Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday his government is ‘seriously saddened’ by television footage showing US military forces operating alongside Syrian Kurdish fighters that Ankara views as terrorists and Washington believes are the most effective fighting force against Islamic State jihadists. Turkish forces last week launched airstrikes on Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), … Read more
Turkish warplanes killed more than 20 Kurdish fighters Tuesday in strikes in Syria and Iraq, where the Kurds are key players in the battle against the Islamic State group. The deadliest bombardment was on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are leading the US-backed fight for the important IS-held town of Tabqa in northern … Read more
Laughter rings out and there is an atmosphere of excitement and joyful chaos. Children are perched on stilts, others spin plates or happily perform aerial dances. This is not a big top circus in a major city but a house in southeastern Turkey, where Syrian refugee children learn circus tricks in an innovative programme to … Read more
The United States has been fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria since 2014, so has amassed a huge military presence and an array of capabilities in the region. If President Donald Trump decides to launch strikes against Syrian regime targets in response to Tuesday’s suspected chemical attack, the Pentagon has many ways … Read more
The infamy of the crimes against humanity carried out by Islamic State is legendary, but the still untold story is how Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan deliberately turned a blind eye to the Islamic State’s use of his nation as a staging ground for attacks, and how he and his family pro ted from il- … Read more
Iraqi special forces battled the Islamic State group on Friday in west Mosul, where a commander said jihadist resistance is showing signs of weakening under repeated assaults. The jihadists are also facing simultaneous offensives in Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, piling more pressure on IS. … Read more
The Turkish military has said that three of its soldiers have been killed and 10 more wounded in Syria by an air strike allegedly launched by Syrian government forces. A statement from the Turkish armed forces on its website said that the attack occurred at 3:30am local time [00:30 GMT] on Thursday. “In the air … Read more
Turkey’s state-run news agency says an official has died of wounds sustained in an attack on a government building in southeastern Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said Fatih Safiturk, the district governor of the town of Derik, died in a hospital on Friday. Safiturk and two others were wounded on Thursday when assailants attacked his office, … Read more
Turkey has removed 24 mayors accused of links to Kurdish separatist fighters, replacing them with state-appointed trustees in a major shake-up under emergency powers enacted after a failed coup attempt. The mayors were suspended from their posts over the past month on suspicion of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group that has … Read more