'Buckle up': Abrupt Syria policy shift is sign of Trump unchained
Over the span of just a few hours, U.S. President Donald Trump upended his own policy on Syria with a chaotic series of pronouncements,
blindsiding foreign allies, catching senior Republican supporters off guard and sending aides scrambling to control the damage.
Turkey says it's ready for Syria push, Kurds signal Damascus talks
Turkey said on Tuesday it was all set to launch a military push into northeast Syria after the United States began pulling back troops, opening the way for a Turkish attack on Kurdish-led forces long allied to Washington.
Trump defends U.S. relations with Turkey after bipartisan backlash
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to defend Washington's relationship with Turkey after a bipartisan backlash over his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria.
We weren't warned about U.S. plan to pull troops from Syria northeast: Kremlin
Russia was not informed in advance by the United States or by Turkey about U.S. plans to pull troops back from Syria's northeast border region ahead of a Turkish military operation, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
UK tells Turkey unilateral military action must be avoided
Britain warned Turkey on Tuesday against taking unilateral military action in Syria, after the United States began pulling back troops from the border there.
UK deeply concerned about Turkish plans for Syria military action: PM's spokesman
Britain is deeply concerned that Turkey plans to launch a military campaign in northern Syria, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Tuesday.
Iran opposes any Turkish military operation in Syria: Iran foreign ministry statement
Iran opposes any Turkish military operation in Syria, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
Syrian Kurdish official eyes possible talks with Damascus
The Kurdish-led authorities in northern Syria
may open talks with Damascus and Russia to fill a security vacuum in the event of a full withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Turkish border area, a Syrian Kurdish official said on Tuesday.
Russia, Turkey discuss northeast Syria amid tensions
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation in northeast Syria with his Turkish counterpart by phone on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said,
amid tensions over a possible Turkish military operation there.
NSC Official: US Sees Kurdish Nation Another Israel in Region
(NOW - the TRUTH comes out! Kurdish militias = Israel proxies!)
The US should never stop support for Kurdish militias in the Middle East as a Kurdish nation across Syria, Iraq and Turkey would be "another Israel in the region", a National Security Council official stated after President Donald Trump gave a green light to Ankara to launch a military operation against Washington's long-time Kurdish allies in Northern Syria
"To be honest with you, it would be better for the United States to support a Kurdish nation across Turkey, Syria and Iraq," the unnamed National Security Council official told Newsweek, adding, "It would be another Israel in the region."
In a scheduled phone call on Sunday afternoon between Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the US leader claimed that he would withdraw American forces from Northern Syria.
Commenting on his decision to pull American troops deployed in Northeastern Syria back from an imminent anti-Kurdish incursion of the Turkish military,
Trump noted on Monday, "It’s time for the US to “get out of ridiculous endless wars”.
“The Kurds fought with us, but were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so. They have been fighting Turkey for decades. I held off this fight for almost 3 years, but it is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars, many of them tribal, and bring our soldiers home,” he stressed.
The announcement triggered howls of fury from hawks in Congress and the media, as well as experts in Middle Eastern politic.
The official also denounced the move as stabbing Kurds in the back, saying, "We are telling the world, we will use you and then throw you away. It's not like they don't have a television in Asia, in Africa, and South America."
According to the NSC official, who had first-hand knowledge of the phone call,
Trump did not endorse any Turkish military operation against Kurdish Forces, but also did not threaten economic sanctions during the phone call if Turkey decided to undertake offensive operations.
Turkish military struck Syria-Iraq border to cut supply lines: officials
The Turkish military carried out strikes targeting the Syrian-Iraqi border overnight to prevent Kurdish forces using the route to reinforce northeast Syria, as Ankara prepares to launch an offensive there, two Turkish officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
Turkish VP Says Ankara Can't Be Controlled with Threats
Turkey has the determination and power to execute its own plans when it comes to national security and can't be controlled with threats, Vice President Fuat Oktay stated on Tuesday.
"Turkey will not accept the creation of a terror corridor or a terror state right next to its borders under no circumstances, whatever the cost," Oktay said at a university ceremony, according to Daily Sabah.
Syrian Kurds Astonished to See Hassan Nasrallah's Prediction Come True
The Kurdish forces were surprised after the US turned its back to them and declared decision to withdraw military men from Syria
as foreseen by Lebanese Hezbollah resistance group Leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah.
