel Tamar in Hasaka Northwestern countryside have entered the villages and towns of Doudan, Qasir Sharak, Hasda Fouqani, Amouda, al-Jawharyia, Tal Hamdoun, Kharaza Fouqani, al-Dar, Abu Jarada, al-Qarmanyia, Karbashik, al-Salam Aleik, Rabet Haj Ibrahim, al-Arrada, Laboua, Faqira, al-Ibrahimiya, Msheirfet Asaad, Bab al-Faraj and al-Shukryia.

Kurdish militants started to withdraw on Sunday from the borderline. Damascus welcomes the withdrawal of the Kurds in Syria’s Northwestern regions to a depth of 30 kilometers from the Turkish border as part of a Russia-Turkey deal, saying the pullout rids Ankara of the pretext to keep up its acts of aggression against the Arab country.

Government forces have deployed several units to the Turkish border during the past week, and promised to reinforce their troops in the next few days.

Hours before a deadline for their removal expires on Tuesday, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar claimed that Kurdish forces have still not fully withdrawn from a strip of land in Northeast Syria from which Ankara says they must leave.

The Kurds had struck an agreement with the Syrian government in a move to be shielded against the Turkish onslaught. The agreement envisages the dispatch of Syrian government troops to the Kurdish-held territories to receive control and block the incursion of the Turkish Army and its allied militants. The Kurdish militias have already delivered control over a number of towns and villages to the Damascus army, including Manbij, Raqqa, and Ein Al-Arab (Kobani).

Last Tuesday, Russian and Turkish Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed after lengthy talks that Russian military police and Syrian servicemen will be deployed to Northeastern Syria, while Turkey’s operation ‘Peace Spring’ will continue in a limited area. Regions not affected by the Turkish military operation, will be jointly patrolled by the Turkish military and Russian military police up to 10km deep into Syrian territory.

Other parts of the Syrian border – from Kobani to Tel Abyad and from Ras al-Ein to the Iraqi border – are set to be controlled by the Syrian military and border guards, supported by Russian military police. Kurdish militias – the prime target of Ankara military operation – must withdraw into Syrian territory beyond 30km from the Turkish border.

Middle East experts believe that Russian-Turkish deal on security arrangements in Northeastern Syria is a major win for Moscow’s diplomatic approach, but Washington was hardly crushed by it.

Damascus has repeatedly reiterated that any foreign troops in Syria is regarded as an occupying force and the Syrian government has the right to take all the needed measures to confront it. The government of President Bashar al-Assad has for several times stressed that “every inch” of the Syrian territory will be liberated from terrorists.

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Turkey’s security concerns takes Talks with Syria

reporter 1222 — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 11:27:35 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Veteran Turkish politician says President Recep Tayyab Erdogan should hold direct talks with the Syrian government if he wants to resolve Turkey’s security concerns permanently.

“We must ask ourselves that why Turkey is talking with the US and Russia [over the north Syria developments], but not with the Syrian government?” Dr. Osman Faruk Logoglu, a senior member of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), said in an interview with BBC on Wednesday.

He pointed to Turkey’s emphasis on its commitment to “Syria’s independence and territorial integrity”, saying, “Syria is our neighbor and we should directly talk to them” to resolve the issues.

Logoglu noted that regional peace and security will be more beneficial to Turkey than Russia and the US.

Therefore, he added, Ankara should start talks with the Syrian government because other agreements, like the Turkey-Russia deal, will not resolve the security issues permanently and will only lead to renewing the truce.

He was referring to an agreement between Russia and Turkey that was implemented on Wednesday to ensure Kurdish forces withdraw from areas close to Syria’s border with Turkey and to launch joint patrols.

Turkey’s security concerns led to moving into northern Syria on October 9 after the US President, Donald Trump, pulled American troops out of the area.

Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes, amid growing international criticism of the attack.

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Kurd militants withdrawing from Ras al-Ayn; Turkey says

reporter 1222 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 09:12:40 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Turkey says Kurdish militants are withdrawing from the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn according to an agreement brokered with the United States, days after the Turkish army launched a cross-border offensive into northeastern Syria.

“A convoy of approximately 55 vehicles entered Ras al-Ayn and a convoy of 86 vehicles departed in the direction of Tal Tamr,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday, also releasing what it said were pictures of the evacuation in civilian vehicles.

Turkish military forces and militants of the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA), who enjoy Ankara’s patronage, on October 9 launched a cross-border invasion of northeast Syria in a declared attempt to clear Kurdish militants from the so-called People’s Protection Units (YPG) from border areas, Presstv Reported.

The Syrian government has condemned the offensive as an act of aggression.

