Special to WorldTribune.com President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will not cease its attacks on Kurdish forces even though the Kurds have been the only consistently effective ground force against common foe Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Erdogan on Feb. 17 said Turkey would continue shelling Kurdish targets in Syria to prevent the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Turkey’s military carried out attacks on Kurdish and Syrian regime targets in Aleppo province on Feb. 13, reports said. Turkish forces shelled Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) targets near the town of Azaz, and also responded to fire from Syrian regime forces on a military guard post in Turkey’s southern Hatay […]
Special to WorldTribune.com A group of academics who criticized Turkish military action against Kurds in the country’s southeast were briefly detained by Turkish security forces. The 27 academics were part of a group of 1,000 signatories of a published document critical of the military campaign against Kurdish PKK forces. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Turkey needs to focus its military attacks more on Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) instead of Kurdish opposition forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said. “We need it to do more within its own territory, so it controls its border, which it has not done effectively since ISIL first arose,” […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Turkey’s military has intensified its attacks on Kurdish forces in both Syria and Iraq. Ankara’s forces have recently attacked People’s Protection Units (YPG) positions in northern Syria and launched air strikes on Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq. Experts say the recent landslide election victory has emboldened President Recep Tayyip […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Turkey sent ground troops into northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels suspected of a bomb attack that killed 16 Turkish soldiers on Sept. 6. Tensions have increased in Turkey following the failure of Islamist President Recep Erdogan’s AKP party to increase his power in the June elections in which the Kurdish minority […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The United States and Turkey are set to engage in “comprehensive” air operations against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Reuters on Aug. 24 that the air campaign will target ISIL in a zone in northern Syria bordering Turkey. Arab allies including Saudi Arabia, Qatar […]
Special to WorldTribune.com An official with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered attacks on the PKK to prevent the Kurds’ advances against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL). “The Turkish claim they are fighting Islamic State… but in fact they are fighting the PKK,” Cemil Bayik […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs By whatever name, the unilaterally-imposed no-fly zone over an area of Syria, proposed by the U.S. and Turkey on July 27, is not an element of a supposed entry by Turkey into the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (asad-Dawlah […]
Special to WorldTribune.com The war on terrorism in Iraq and Syria is in danger of spreading to Turkey which could have explosive consequences. Turkey is beginning to feel the heat from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Syria after months of reports it was effectively enabling ISIL in order to thwart insurgent […]