In a growing number of posts that imply the Kurdish militants' deep regret over their dependence on the US military support against a Turkish incursion, several social media accounts of the Kurdish rebels noted the US retreat from Northern and Northeastern Syria and acknowledged their fatal miscalculation to fully trust and gamble their fate on the US military backup.
In a speech on August 26, 2018, the Hezbollah leader had praised the Syrian Kurds for their vigilance and starting negotiations with the Syrian government, saying that the Kurds entered the talks after they were skeptical about United States’ loyalty and they were not sure when the US government would leave them.
“We know that Pentagon has set aside $500mn-$750mn under the name of protecting Kurds, the Kurdish People Protection Units (YPG). What is this share of the budget for? Is it for establishing democracy in Syria or it is for supporting the Kurds who must know from experience that the United States uses you as an instrument along with its own plans, attacks or in its war in Syria, be it against the Islamic Republic (of Iran), or against Russia, or against the Axis of Resistance,” Nasrallah said at the time.
He warned the Kurds that “they (the Americans) eventually will only think of their own interests and will leave you alone, and will sell you like slaves in the market”.
"This is the Hezbollah leader's correct assessment and predictions that come true," the social media accounts of the Kurdish fighters affiliated to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) admitted after the US decision to withdraw forces from Syria.
The unexpected announcement by President Trump that he would draw down the US military presence in Syria to make way for Turkish troops was greeted by the Kurds as a betrayal of the trust established during the fight, which has cost the lives of more than 12,000 members of the SDF.
For the Kurds, the decision to permit Turkey to invade marked the latest in a long history of betrayals of Kurdish aspirations by the US.
Turkish Army Kicks Off Attacks on Kurdish Militias’ Position in Northeastern Syria
The Turkish Army has started its attacks from air and ground on the military positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Northeastern Hasaka near the borders with Turkey, media reports said.
The Arabic-language website of the Russian Sputnik news agency reported that the Turkish fighter jets pounded a center of the Kurdish militias in Tal Tavil in the surrounding areas of the city of al-Malekieh in Northeastern Hasaka.
It noted that Turkish Army’s military attacks inflicted heavy losses on the Kurdish militias, and said that during an attack on the village of Khanikeh adjacent to the illegal passage of Kurdish forces known as Simalka which linked Syria’s Hasaka to Iraqi Kurdistan region, 80 percent of the passage’s two bridges were destroyed.
Meantime, it was reported that a military convoy carrying weapons and heavy military equipment from Iraq to the areas under the SDF’s control was destroyed.
The SDF has illegally and with the US help opened Simalka border crossing to construct a supply route from Iraqi Kurdistan’s region to Hasaka province in line with separating the Northeastern Syria from the rest of the country.
The Turkish airstrikes aimed at cutting this supply route is while the US has sent over 6,000 trucks packed with weapons and military equipment from this illegal border crossing for Kurdish militias.
Meantime, the Turkish Army’s artillery units pounded the town of al-Khademeh to East of al-Malekieh in Hasaka province and in Syria-Iraq-Turkey border triangle.
The local sources also reported that a military convoy comprising military and armored vehicles of the Turkish Army started moving towards Manbij in Northeastern Aleppo via Jarablus crossing as the Ankara-backed National Army terrorist group has declared a state of alert.
The Turkish Defense Ministry in a statement said that the Turkish Army is fully prepared for conducting military operations against the Kurdish militias.
Meantime, the Anadolu news agency reported that the US Department of Defense also said that
Turkey has been expelled from the Joint Aerial Operations Center in Syria and the intel on the monitoring and reconnaissance will no longer be shared with Ankara. Pentagon also in a statement announced that it will not support Turkey’s military operations in Northeastern Syria.
The US troops’ retreat from the Turkish borders is after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a statement announced that Turkish Army will soon start its military operations in Northern Syria as it has planned for it a long time ago.
Oct 08 2019
- Syria in Last 24 Hours: Russian Army Reinforces in Aleppo to Block Ankara’s Possible Attacks
The Russian Army has reinforced its troops in the city of Tal Rafat in Northern Aleppo to confront the imminent attack by the Turkish Army in Northern and Eastern Syria, the Arabic-language media outlets said.
“The Russian troops have increased their patrols over the past two days in a region located between the town of Shirawa and Deir Jamal towards Kashta’ar in the surroundings of Tal Rafat,” the Arabic-language al-Watan newspaper quoted local sources in Tal Rafat city as saying.
Meantime,
the Syrian army continued its military advances in other parts of Syria over past 24 hours.