On Thursday, and after talks with US Vice President Mike Pence in Ankara, Turkey agreed to halt its Syria offensive for five days to allow the YPG militants to pull out of the border area. The Turkish government says it will end the operation altogether provided that the militants are completely cleared from the zone.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also threatened to resume the offensive if the militants fail to pull out.

“There are absolutely no impediments to the withdrawal” of Kurdish militants and “the activities of exiting and evacuation from the region are firmly coordinated with the US counterparts,” further said Turkey’s Defense Ministry.

Separately, a Turkish soldier was killed earlier on Sunday in an attack by Kurdish militants in the Tal Abyad border area, the ministry added.

Turkey and the Kurdish militants have also accused each other of violating the newly-reached agreement.

Ankara accuses the Kurdish militants of conducting 22 attacks since the deal. The Defense Ministry said close coordination was underway with US military officials on the issue.

Ankara says it abides by the ceasefire agreement, urging the US to use its leverage to ensure the YPG militants’ pullout.

“Since we reached this agreement with the American delegation, we have been committed to this deal. Our president has ordered our troops to maintain their positions and not engage with anybody,” said Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin in an interview with AFP.

Meanwhile, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said on Sunday that the YPG militants had completely pulled out of Ras al-Ayn.

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Erdogan to talk about Syria Deployment in ‘Safe Zone’

reporter 1222 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 05:33:29 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss the deployment of Syrian forces in a planned “safe zone” in northern Syria during talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin next week.

Turkey agreed with the United States on Thursday to pause its military offensive in northeastern Syria for five days while Kurdish fighters withdrew from a “safe zone”.

Erdogan will visit Sochi for emergency talks with Putin on what steps to take next about Syria deployment, according to Reuters.

Speaking at an opening ceremony in the central Turkish province of Kayseri, Erdogan also said Turkey would “crush the heads” of Kurdish militants in northern Syria if they did not withdraw from the area during the 120-hour period.

In an interview with broadcaster Kanal 7 on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey did not want to see a single Kurdish militant left in the planned “safe zone” in northern Syria at the end of a fragile ceasefire in the region.

He said Ankara expected YPG Kurdish militants to be removed from areas where the Syrian government has recently been deployed.

He also said Turkey and Russia will exchange views on the removal of the YPG militants from the northern Syrian cities of Manbij and Ayn al-Arab, also called Kobani, during talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi next week.

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Turkey’s Syria incursion displaces over 300,000

reporter 1222 — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 11:58:20 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria has displaced over 300,000 people, a report says.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that the rise in the number of people forced to flee was due to a fresh wave of displacement over the past few days from areas around Tal Abyad and Kobane and in Hasakeh province. Turkey’s Syria incursion is the main cause of the displacement.

He said that most displaced people tried to move in with relatives in safer areas, some were sleeping rough in orchards and others in some of the 40 schools that have been turned into emergency shelters.

On Thursday, the ninth day of the onslaught, Turkish forces heavily pounded areas in the border town of Ras al-Ayn. The UK-based group also said that Turkish forces had taken control of half of the Kurdish town.

“There have been intensive airstrikes on Ras al-Ain over the past three days,” Abdel Rahman said.

In the meantime, Syrian government forces are expanding their presence in the northern cities to prevent the Turkish army from gaining ground. The troops have entered several cities and towns which used to be under the control of the Kurds, sending a wave of delight across the region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that Germany would not deliver any weapons to Turkey under current circumstances, adding that she had urged Turkey several times to end its military offensive in northern Syria.

“In recent days I have strongly urged Turkey … to end its military operation against the Kurdish military and I’m stressing that again now,” Merkel told Germany’s lower house of parliament.

“It’s a humanitarian drama with huge geopolitical effects so Germany will not deliver any weapons to Erdogan under Turkey’s Syria incursion,” she added.

Meanwhile, Turkish Defense Ministry said Thursday that more than 673 members of the Kurdish militants were killed during the Turkish offensive in northern Syria.

“During the military operation (spring of peace) in northern Syria, the Turkish army killed more than 673 elements of terrorist militants belonging to different Kurdish organizations,” the ministry said in a statement.

On October 9, Turkish military forces and Ankara-backed militants launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion of northeast Syria in a declared attempt to push Kurdish militants from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would never sit at the negotiating table with Kurdish militants in Syria, emphasizing that Ankara’s military operation in the Arab country’s north would come to an end only when the Kurds leave the region and a “safe zone” is established there.

Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984. The YPG constitutes the backbone of the SDF.

The developments led the Kurds to reach out to the Damascus government for support, reaching an agreement with Syrian troops to enter towns near the border with Turkey.

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