Erdogan: Will Turkey stop shelling anti-ISIL Kurdish forces in Syria? No way

Erdogan: Will Turkey stop shelling anti-ISIL Kurdish forces in Syria? No way

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 […]

Turkish military strikes Syrian regime targets near Aleppo

Turkish military strikes Syrian regime targets near Aleppo

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 […]

Turkey arrests academics critical of Kurdish policy, condemns others including Chomsky

Turkey arrests academics critical of Kurdish policy, condemns others including Chomsky

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 […]

Ashton Carter: Turkey should do more against ISIL

Ashton Carter: Turkey should do more against ISIL

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,” […]

Victorious Erdogan regime in Turkey steps up attacks on Kurdish forces fighting ISIL

Victorious Erdogan regime in Turkey steps up attacks on Kurdish forces fighting ISIL

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 […]

Political motive seen as Turkey renews offensive against Kurdish forces

Political motive seen as Turkey renews offensive against Kurdish forces

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 […]

United States, Turkey complete plans for ‘comprehensive’ offensive against ISIL

United States, Turkey complete plans for ‘comprehensive’ offensive against ISIL

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 […]

Kurdish leader: Turkey’s Erdogan ‘is protecting ISIL’, using safe zone to ‘stop the Kurds’

Kurdish leader: Turkey’s Erdogan ‘is protecting ISIL’, using safe zone to ‘stop the Kurds’

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 […]

Turkey wins U.S. re-engagement against Syria in potentially fatal blow to Iran rapproachement

Turkey wins U.S. re-engagement against Syria in potentially fatal blow to Iran rapproachement

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 […]

Turkey enters the war on terror with air strikes targeting both ISIL in Syria and Kurds in Iraq

Turkey enters the war on terror with air strikes targeting both ISIL in Syria and Kurds in Iraq

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 […]