Iraq
Syria: a No-Fly Zone for Rojava?
Following Turkish air-strikes on their forces in northern Syria, Kurdish leaders in the region issued a call for a "no-fly zone"—heightening the contradictions for Washington.
Tag: Turkey
Greater Middle East
Turkey: thousands more fall to post-coup purge
Turkish authorities purged a further 3,900 people from the civil service and military on suspicion of "terrorism" ties, pursuant to a sweeping new national security law.
Iraq
Iraq: Turkish air-strikes heighten contradictions
Turkish air-strikes on Kurdish militants both in Iraq and Syria place the US in an increasingly contradictory position—torn between its NATO ally and the most effective anti-ISIS forces.
Syria
Syria: Russia and Assad dropping Rojava Kurds?
Insistence on regional autonomy and a federal solution for Syria is straining the de facto alliance between the Rojava Kurds and Damascus, despite their mutual enmity for Turkey.
Syria
Hawks fear anarchist haven in Syria
The ultra-hawkish Henry Jackson Society warns that the US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria are allied with anarchists and elements of the Turkish and European armed left.
Greater Middle East
Advance for autocracy in Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's referendum granting himself sweeping powers took place in an atmosphere of terror, with opposition leaders silenced and detained.
Syria
Syria: gas attacks, air-strikes and hypocrisy
Trump, whose own air-strikes have killed hundreds, decides he must bomb an Assad air-base to retaliate for a gas attack—while the “anti-war” left is undisturbed by the gas attack.
Syria
Syria: carnage and betrayal in Raqqa endgame
The US air-lifts Kurdish fighters into ISIS territory in preparation for a final assault on Raqqa—while bombing the city, deepening the growing enmity between Kurds and Arabs.
Greater Middle East
Russia to establish base in Syrian Kurdistan
The Kurdish YPG militia says it has agreed to establishment of a Russian military base in its territory, although Moscow calls it a "reconciliation center."
Europe
Fascist pseudo-anti-fascism in Dutch-Turkish tiff
Turkey's aspiring dictator Erdogan (carrying out his own ethnic cleansing against the Kurds) exploits the Srebrenica genocide in vulgar manner and calls the Dutch "Nazis."
Iraq
US prepares ground troops for Syria
The Pentagon is dispatching some 2,500 combat troops to back up forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as the US-led anti-ISIS coalition continues to fracture.
Syria
Kurdish forces hand over villages to Assad regime?
Amid shifting alliances in the scramble for northern Syria, Kurdish-led forces are accused of handing over territory to the Assad regime, in a deal brokered by Russia.