Syria

Turkey’s military build-up | Forces send in more military and logistical reinforcement to their posts in “de-escalation zone” – The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

By ::· Conflicts - Fronts, News, Syria, Turkey ::· January 3, 2021

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has monitored this morning the entry of a new military column of Turkish forces via Kafr Losin crossing, north of Idlib. The column consists of 12 armoured vehicles. The column headed towards Turkish posts in southern rural Idlib. The number of military vehicles entered Syrian territory since the start …

Turkey’s military build-up | Forces send in more military and logistical reinforcement to their posts in “de-escalation zone” – The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights Read More »

How Turkey became a hub for Arab Spring exiles – The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

By ::· Arab world, News, Secularism/Islam, Syria, Turkey ::· December 28, 2020

Turkey is home to four million refugees – mostly Syrians – along with Arab activists, journalists and political figures. As a charismatic revolutionary from a scrappy Cairo neighbourhood, Ahmed Hassan was one of the stars of Jehane Noujaim’s 2013 documentary The Square, which followed a group of Egyptian activists as they toppled longtime ruler Hosni …

How Turkey became a hub for Arab Spring exiles – The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights Read More »

The Turkish Offensive Against the Syrian Kurds – the Lost War of the West in Syria – Institut Montaigne

By ::· Analyses, Iran, News, Russia, Syria, Turkey, United States ::· December 25, 2020

Before the Turkish offensive in Northeast Syria on 9 October 2019, the United States and its allies had already undoubtedly suffered a series of defeats in Syria: the man they had seek to remove, Bashar al-Assad, was still in place; the countless crimes perpetrated by his regime and supporters had gone unpunished; declared opponents of the …

The Turkish Offensive Against the Syrian Kurds – the Lost War of the West in Syria – Institut Montaigne Read More »

Thanks to Erdogan, Turkey hasn’t been this isolated for 50 years – Haaretz.com

By ::· Iran, News, Syria, Turkey, United States ::· December 21, 2020

Not since Turkey’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus has Ankara been so internationally isolated.  Last week, Washington slapped Turkey, a fellow member of NATO, with CAATSA sanctions for purchasing, receiving and testing Russian S400 missile defense batteries. Meanwhile, the EU hit Ankara with moderate sanctions of its own, a move akin to a final written warning before more hard-hitting measures are taken.   The …

Thanks to Erdogan, Turkey hasn’t been this isolated for 50 years – Haaretz.com Read More »

Former Obama defense secretary urges Biden to step up U.S. pressure on Erdogan – Haaretz.com

By ::· Cyprus, Greece, Libya, News, Syria, Turkey, United States ::· December 20, 2020

Robert Gates writes in New York Times that Turkey, a fellow NATO member, must also be held to account for its actions in Libya and Syria. WASHINGTON – Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the incoming Biden administration to take a tougher stance with Turkey, suggesting further punitive steps could be taken against its …

Former Obama defense secretary urges Biden to step up U.S. pressure on Erdogan – Haaretz.com Read More »

Turkey is on the verge of an explosion – American Enterprise Institute

By ::· Caucasus, News, Syria, Turkey ::· November 21, 2020

It has now been 18 years since Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party shocked Turkey’s secular establishment and swept to power. That Islamists won a supermajority in Turkey’s parliament reflected less the religious orientation of Turkey’s electorate at the time and more Turks’ disgust at both establishment corruption and incumbent politicians’ financial mismanagement. Over …

Turkey is on the verge of an explosion – American Enterprise Institute Read More »

Arab States Against Turkey – Polish Institute of International Affairs

By ::· Analyses, Arab world, Caucasus, Egypt, Europe, Iran, Israel, Libya, News, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Yemen ::· November 16, 2020

In September, Egypt called on Arab states to create common, assertive policy against Turkey. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Morocco began to boycott Turkish imports. These moves stem from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly interventionist policy towards Arab states and the Mediterranean region. The escalating dispute puts the EU in …

Arab States Against Turkey – Polish Institute of International Affairs Read More »

Turkish troops withdraw from second military base in northwestern Syria – The Globe and Mail

By ::· Conflicts - Fronts, News, Russia, Syria, Turkey ::· November 10, 2020

Turkish troops in northwestern Syria have pulled out of a second military base in the area that had been surrounded by Syrian government forces, media activists said Tuesday. The pullout from the observation post in Sher Mogher in northern Hama region comes nearly a month after the evacuation of Turkey’s largest military base in the …

Turkish troops withdraw from second military base in northwestern Syria – The Globe and Mail Read More »

Leaving no one out of the picture: Supporting jobs and skills in Turkey – World Bank

By ::· Economy, Europe, News, Syria, Turkey ::· November 10, 2020

The 45.45 million Euro project is financed by the European Union under the framework of the EU Facility for Refugees in Turkey. The project is implemented by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services of the Republic of Turkey and Turkish Employment Agency. The World Bank provides project implementation support to these public institutions which take a lead in increasing qualified employment and contribute substantially to shaping of the labor market policies in Turkey.

 
 
 
 

The Problem with Turkey’s Proxy Militias Isn’t Just Military – The National Interest

By ::· Caucasus, Conflicts - Fronts, Libya, News, Security, Syria, Turkey ::· November 9, 2020

[…] Whereas Turkish diplomats once claimed they were an ally in the fight against the Islamic State, the Turkish military and intelligence service has increasingly employed Islamic State veterans to further Turkey’s interests across the region. 

The Rojava Information Center, which operates out of Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria, for example, has identified several dozen Islamic State veterans now working with Turkish-backed forces. These militias have engaged in ethnic cleansing, kidnapped women and girls, and otherwise sought to upset and change the social order. As they displace local Kurds and settle Arabs from elsewhere in Syria, they set the stage for decades of conflict and instability. 

From Refugee to Mercenary: Syrians at a Crossroad – McGill Journal of Political Studies

By ::· News, Russia, Syria, Turkey ::· November 9, 2020

Russia and Turkey are using refugees and Syrian fighters in Azerbaijan and Libya mainly to limit their political exposure. As McGill Professor of Political Science Rex J. Brynen explained, using Syrian refugees is cheaper and limits the risks of domestic and international reprisal. Syrian bodies are seen as dispensable compared to Azeris. Russia is using the same strategy with the Wagner Group in training and advising the LNA and Syrians in Libya. Additionally, as Brynen explained, the Group is making money out of this operation while giving cover to the government since it is not directly involved in the conflict. 

While America counts its votes, Erdogan advances his agenda – Al Monitor

By ::· Arab world, Conflicts - Fronts, Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean, France, Greece, Libya, News, Russia, Syria, Turkey, United States ::· November 14, 2020

Erdogan has launched Turkey on an increasingly assertive and independent regional posture. Unlike Americans on the right and left, the concept of “endless wars” doesn’t register for him. And despite being a member of NATO, and a onetime aspirant for European Union membership, Erdogan seems to relish accusing Europe, and especially France, of mistreating Muslims, with pointed back-and-forths threatening boycotts and sanctions.

The next US administration may have come to come to terms with a Turkey that is less of an ally and more a self-interested occasional partner — and one that pursues its own agenda at the center of increasingly complex and conflict-prone relations in the Caucuses, the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean.