Kurds

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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 »

Screws tighten on Gray Wolves, Erdogan’s European guard – Al Monitor

By ::· Analyses, Austria, Conflicts - Fronts, Cyprus, Europe, France, Germany, Greece, News, Security, Turkey, United Kingdom ::· November 14, 2020

Indeed, there is no organization officially registered as the Gray Wolves, which has led many to play down the French ban as posturing. This, however, does not preclude judicial action against the Gray Wolves, based on symbols and signs. Darmanin conceded that the Gray Wolves were not a formal association but insisted they formed groups that meet regularly, are connected to each other and act as an organized body.

In Turkey, the Gray Wolves are organized as the youth branches of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), called the Idealist Hearths. The MHP has been a staunch political ally of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in recent years. Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, is perhaps the most notorious of the Gray Wolves internationally. The movement has various avatars in Europe, such as the umbrella group called the Federation of Democratic Idealist Turkish Associations in France. Its members are active mostly in Lyon, Dijon, Strasbourg and Grenoble. 

Christian Communities in Northeast Syria Are the Target of a Turkish Attack for the First Time in Over a Century – The National Interest

By ::· Conflicts - Fronts, News, Syria ::· October 12, 2020

Turkey plans to use the Syrian National Army, an alliance of Islamist rebels, for its operations in Northern Syria. Church bells rang out across the plains of northeast Syria, warning villagers to seek shelter from incoming air raids. It was the first time in a century that the Christian communities in the region were forced …

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Defying the World, Turkey Launches a War Against a U.S. Ally in Syria – The New Yorker

By ::· Conflicts - Fronts, News, Syria, Turkey, United States ::· October 29, 2020

In what may have been the first declaration of hostilities on Twitter, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced that Turkey, a nato ally, had launched an invasion of Syria, to clear out a Kurdish-led militia that controls about a third of the country. The militia, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, has been allied with the United States for the past five years in the war against isis. Both sides have been equipped by the United States, albeit in vastly different ways.

Erdoğan dubbed the invasion Operation Peace Spring. It is anything but. Panic swept across northern Syria as Turkey’s warplanes pounded Kurdish towns and artillery fired across the border, in order to—in ironic military jargon—“soften up” the terrain for a ground offensive. The S.D.F. posted videos on social media of the aftermath, showing fires, destruction, and bodies on the ground.

Germany tells Erdogan′s bodyguards to stay away from Hamburg G20 – Deutsche Welle

By ::· Germany, Modern Barbarian Acts, News, Turkey ::· December 22, 2020

The German Foreign Ministry warned Turkish bodyguards involved in violent scuffles in Washington last month not to attend the G20 summit in July, German media reported on Sunday. Those warnings were then repeated to Bundestag members in closed-door meetings, respected national daily Die Welt reported. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said earlier that foreign powers did …

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