More Turkish Forces Enter Syria in push against ISIS & Kurdish Militia

[AlphaMonster 1,806]

Turkish tanks entered northern Syria on Thursday as part of an operation aimed at driving Islamic State out of the border area around Jarablus and stopping Kurdish militia fighters from seizing territory, Reuters witnesses said.

A senior Turkish official said there were now more than 20 Turkish tanks inside Syria and that additional tanks and construction machinery would be sent in as required.

"We need construction machinery to open up roads ... and we may need more in the days ahead. We also have armored personnel carriers that could be used on the Syrian side. We may put them into service as needed," the official said.

The deployments are part of "Operation Euphrates Shield", in which Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces, tanks and warplanes on Wednesday entered Jarablus, one of Islamic State's last strongholds on the Turkish-Syrian border. It is Turkey's first major U.S.-backed incursion into its southern neighbor.

The sound of gunfire, audible from a hill on the Turkish side of the border overlooking Jarablus, rang out early on Thursday and a plume of black smoke rose over the town.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Islamic State had been driven out of the town and it was now controlled by the Syrian rebels, who are largely Arab and Turkmen. He said the operation was targeting both Islamic State and the Kurdish YPG militia, whose gains in northern Syria have alarmed Turkey.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday that YPG fighters were retreating to the east of the Euphrates river, a red line for Turkey, foreign ministry sources in Ankara said.

In a telephone call, the two emphasized that the fight against Islamic State in both Syria and Iraq would continue together, the sources said.

Speaking during a visit on Wednesday to Turkey, a key NATO ally with the alliance's second-biggest armed forces, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also tried to soothe Turkish concerns about Kurdish territorial gains in Syria.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-turkey-idUSKCN10Z07J?il=0

 

 

[TiphEret 1,320]

How convenient for Erdogan that it also targets the Kurdish fighters as well... 

[AlphaMonster 1,806]

On 28.08.2016 at 4:50 PM, TiphEret said:

How convenient for Erdogan that it also targets the Kurdish fighters as well... 

It is no secret. Turkey explicitly states that operation is against ISIS and YPG. 

YPG / PKK / PYD / TAK they are all same organizations... An example of their ways of "fighting" : http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-bursa-claim-idUSKCN0XS1F9

What is the difference between ISIS and these organizations ? Both organizations kill civilians with suicide bombings and sorts, and both claim to have some "goals". 

[TiphEret 1,320]

1 hour ago, AlphaMonster said:

It is no secret. Turkey explicitly states that operation is against ISIS and YPG. 

YPG / PKK / PYD / TAK they are all same organizations... An example of their ways of "fighting" : http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-blast-bursa-claim-idUSKCN0XS1F9

What is the difference between ISIS and these organizations ? Both organizations kill civilians with suicide bombings and sorts, and both claim to have some "goals". 

You can't deny the advantage of having Kurdish fighting against ISIS and that's actually why the US is backing them up but I think they don't care about the demands of Kurds anyway. The Kurds in Iraq pretty much reached autonomy in their area and they aren't considered a threat by the West... again is it because they can be used? Regarding the PKK you told me about it, the means sucks but when you see what Erdogan is doing it's only going to get worse and it's not like those organization are in areas free of conflicts they have to be involved.